Harbin Engineering University (HEU) sits at the scenic Songhua River in the ice city of Harbin in North China. It is among the first batch of "211 Project" universities that are entitled to enjoy first priority from the state in construction and development and also one of the universities that have Graduate School. Moreover, HEU is an important base for talent cultivation and scientific research in the fields of ship industry, ocean exploration and nuclear application.
The predecessor of HEU is PLA Military Engineering Institute established in 1953 (abbr. HME). In 1970, in the former location, Harbin Ship Engineering Institute was founded by the entire crew of naval engineering department and some other cadre teachers of every other department, and it was renamed Harbin Engineering University in 1994. HEU was selected as a national key university by the State Council in 1978, authorized by the State Council to award master and doctoral degrees in the first batch in 1982, selected as one of the first few "211 Project" universities to receive preferential support from the state in 1996, authorized by the Ministry of Education to have Graduate School in 2002, and jointly constructed by the Commission of Science and Technology for National Defense Industry, the Ministry of Education, Heilongjiang Provincial People's Government and the navy in 2007. Currently, HEU is subordinate to the Ministry of Industry and Information.
The floor area of HEU is 1.26 million square meters with a building area of 886 thousand square meters. The architecture of HEU embodies an imposingly exquisite combination of Chinese and Western elements, featuring flying eaves and jade tiles. The university comprises 17 colleges. And there are 2 departments and 1 center: foreign languages department, department of physical military training, and engineering training center. There are over 40 research institutes and over 150 special and basic laboratories, including 2 national key laboratories, 2 Defense key disciplines Labs, 2 Yin Zhi-level academic base for innovations, 2 national electric electronic teaching base, 3 National experimental teaching demonstration centers and 1 National University Students Cultural Quality Education Base.
In the course of over half a century, HEU has formed a well-structured discipline system that is characterized by a reasonable coordinated development of major disciplines in the fields of ship industry, ocean exploration and nuclear application together with related disciplines of other fields. Now there are 57 specialties for undergraduates, 94 specialties for Master candidates (MBA and MPA included), 22 for Master of Engineering fields, 6 for PhD subjects, 25 specialties for Doctoral candidates, 11 post-doctoral mobile stations, and 1 post-doctoral research station. The specialties cover 7 discipline groups and 37 first-class disciplines, with 3 national key disciplines, 7 national defense key disciplines, and 24 provincial and ministerial key disciplines.
