School of Materials Science and Engineering
Brief Introduction
Located by the picturesque Jiulong Lake in Jiangning District, Nanjing, the School of Materials Science and Engineering boasts a long history, with its origins tracing back to National Central University during the Republic of China era. In 1928, National Central University established its first undergraduate majors in material-related fields, such as casting and forging. In the spring of 1947, Academician Wu Zhongwei founded China’s first laboratory dedicated to researching concrete material properties within the School of Civil Engineering at National Central University. In 1984, to meet the demands of industrial and material development, the university established the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, drawing on the strengths of casting, metallurgy, and other disciplines. It subsequently integrated related specialties such as civil engineering materials from the Department of Civil Engineering and advanced material processing from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, leading to the official establishment of the School of Materials Science and Engineering in 2006.
Our School has four departments: New Engineering Materials, Metallic Materials, Materials Processing Engineering, and Functional Materials. It holds a first-level doctoral degree program and a postdoctoral research station in “Materials Science and Engineering,” encompassing three second-level doctoral programs: “Materials Physics and Chemistry,” “Materials Processing Engineering,” and “Materials Science.” Additionally, the School independently offers a second-level doctoral program in “Civil Engineering Materials.”
In 2017, the discipline of Materials Science and Engineering was selected for the first batch of the national “Double First-Class” initiative, making it one of the 12 “Double First-Class” construction disciplines currently at Southeast University. The School bears the significant mission of integrating advantageous science disciplines to lead strong engineering fields. In 2022, it successfully entered the second round of the “Double First-Class” construction list. The undergraduate program in “Materials Science and Engineering” is recognized as a National First-Class Major, a Jiangsu Province Brand Major, and a Jiangsu Province Key Major. The discipline of “New Materials and Their Applications” is a Jiangsu Province Advantageous Discipline, while “Materials Science” is a Jiangsu Province Key Discipline. In 2021, Materials Science entered the top 1‰ globally in the ESI (Essential Science Indicators) rankings; by the end of 2025, it is projected to rank among the top 50 globally. According to the 2026 SoftRank (ShanghaiRanking) China University Professional Rankings, Southeast University’s Materials Science and Engineering program ranks 14th nationwide.
Research
Our School of Materials Science and Engineering hosts one national-level research platform: the “State Key Laboratory of High-performance Engineering Materials for Key Infrastructures” It also operates six provincial or ministerial-level research and teaching platforms, including the “Key Laboratory of Concrete and Prestressed Concrete Structures of the Ministry of Education,” the “Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Metallic Materials for High-Tech Research,” the “Jiangsu Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Modern Concrete Durability Assessment and Improvement,” the “Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Civil Engineering Materials,” the “Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Civil Engineering Materials,” and the “Jiangsu Provincial Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center for Higher Education Institutions.”
Furthermore, our School manages five university-level platforms, such as the “International Joint Laboratory for Advanced Civil Engineering Materials (LACM),” the “Southeast University Research Center for Advanced Materials,” the “Southeast University Institute of Fiber and Fiber-Reinforced Concrete Technology,” the “Southeast University Research Center for Green Building Materials and Carbon Sequestration Utilization,” and the “Southeast University Laboratory for Next-Generation Semiconductor Materials.” It also houses a university-level Analysis and Testing Center accredited by national metrology standards. These facilities provide world-class hardware support for cultivating high-level talent and producing cutting-edge research outcomes.
In recent years, our School has focused on addressing critical “chokehold” materials and pioneering next-generation technological innovations. Aligning its efforts with major engineering applications and socio-economic development, our School prioritizes fields such as civil engineering and transportation, high-end equipment, intelligent manufacturing, life and health, and energy and information. With a special emphasis on national defense and major engineering projects, it has led numerous key research initiatives. Achievements span a wide range of iconic projects and technologies: from the Three Gorges Dam to Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant, from the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway to manned spacecraft, from bridge cables to biomedical devices, from lithium-ion batteries to green hydrogen storage, from bionic surfaces to smart wearables, from amorphous alloys to 2D materials, and from 3D printing to ultrasonic testing.
Our School has delivered abundant research results, frequently published in top-tier journals such as Nature Photonics. We achieved 2 Second Prizes for National Science and Technology Progress, 1 Second Prize for National Technological Invention, 3 National Innovation and Pioneering Awards, and over 30 provincial or ministerial-level science and technology awards. Notably, as the global leader, we have made breakthroughs in high-performance concrete and ultra-high-strength steel wire research, making significant contributions to the translation of scientific achievements and the development of the national economy.
Education
The School of Materials Science and Engineering places talent cultivation at its core, adhering to the fundamental mission of fostering virtue through education. Upholding the philosophy of “students first,” our School has innovatively established a “trinity” talent cultivation system that integrates “research-teaching fusion, practical training, and cultural immersion” through a comprehensive educational model. Annually, our School plans to enroll approximately 100 undergraduate students and around 200 master and doctoral candidates. Guided by ideological leadership, centered on education and teaching, and carried out through innovative practices, our School is dedicated to cultivating leading talents in materials science who possess a deep sense of national commitment and a global vision, capable of shaping the future and benefiting humanity. Students have won nearly 80 national and provincial awards in various innovation, entrepreneurship, and disciplinary competitions. The further education rate for undergraduate graduates approaches 60%, while the overall employment rate for undergraduate, master, and doctoral students has consistently remained above 97%, ranking among the highest in the university.
Adhering to the guiding principle of “integration of science and education, industry-driven development, and international expansion,” the School emphasizes key educational relationships such as theory versus practice, in-class versus extracurricular activities, and online versus offline learning. Leveraging its disciplinary strengths in new material design, advanced preparation and processing, micro-nano scale manufacturing and analysis, and engineering application technologies, our School integrates top-tier disciplinary resources, national-level experimental teaching resources, and high-level enterprise resources. By aligning the fundamental task of fostering virtue with the goal of cultivating outstanding students who possess both national commitment and global vision, our School has built a robust system for developing leading talents in materials science, significantly enhancing students’ innovative awareness, practical abilities, and international perspectives.
Students have repeatedly achieved excellent results in prestigious competitions such as the “China International College Students’ Innovation Competition,” the “China College Students Entrepreneurship Plan Competition,” and the “National College Student Metallography Competition.” They have also distinguished themselves in evaluations for titles such as “Most Influential Undergraduate,” “Provincial Model Student,”“Provincial Outstanding Student Cadre,” and university-Level Outstanding Graduate, Model Student and Outstanding Student Cadre.”
Our School has established more than 20 scholarships and financial aid programs, including the “Subote Fund,” “Sun Wei and Zhang Futing Scholarship Fund,” “Miao Changwen Scholarship,” and “Professor Sun Guoxiong Reward Fund.” Undergraduates receive over 460,000 RMB annually in various scholarships and grants, including the National Scholarship, National Encouragement Scholarship, President’s Scholarship, and other National scholarships.
Our School maintains extensive international exchanges in both talent cultivation and scientific research. It has established broad partnerships for joint talent training, academic exchange, and scientific cooperation with academic institutions in countries such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia, as well as in the Taiwan and Hong Kong regions. In October 2016, the International Joint Laboratory for Advanced Civil Engineering Materials was founded, comprising 11 renowned laboratories worldwide. In 2019, our School signed a “Memorandum of Cooperation” on international talent development with Churchill College and Murray Edwards College at the University of Cambridge, annually selecting around 20 undergraduates to complete 30 credit hours of coursework at Cambridge. Outstanding undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to apply for projects funded by the China Scholarship Council and inter-university international cooperation programs to study as exchange students at prestigious overseas institutions.
Postdoctoral Station
The postdoctoral research station in “Materials Science and Engineering” was established in 2003. In the 2025 national comprehensive evaluation of postdoctoral work, it was rated as “Excellent.” Currently, there are 27 full-time postdoctoral researchers at the station. Since 2023, three postdoctoral researchers have been recognized as national-level young talents, several have remained at the university as faculty members, three have been awarded the “Postdoctoral Innovation Talent Support Program” (Boxin Plan), and many have received grants from the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (including General and Special Grants) or been selected as Jiangsu Province Distinguished Postdoctoral Researchers.
“Materials Science and Engineering” is a discipline included in “Double First-Class” initiative. The discipline boasts a strong faculty team with extensive experience in both practical research and talent development. The team of postdoctoral supervisors includes two academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, seven national-level talents, 29 national-level young talents, and 37 other high-level faculty members.
Over the past five years, relying on national or provincial/ministerial key scientific research platforms, the discipline has undertaken multiple high-level research tasks, including major projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, key projects of the National Key R&D Program, and significant industry-university collaboration projects. Systematic innovative achievements have been made in directions such as advanced civil engineering materials and new energy materials. The discipline possesses outstanding capabilities in tackling key technical challenges and a solid foundation in engineering practice research, supported by complete scientific research conditions and ample funding.
The discipline has established postdoctoral research stations or provincial-level postdoctoral innovation practice bases in collaboration with leading enterprises in related fields, such as the Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Building Science and Jiangsu Shagang Group. These partnerships facilitate the joint recruitment and training of engineering postdoctoral researchers. Together, they have developed a postdoctoral training and assessment evaluation scheme oriented towards innovation capability, quality, effectiveness, and contribution, placing particular emphasis on the transformation of scientific and technological research, technical problem-solving, and engineering practice outcomes.
