Nankai University

About Nankai University

Nankai University (南开大学 / NKU), founded in 1919 by pioneering patriotic educators Yan Xiu and Zhang Boling, is one of China’s most prestigious, historically venerable, and academically distinguished national comprehensive research universities. Directly administered by the Ministry of Education of China, Nankai is designated under China's elite "Double First-Class" Class A initiative and was a charter member of the national Project 985 and Project 211. Nankai has educated many of China's most illustrious leaders and intellectual giants, most notably Premier Zhou Enlai (China's first Premier), the legendary differential geometer Shiing-Shen Chern (founder of modern differential geometry and the Chern Institute of Mathematics), Nobel laureate Tsung-Dao Lee (honorary professor), and renowned playwright Cao Yu. The university operates across three distinctive campuses in Tianjin: the historic Balitai Campus (八里台校区) situated along scenic Xiaoyin River and Xinkai Lake in downtown Tianjin; the expansive, modern flagship Jinnan Campus (津南校区) within the Haihe Education Park featuring state-of-the-art supercomputing centers and research quads; and the TEDA Campus (泰达校区) in the Binhai New Area dedicated to high-tech incubator research. World-renowned for its mathematical sciences, chemistry (ranked in Nature Index global top 10), economics, finance, computer science, and foreign languages, Nankai hosts over 2,800 international scholars supported by prestigious full fellowships under the Chinese Government Scholarship (CSC Agency No. 10055) and Tianjin Municipal Government Scholarships.