Fuyang Normal University (hereinafter referred to as FYNU) is located in Fuyang, the eastern gateway city of the Central Plains Economic Region, and the regional center of the Northwest of Anhui Province. As a birthplace of many outstanding personages, Fuyang boasts a long cultural history, enriched by the heritage handed down from such famous cultural elites as Laozi, Zhuangzi, Guanzi, Cao Cao, Cao Pi, Cao Zhi, Ouyang Xiu and Zeng Gong. FYNU enjoys pleasant environment, easy traffic and favorable location with ancient Yingzhou West Lake, Beijing-Kowloon Railway and a 4C airport in the vicinity.

Founded in 1956, FYNU began to enroll students in undergraduate programs in 1977, and was officially named as Fuyang Teachers College in 1978,and renamed as Fuyang Normal University in June 2019 with the approval of the State Council. In 2009, FYNU was listed among universities to offer master’s degrees and initiated to enroll postgraduate students. In 2008, FYNU passed the Undergraduate Education Level Evaluation with “Grade A” conducted by the Ministry of Education, and passed the Undergraduate Education Verification Assessment in 2017. FYNU was awarded the second prize of National Educational Achievements in 2005 and 2014 respectively. FYNU has developed into an influential provincially-governed university with distinctive teacher education features, emerging application-oriented advantages, and harmonious development of multiple disciplines. In the past 60 plus years since its founding, FYNU has brought up more than 100 thousand graduates who have made significant contributions to local economic and social development and have been widely acknowledged as the backbones in all walks of life. FYNU was thus publicly labeled as “a cradle of basic education, a base for talent nurturing, an incubator of technological innovation and a window on cultural construction in Northern Anhui”.

Covering an area of 1.1434 million square meters, FYNU has a floor area of 851,500 square meters and a population of 18,230 full-time students from all over the country. It has 16 schools and one continuing education college with 66 undergraduate programs in such ten disciplines as Literature, History, Law, Pedagogy, Economics, Science, Administration, Engineering, Agronomy and Artistic Science. In FYNU, academic master’s degrees are conferred in five first-class disciplines with 21 academic fields, and professional master’s degrees are conferred in four disciplines.FYNU has 4 provincial key disciplines, i.e., Chinese Linguistics and Philology, Ancient Chinese Literature, Educational Economy and Management, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; 1 Anhui Provincial Major Disciplinary Construction Project, i.e., Biology; 3 national featured specialties, i.e., Physics, Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, and Chinese Language and Literature; National Pilot Project for Excellent Agroforestry Talents Education and Development, National Innovation and Entrepreneurship Base for University Students; and 10 provincial research institutions, such as Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Hormone and Reproductive Development, Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Degradation and Monitoring of Environmental Pollutants, Anhui Provincial Technology and Engineering Research Center for Anti-aging Chinese Herbal Medicine, Anhui Provincial Technology and Engineering Research Center for Biomass Conversion and Pollution Prevention and Control, Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Embryonic Developmental and Reproductive Mediation, Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Regional Logistics Planning and Modern Logistics Engineering, and 3 provincial key research bases for humanities and social sciences: Northern Anhui Culture Research Center, Migrant Workers Research Center and Anhui Martial Arts Culture Research Center. In addition, FYNU’s teaching facilities and scientific research equipment are worth CNY 231.9828 million, and its library has a collection of 1.9507 million paperback books, and free access to 40 Chinese and foreign online electronic resources databases such as Chinese Journal Full-text Database (CNKI), ScienceDirect, Featured Database for Northern Anhui Culture Research, and Featured Database for Migrant Workers Research.

FYNU now has more than 1000 teachers working hard in disparate disciplines, among whom 412 hold advanced professional titles including 126 full professors, 92% of the teachers hold master’s degrees, and 31.65% hold doctor’s degrees. Eighty-six teachers are or have earned the titles of “Anhui Provincial Academic and Technological Leader” or candidates, “Anhui Provincial Excellent Talent”, recipients of special allowances offered by the State Council or Anhui Provincial government, “National Excellent Teacher”, “Baogang Excellent Teacher”, “Anhui Provincial Excellent Teacher”, or “Anhui Provincial Famous Teacher” respectively. As many as 229 teachers are master or doctor supervisors. Moreover, FYNU engages 109 adjunct professors, including Liu Depei, academician and former vice president of Chinese Academy of Engineering, Chen Guoliang and Fang Weihai, academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

FYNU attaches great importance to teaching and scientific research. Through consistent improving of scientific research stimulus and governing mechanisms, FYNU’s teaching research and scientific innovativeness have been significantly enhanced. In the past five years, teachers in FYNU have undertaken around 1000 scientific research projects at various levels, among which more than 500 are at provincial level or above, 161 are bilateral cooperative projects, have won 25 provincial awards for their research achievements, have published 196 academic books and 4,100 research papers with 1,350 carried on the Category II journals, and have obtained 464 national patents. FYNU also sponsors three journals and newspapers: Fuyang Normal University Journal (social sciences and natural sciences editions), Fuyang Normal University News and Anhui Basic Education.

FYNU unswervingly continues the reform in education by strengthening the feature of fostering talents through social practices in order to develop high quality human resources with strong social responsibility, innovativeness and practical ability. In the past five years, students of FYNU have won more than 2700 awards in various disciplinary competitions at provincial level and above, including more than 530 national awards. FYNU ranked 198th in 2014-2018 National College and University Competition Evaluation (Undergraduate) Top 300, ranking 21st among normal universities across the country and the first among Anhui normal universities. Students have hosted 857 research projects of various kinds, including 178 national innovation and entrepreneurship training projects. Graduates from FYNU have been widely acknowledged for their swift role transition, strong practical ability and great developmental potential.

FYNU consistently adheres to the socialist orientation in running the school, and strives to foster dynamic and healthy campus culture. It encourages students to participate in diversified extracurricular activities such as “Future Teacher Professional Skills Contest”, and “College Students Technology, Culture and Arts Festival”, and have earned many honorary titles such as “Model Unit of Social Practice in National College Students Volunteer Work for ‘Three Popularizes’” (that is, to popularize knowledge on technology, culture and hygiene in the countryside), “National Model Unit of Law Publicity Education among Adolescents”, “Provincial Model Unit”, “Anhui Provincial Model Institution of Higher Learning in Party Construction and Ideological Education”, “Anhui Provincial First Pilot Universities for Comprehensive Reform”, “Model Collective in Anhui Provincial Educational System”, “Anhui Provincial Excellent Teaching Administrative Unit”, “Anhui Provincial Model Unit of Student Financial Aid”, “Pacesetter in Graduates Employment among Institutions of Higher Learning in Anhui Province”, and “Anhui Provincial Entrepreneurship College” in consecutive years.

At a new historic starting point, FYNU will continue to implement the guiding principles in education of the Party, taking Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as its guide, and firmly establish new development concept and carry out the basic task of moral education. FYNU will follow the motto of “Integrity, Knowledge, Self-transcendence, and Practicality”, and the university spirit of “Strive for Perfection”, implement the innovation-driven strategy to comprehensively continue the reform, meeting the needs of economic and social development. FYNU will take advantage of the great opportunity of “Double First-Class” initiative to strengthen its strong points in teacher education programs, accelerate its practicality-orientation transformation, improve its talent cultivation competencies, and develop itself into a practical high-level normal university with distinctive local characteristics, making a new and greater contribution to economic and social development.