Graduate education at Xi’an University of Technology (XUT) began in 1960. The University is among the first institutions in China authorized to confer doctoral and master’s degrees. XUT is designated as a provincial “Double First-Class” cultivation university in Shaanxi Province and has been selected as one of China’s pilot institutions for comprehensive reform of professional degree postgraduate education, reform of postgraduate curriculum development, demonstration courses integrating ideological and political education into postgraduate curricula, implementation of the Excellent Engineer Education and Training Program, and innovation and entrepreneurship education practice base development.
Currently, the University offers 15 first-level doctoral degree authorization disciplines and 4 professional doctoral degree programs, along with 27 first-level master’s degree authorization disciplines and 13 professional master’s degree programs. These programs span nine disciplinary categories, including engineering, science, management, economics, law, literature, agriculture, arts, and interdisciplinary studies, forming a discipline structure characterized by engineering as the main focus with coordinated development across multiple disciplines. The University hosts one national key discipline, 21 key disciplines at the Shaanxi provincial level, and 12 provincial advantageous disciplines. Seven disciplines—Engineering, Materials Science, Environment/Ecology, Computer Science, Chemistry, Agricultural Science, and Geoscience—rank within the top 1% of the ESI global discipline rankings. In the 2024 ShanghaiRanking’s Academic Ranking of World Universities, XUT ranked 501–600 globally, 92–114 nationally, and 6–7 among universities in Shaanxi Province.
Graduate education at XUT has developed rapidly, with nearly 40,000 postgraduate degrees awarded to date. The University currently has 356 doctoral supervisors, 931 master’s supervisors, and more than 2,000 industry supervisors. There are 11,219 postgraduate students enrolled, including 1,774 doctoral candidates and 9,445 master’s students.
Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the University has fully implemented the national and provincial postgraduate education conference requirements and adhered to the fundamental mission of fostering virtue through education. XUT has formulated and implemented the Action Plan for Accelerating Graduate Education Reform in the New Era (2021–2025), which proposes six major reform initiatives. Each year focuses on specific themes, including enhancing thesis quality, strengthening the capabilities of supervisors and graduate students, advancing classified training models, and deepening quality improvement in postgraduate education. These reforms have further refined the talent cultivation system, strengthened the supervision team, and achieved substantial progress in postgraduate education, resulting in expanded enrollment and steadily improved training quality.
In September 2011, with the approval of the People’s Government of Shaanxi Province and the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Education, XUT officially established its Graduate School. Seizing strategic opportunities presented by national and provincial “Double First-Class” initiatives, the University continues to improve postgraduate education governance and explore comprehensive educational reform. XUT has received multiple honors, including recognition as a National Advanced Unit for Degree and Graduate Education Information Management, an Advanced Unit for Graduate Training in Shaanxi Province, and an Advanced Unit for Graduate Innovation Education in Shaanxi Province.
The University currently operates two Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) demonstration bases for university-enterprise collaborative education, two national demonstration bases for joint training of professional degree postgraduates, and eight provincial demonstration workstations for joint postgraduate training. In recent years, XUT has undertaken 18 provincial graduate education reform and teaching research projects, developed 13 nationally and provincially recognized model courses integrating ideological and political education and featured online courses, and produced 23 case studies recognized by the Academic Degrees Center of the Ministry of Education and Shaanxi Province. The University has also published five high-quality graduate-level textbooks recognized by MIIT’s 14th Five-Year Plan and provincial graduate education awards, and received 14 teaching achievement awards related to graduate education at the provincial level. Graduate students have won 717 provincial or higher-level competition awards, including 397 national awards. XUT has been recognized as an “Outstanding Contributor” to the ten-year development of the China Graduate Innovation and Practice Competition Series and ranked 16th nationwide and 2nd among local universities in the Top 100 comprehensive contribution ranking of postgraduate training institutions.
Upholding the socialist orientation of higher education, XUT continues to seize development opportunities and overcome challenges with determination and innovation. The University remains committed to advancing “Double First-Class” development and enhancing the quality of graduate education, striving to build itself into a high-level research-oriented university.
For more information, please visit the Graduate School website.