Chinese Government Scholarship — Silk Road Undergraduate Program

About the university

China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), abbreviated as CUG, is located in Wuhan, Hubei Province. It is a full-time institution of higher education jointly established by the Ministry of Education, the State Council's education administrative department, the Ministry of Natural Resources, and the People's Government of Hubei Province. The university is a national key university directly under the Ministry of Education, authorized by the state to establish graduate schools. It has been selected for the national "211 Project," "Double First-Class" initiative, "985 Project Advantage Discipline Innovation Platform," "111 Plan," and "Excellent Engineer Education and Training Program." China University of Geosciences was founded in 1952, originally as Beijing College of Geology, formed by merging the geology departments (or programs) of Peking University, Tsinghua University, Tianjin University, and Tangshan Railway Institute. After 1970, the university was successively renamed Hubei College of Geology and Wuhan College of Geology, and was permanently located in Wuhan in 1974. In 1981, it became one of the first institutions authorized to confer doctoral and master's degrees; in 1986, it became a pilot university for graduate schools nationwide; in 1987, it was renamed China University of Geosciences, operating in both Wuhan and Beijing with its headquarters in Wuhan; in 1997, it was included in the "211 Project" key construction universities; in 2000, it was transferred from the Ministry of Land and Resources to the administration of the Ministry of Education; in 2005, the Wuhan and Beijing campuses became independent; in 2006, the Ministry of Education and the former Ministry of Land and Resources signed an agreement to jointly build China University of Geosciences, and it became a university funded by the Ministry of Education's Advantage Discipline Platform Construction Project; in 2017 and 2022, it was selected for the national "Double First-Class" construction. As of June 2025, the university has two campuses: Nanwangshan Campus and Weilaicheng Campus, covering a total area of 1.475 million square meters. It has 23 schools, 70 undergraduate programs, 34 first-level master's degree authorization disciplines, 19 first-level doctoral degree authorization disciplines, 16 professional master's degree categories, 2 professional doctoral degree categories, and 16 postdoctoral research stations. There are 1,910 faculty members and 34,000 full-time students, including 19,000 undergraduates. The predecessor of China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) was Beijing College of Geology. In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, to meet the needs of large-scale economic construction, in 1952, the geology departments of Peking University, Tsinghua University, Tianjin University (formerly Peiyang University), and Tangshan Railway Institute were merged to form Beijing College of Geology. On November 1, the inaugural ceremony was held at Duanwangfu Jiadao in Beijing, and November 7 was designated as the university's anniversary. In 1956, graduating students raised funds to build a statue of a geologist at the main gate of the university. On the base, Guo Moruo, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, inscribed: "Discover more mineral deposits for the motherland, and temper yourself into steel." On May 17, 1957, Chairman Liu Shaoqi met with representatives of the graduating class of Beijing College of Geology and said: "To build, we must engage in geological exploration and fight a 'guerrilla war.' You are the guerrillas, scouts, and vanguard of the construction era." In 1960, the university was rated as "Red Flag Institute on the Beijing Cultural and Educational Front" and was listed among the 64 national key universities established by the State Council. Beijing College of Geology held its first opening ceremony; Li Siguang, then Minister of Geology, spoke at the ceremony; in May 1957, Comrade Liu Shaoqi had a cordial conversation with students. In 1970, forced by the situation, the university's relocation became inevitable. The university sent personnel to investigate potential sites in Shaanxi, Jiangxi, Gansu, Hunan, Hubei, and other provinces. In May of the same year, the military representative of the National Geological Bureau approved the change of the planned relocation to Shimen County, Hunan, to Jiangling County, Hubei, and the university was renamed Hubei College of Geology. In 1972, Comrade Gao Yuangui resumed leadership of the university and advocated for its relocation to Wuhan. In 1974, Hubei Province successively approved the construction of Hubei College of Geology in Wuhan and its renaming to Wuhan College of Geology. In 1975, Wuhan approved the university's site selection at the southern foot of Nanwangshan, on the shores of East Lake. In April 1975, the first building of Wuhan College of Geology was a makeshift shed built by faculty and staff. In March 1976, construction of the new campus of Wuhan College of Geology officially began. In December 1978, Wuhan College of Geology established the Beijing Graduate Department at the original Beijing campus site.