Tongji University is one of the leading universities under the State Ministry of Education in the People's Republic of China . As a state key university, it has also been included in the State Project 211 and the 21st Century Education Plan of China .
    The history of the university dates back to 1907 when Erich Paulun, a German doctor founded it as the Tongji German Medical School . It was officially accepted as a university in 1923 and became a national university in 1927. It had since grown to be recognized, both at home and abroad, as a comprehensive university having five schools; they are sciences, engineering, medicine, liberal arts and law.
    After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Tongji University became an engineering university following a nationwide restructuring of institutions of higher learning in 1952. It was the largest university of civil engineering and offered the most specialized engineering programs in China . The university has developed rapidly into a multidisciplinary university featuring sciences, engineering, economics, management, liberal arts and law, with the initiation of the open up policy at Tongji University with the authorization of the central government in 1978.
    In 1996 Shanghai Institute of Urban Construction and Shanghai Institute of Building Materials, and in 2000 Shanghai Tiedao University merged with Tongji University.Since then, Tongji University has become a comprehensive, research-intensive university with nine disciplines: sciences, engineering, medicine, economics, management, liberal arts, law, philosophy and education.
    Tongji University has more than 20 schools offering 82 undergraduate programs, 209 Master degree programs, and 78 PhD programs. There are 13 postdoctoral mobile stations and 10 state key laboratories at the university. The university has a total student enrollment of 50,000, a teaching and research staff of 4200, among which 1900 have either senior professional or academic titles. There are five academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and seven academicians from the Chinese Academy of Engineering. As one of the state key research centres, the university has 16 state key laboratories and civil engineering centres. There are five hospitals and three middle schools affiliated with the university.
    The university is active in promoting cooperation and exchanges with other countries. It has established links with Australia , Austria , Canada , Germany , France , Japan , Korea , Switzerland , U.K. and USA in the fields of education, science, technology and economics. A number of international joint programs have been established between the university and its counterparts in other countries in recent years. These joint programs include a Sino-German School , a Sino-German Teacher Training Centre for Vocational Education, the Sino-French Institute of Engineering and Management, Tongji-UNEP Environment and Sustainable Development Institute, Sino-Australian Institute and others. In 2002, the university awarded an honorary PhD degree to Mr. Gerhard Schroeder , Councilor of the Federal Republic of Germany and invited Dr. Klaus Toepfer , Executive Director of UNEP, and Professor Peter Rowe, director of Harvard University Graduate School of Design to be honorary professors of Tongji University , and hosted about 30 international or regional academic conferences every year. In recent years there have been about 4000 visits from abroad to the university and more than 2000 academic visits to other countries every year. In 2006 the university enrolled 2400 international students from more than 70 countries.
    The university has five existing campuses covering a total area of 247 hectares. The Siping campus is situated on Siping Road of Shanghai , the west campus on Zhennan Road of Shanghai , the east campus on Wudong Road whereas the north campus is on Gonghe Xin Road of Shanghai . The Jiading campus is located inside Shanghai International Automotive City in Jiading, a suburban district of Shanghai.