Shanghai Polytechnic University (SSPU) is a municipal public university that focuses on Engineering and well-coordinated development of multidisciplines.
SSPU was formerly known as Shanghai Part-time Polytechnic University established in 1960 and adopted its current name in 1984. It is the only university in Shanghai named by “Polytechnic University”. For more than 60 years, evolving from adult education to full-time undergraduate and higher vocational education and then to postgraduate education, SSPU adheres to the orientation of training applied technology talents to meet social demands and serve national strategies. The university has produced over 200,000 technicaland applied talents of various kinds for Shanghai and nationwide, and cultivated a large number of talents who are later granted the title of Model Worker at national, provincial and ministerial levels, hence honored as “the cradle of model workers”. In recent years, the university has consistently expanded and improved talent cultivation both in scale and levels. It has optimized the structure and scale of undergraduate education and vigorously developed postgraduate education to establish a high-quality applied innovative talent training system.
SSPU has significant geographical advantages and strong teaching faculty. The main campus Jinhai Road Campus is located in Pudong New Area, Shanghai, adjacent to China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone and a number of Fortune 500 companies. SSPU has 16 colleges and schools, over 16,000 full-time students and about 1,200 faculty and staff. It has over 80 faculty members supported by various talent programs, such as the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, Chang Jiang Scholars Program, Ten Thousand Talents Plan, Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University under the Ministry of Education, etc.
SSPU advances connotative development in depth. The university is a doctoral degree awarding construction institution in Shanghai. It is included in the Construction Project (cultivation) of High-Level Universities in Shanghai and is selected as the Pilot Institution for Reform of Talent Cultivation Mode in Universities of Applied Sciences in Shanghai. SSPU now offers 13 master’s degree programs, 50 bachelor’s degree programs and some high-quality higher vocational programs covering 8 fields of disciplines including Engineering, Management, Economics, Science, Arts, Literature, Education and Law. The discipline of Engineering ranks the top 1% of ESI global rankings. SSPU focuses on building two featured and advantageous disciplines, Mechanical Engineering (Intelligent Manufacturing Engineering) and Materials Science and Engineering (Energy Conservation and New Energy Materials), and emerging cross disciplines such as Artificial Intelligence, Energy and Environmental Protection, etc. The university also plans some future disciplinary directions, including Integrated Circuit Engineering, Standardization Engineering, Intelligent Medical Engineering, etc. The establishment of research institutes such as the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, Integrated Circuit Research Institute, and Intelligent Medical Engineering Research Institute empowers the development of key engineering fields of the university.
SSPU has 3 National Distinctive Programs and 3 National First-Class Undergraduate Program Construction Sites. And the programs of SSPU are selected into over 30 projects such as Excellent Engineer Education Training Program of the Ministry of Education, Comprehensive Reform Pilot Program of Undergraduate Programs in Local Universities under the “Undergraduate Teaching Project” of the Ministry of Education, Applied Undergraduate Pilot Programs for Local Universities, Shanghai First-Class Undergraduate Program Construction Site, Shanghai Undergraduate Education Highland Construction Project, etc. SSPU also undertakes over 60 national and Shanghai Municipal projects, including Emerging Engineering Research and Practice Projects, Industry-University Cooperation Education Projects of the Ministry of Education, Shanghai New Humanities and Social Sciences Research and Reform Practice Projects, Shanghai Cultural Creativity & Industry-Education Integration Leading Projects, and Key Undergraduate Teaching Reform Projects in Shanghai Universities.
In recent years, the university has built more than 200 national and Shanghai Municipal courses, including National First-Class Undergraduate Courses, Shanghai First-Class Undergraduate Courses, Shanghai Key Courses, etc. The faculty have won 2 second prizes of National Teaching Achievement Award, 1 special award, 3 first prizes and 8 second prizes of Shanghai Teaching Achievement Award；and the students have participated in more than 410 discipline and skill competitions of various kinds at the provincial and ministerial level and above, and won more than 2100 awards in total including nearly 800 national awards.
SSPU keeps meeting the needs of society and improving its service capability. The university has undertaken over 100 national projects, including major programs supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), National Key R&D Program, etc. SSPU has over 10 scientific research platforms, such as Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Advanced Thermal Functional Materials, Shanghai Collaborative Innovation Center for Reverse Logistics and Supply Chain, Shanghai Professional Technology Service Platform of Big Data for Thermophysical Properties, Shanghai Standardization Innovation Center, Shanghai Green and Low Carbon Service Institution, Shanghai Digital Cultural Tourism Design and Innovation Center, etc. In addition, SSPU has the first batch of Education Bases of the Spirit of Scientists in China, Shanghai Science Popularization Base, Energy Science Popularization Education Base under China Energy Research Society，etc.
Great importance is attached to the integration of industry and education and all-round cooperation is carried out with famous enterprises and research institutes such as COMAC Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Co., Ltd., CSSC Power (Group) Co., Ltd., Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd., Huahong Group, Shanghai Electric Group, Shanghai Inspection, Testing & International Certification Co., Ltd., Bank of China Shanghai Branch, Shanghai Disney Resort, Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Computing Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai Research Institute of Materials Co., Ltd., etc. And 22 technology transfer workstations and two industrial institutes are set up in the Yangtze River Delta region to promote transformation of scientific and technological achievements and industrial incubation. The Intelligent Manufacturing Industrial Technology Institute, jointly set up by SSPU and Wuyi County, Zhejiang Province, and SSPU Qidong Institute, jointly built by SSPU and Qidong City of Jiangsu Province, have achieved prominent results and become demonstration models by adopting the modes like “open competition mechanism for selecting the best candidates to lead research projects” and “free trial of scientific and technological achievements first, payment for transfer later” to help local industries upgrade.
SSPU has been selected as a Demonstrative Unit of Patent Work in Shanghai, a branch of Shanghai Intellectual Property Information Service Platform, a Demonstrative Unit of Technical Contract Management of Universities in Shanghai and a Pilot Unit of Innovation and Reform in Technological Achievement Transfer in Shanghai. In the past three years, the university has won a number of first prizes at provincial or municipal level and influential prizes awarded by industry associations, over 30 in total. It has taken the lead or participated in establishing and publishing over 10 national standards. Over 30 special reports on decision-making and consultation were adopted by higher authorities. The university has also won over 10 science popularization awards such as Shanghai Science Popularization Competition, Shanghai Scientific Experiment Exhibition, Shanghai Science Popularization Education Innovation Award, etc.
SSPU continuously enhances internationalization. The university has established stable partnerships with over 170 universities and institutions in 38 countries and regions. There is 1 Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school and 2 Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run educational projects. Nearly 150 student overseas exchange programs including over 50 joint education programs are open to students. Currently there are nearly 120 international degree students from 25 countries studying in SSPU. The university offers 7 English-taught programs and 127 undergraduate English-taught courses among which there are 9 Shanghai demonstrative English-taught courses and 9 Shanghai demonstrative English-taught courses for international students. The university has 18 international joint laboratories and research centers and 10 Erasmus+ programs which were applied with foreign partners. SSPU has successfully held distinctive international exchange activities such as SSPU Global Partnership Week, French Day, etc.
At a new starting point, SSPU will carry forward its fine educational traditions, adhere to the new development philosophy, and integrate into the new development pattern, training applied innovative talents who are professional, responsible and innovative and possess engineering practical abilities, digital technology, and green development concepts. SSPU strives to build the university into a high-level innovative and domestically first-class university of applied sciences with close collaboration of industry, university and research, with distinctive strengths in technology and widely recognition by industries, making it a highland for cultivating high-end equipment talents and an important base for talent development in integrated circuits and green low-carbon fields.
（Updated: September, 2025）
