The School of Design at Jiangnan University has a history dated back from the modeling department of Wuxi Institute of Light Industry founded in 1960. It is the main birthplace of modern design education in China, and the pioneer and modeling college of design education reform in China. After over 60 years of construction and continuous reform, especially undergoing the transformation of the new economy and the information industry, it has become a high-level design discipline featuring light industry with distinct influence at home and abroad. It is one of the most active international practice contributors as well as the demonstration base for training outstanding design talents for the industry. As a pioneer in the practice of integrating art and engineering in China, it has won five times the National Teaching Achievement Award, and is the one of the few institutions in the country that is continuously supported by the key construction project of the first, second and third phases of the national 211 Project.
The school is committed to build a first-class design school that is dedicated to innovative, international, and research-oriented design education, focusing on interdisciplinary system innovation. Flowing the trend of the national light industry development, the design discipline adheres to the problem-oriented and systematic design concept to solve the problems of people's livelihood, and is in a leading position in China in terms of school-running level and overall strength, with distinctive characteristics of light industry. The design discipline has ranked the highest level in the fifth round of discipline evaluation by the Ministry of Education, ranked in the top 2% of the best disciplines in China for three consecutive years, ranked at the top level in the evaluation of art and design majors, ranking 51-100 in the 2023 QS Global Art and Design Discipline Rankings. The school is a member of the National Steering Committee for Graduate Education of Art Majors, the Vice President Unit of China Industrial Design Association, and the Deputy Director Unit of the Education Working Committee of China Arts and Crafts Society.
The school's mission is to train new, socially responsible and respected designers and design leaders adapted to future industry sectors, adapting to the transformational challenges of the new era, the new economy and the new society. In face of global issues and challenges and industry trends, the school promotes research-based teaching and active learning. The school has a complete system of integrated design talent training. It currently holds the postdoctoral research station in Design, Phd in Design both in academic track and professional track, as well as MA in Design both in academic track and professional track. In the undergraduate level, there are a total of six majors in industrial design, product design, environmental design, visual communication design, public art, fine arts, and as well as an experimental class in the Design for Frontiers Learning program. All design programs at school are listed in the National First-Class Major Construction Sites in the design category. The school is an innovative pilot station for National Design Talent Development, and the Art Design Professional Teaching Team has been awarded as a National Teaching Team. There are now more than 2,300 students in the school, including 1,600+ undergraduate students, 600+ master's graduate students, and over 100 doctoral students.
There are currently 130 staff members at school, including 21 professors and 63 associate professors. Teachers carry out in-depth research and practice in the fields of product strategy and system innovation, visual culture and image communication, architectural heritage and urban renewal, public art and digital innovation, design history and theoretical research, etc.The school maintains deep collaborations with top innovation industries and institutions. It addresses the evolving demands of a growing design industry and digital economy, offering solutions to socio-economic changes and enhancing people's well-being through innovative design.The school has been granted the major national social science art project and the major philosophical and social science bidding topic of the Ministry of Education. Teachers have won the first prize of the Eighth National Excellent Scientific Research Achievements (Humanities and Social Sciences) and the second prize of the Ninth National Excellent Scientific Research Achievement (Humanities and Social Science), making a breakthrough in the field of design.
As one of the earliest members of the Cumulus Association as well as an initiator of the DESIS Network, the School of Design at Jiangnan University is highly active in international exchanges, partnering with over 50 prestigious design schools globally. Being the host for the 2018 Cumulus Wuxi Conference, the school hosts international conferences every year to promote international knowledge exchanges and collaborative research. The Experience Design Frontier Methodology and Technology Research Center, Healthcare Design International Joint Laboratory, International Joint Research Laboratory for Regional Architecture Heritage and Future Strategy, International Joint Research Laboratory for Brand Future Experience Design are the major hubs for international joint research collaborations.
The school has repeatedly won outstanding achievements in various important design competitions at home and abroad. It is the only university awardee in the country that has won the Industrial Design Gold Award from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. It has won 4 times IDEA Award, 51 Red Dot Design Awards, and 21 IF Design Award, as well as 12 Asian Design Yearly Award and China Environmental Art Design Awards, being one of the most active domestic institutions participating in international exchanges and competitions.Our faculty and students are devoted to advancing design and artistic practices. Their work has been featured in prestigious events such as the ChinaInternational Bicycle Fair, World Industrial Design Conference, Zhuhai Air Show, Las Vegas International Construction Machinery Exhibition, Dubai Design Week, and the National Exhibition of Fine Arts. Our designs have earned top accolades, including the Red Dot Award, iF Design Award, and IDEA Excellent Industrial Design Award. Notably, our alumni have designed the 2008 Beijing Olympic medal "Gold Inlaid Jade," the 2022 Winter Olympics mascot "Bing Dwen Dwen," the visual identity for the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, the public artworks for the 2014 International Youth Olympic Games, the 2018 World Fencing Championships visuals, and the APEC national leaders' costumes.Championships visuals, and the APEC national leaders' costumes.
Our alumni are highly recognized by the industry and society of being with broad vision, comprehensive knowledge and innovative capability. A great number of our alumni are now leading talents and pioneers in innovation and entrepreneurship for the Chinese design education and industry, and have made remarkable achievements in the fields of design and creative industries. With a legacy of over a hundred deans and presidents of design schools across China, many outstanding alumni are taking important roles in companies and institutions such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Alibaba, Tencent, Huawei, Baidu, Sina, Midea, Netease, Guangzhou Auto, Volkswagen (Shanghai). Every year more than 30% of our graduates receive offers from world-renowned universities and design schools to continue to study for master's and doctorate degrees.
Today, the School of Design is committed to the mission of development in the new era, strive to develop into the plant for Chinese design thinking with a global vision, and the model area for international design education reform and practice, continue to lead the direction of Chinese design education, and promote the economy with design-driven innovation, so as to bring positive changes in many fields such as environment, society, science and technology, supporting the future development of the country, region and industry.
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