Southwest University (SWU) is a key comprehensive
university, under the direct administration of the Ministry
of Education. It was newly established in July 2005 through
the incorporation of former Southwest China Normal
University and Southwest Agricultural University upon the
approval of the Ministry of Education. SWU is situated
nearby the beautiful Jialing River, and is located at the
foot of Jinyun Mountain, a state level scenic spot, in
Beibei District, Chongqing Municipality.
The former Southwest China Normal University was one of the
key comprehensive universities under the direct jurisdiction
of the Ministry of Education. Originally it was named
Southwest Teachers College and was established through the
merging of the former National Women's Teachers College and
the Sichuan Provincial Educational College in 1950. It was
then renamed Southwest China Normal University in 1985.
The former Southwest Agricultural University was established
in 1950, originally being named Southwest Agricultural
College. This university was established through the merging
of relevant sections and departments of the former Sichuan
Provincial Educational College, the Western China University
and Xianghui College. Approved by the State Council, it
became one of the national key universities in 1979, and was
then renamed Southwest Agricultural College followed by
Southwest Agricultural University in 1985. In 2001, a new
Southwest Agricultural University was established through
combining with the former Sichuan Animal Husbandry and
Veterinary College, the Citrus Research Institute of Chinese
Academy of Agriculture.
Before being united, Southwest China Normal University and
Southwest Agricultural University were neighbors with only a
wall separating the two institutions. Both universities had
a long historic relationship, which could be traced back to
their common origin, i.e. East Sichuan Teachers College in
1906.
Southwest China Normal University and Southwest Agricultural
University have already cultivated a variety of graduates,
more than 200,000 since their establishment. On the basis of
long-term building and development, both universities formed
their special characteristics in teachers' education and
agricultural education respectively. The universities excel
in a number of disciplines including pedagogy, psychology
and agronomy. Among them, the silkworm genome research takes
the lead in the world, and fundamental psychology and
pedagogy have taken a national lead. Other great
achievements include natural fallowing, silkworm gene bank,
southwest ethnic education and psychology research, and
human time cognition and so on. Hundreds of new technologies
and achievements have brought with them outstanding social
and economic benefits.
