Shenzhen’s Nanshan District is home to one of China’s youngest research universities, the Southern University of Science and Technology, known as SUSTech. It was established in 2010 and its first students enrolled in 2011. In May 2018 it gained the authority to confer doctoral degrees, which Times Higher Education calls the fastest any institution in China had received that right. The campus lies at 1088 Xueyuan Avenue and covers close to 200 hectares.
Teaching is in English within a liberal arts and general education model with residential colleges. Undergraduate admission has used a 6-3-1 model, weighting the national college entrance exam at 60 percent, the university’s own assessments at 30 percent and high school performance at 10 percent. The website lists colleges of science, engineering and business, and schools of medicine, humanities and social sciences, design, and innovation and entrepreneurship.
Joint ventures include a medical school with King’s College London, a mechanical engineering centre with MIT, a risk analysis institute with ETH Zurich and a global management institute with HEC Paris. The university reports more than 130 international partners in nearly 40 countries and regions. Its Cryo-Electron Microscopy Center, opened in November 2018, was used to image the Covid-19 virus. SUSTech falls in the 101-150 band of the Academic Ranking of World Universities 2026.
Domains taught:
AI and Machine Learning, Automation, Bioengineering, Bioinformatics, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Computer Vision, Data Analytics, Ecology and Sustainability, Electrical and Electronics, Engineering, Fluid Dynamics, Life Sciences, Manufacturing, Materials, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Microbiology and Genetics, Nanotechnologies, Optics, Physics, Process Control, Robotics, Signal Processing, Software Engineering, Statistics, Structural Engineering, Telecommunications, Thermodynamics
Diplomas*:
Bachelor, Doctor, Master
Status:
Public
Partnerships:
Strong international collaborations and recruitment of international faculty. Links with Shenzhen’s high-tech industry.
ShanghaiTech University in Shanghai is a young science-focused institution with information science and technology, physical science and technology, and life science as its schools.
Westlake University in Hangzhou concentrates on life sciences, science, engineering and medicine, a research-led profile close to SUSTech's.
Without leaving Shenzhen, Shenzhen University offers engineering, information technology, materials and optoelectronics alongside economics and law.
Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen is a neighbouring city campus whose fields include science and engineering, data science and artificial intelligence, and management and economics.
Tsinghua, in Beijing, lists engineering, computer science and materials science as main fields, the same technology-led mix as SUSTech.
Most Similar Schools Abroad
Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea works in materials, engineering and nanotechnologies, and is a science-and-technology university of the same type.
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia focuses on biological and environmental science and on computer and mathematical sciences, a science-and-technology institution like SUSTech.
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in Israel lists engineering, aerospace and computer science among its main fields, a technology-led profile like SUSTech's.
EPFL in Switzerland teaches engineering, computer science and life sciences, a technology-first profile that matches SUSTech's engineering and computing departments.
*our own picks (our criteria: a mix between domains, diploma delivered, reputation and size), but obviously too many criteria for an apple-to-apple ranking.
FAQ
When was SUSTech established?
The university was established in 2010 in Shenzhen, and its first students enrolled in 2011. In May 2018 it earned the authority to confer doctoral degrees.
Where in Shenzhen is the campus?
SUSTech sits in Nanshan District at 1088 Xueyuan Avenue, Shenzhen 518055. The campus covers 1.98 square kilometres, according to the university's facts page.
In which language are classes taught?
English is the medium of instruction, within a liberal arts and general education approach and a residential college system. Applicants should still check each programme page for language requirements.
How are undergraduates admitted at SUSTech?
The university has used a 6-3-1 model that counts the national college entrance exam for 60 percent, its own assessment for 30 percent and high school performance for 10 percent. Rules for international applicants differ, so the official admissions pages are the place to check them.
What research facility did SUSTech use during the pandemic?
Researchers used the Cryo-Electron Microscopy Center to produce images of the Covid-19 virus after inactivation and an intermediate state in which it invaded a host cell. The centre opened in November 2018.
With whom does SUSTech run joint projects?
It has a joint school of medicine with King's College London, a risk analysis institute with ETH Zurich, a mechanical engineering centre with MIT and a management institute with HEC Paris. A joint research centre on super smart cities with the University of Tokyo is also listed.
How does the university perform in rankings?
The Academic Ranking of World Universities 2026 places SUSTech in the 101-150 band. Its own site also reports 24th place worldwide and first in mainland China in the Times Higher Education Young University Rankings 2024.
*: without any judgment of the quality, readers are strongly encouraged to check the official status of the exact diploma envisioned as many universities have a mix of recognized diplomas, not recognized, “co-delivered,” “equivalent to”, “some pathways” (…), can change over time, and can be named differently from one country to another.
**: international reputation: is based on some criteria that do not mean much in some domains or specialties (number of researchers, of scientific publications, on budget ….). Our approximate 1-4 scale:
known locally
known locally and internationally
is listed in some of the world university’s classifications
is listed among the 20 firsts in some of world university’s classifications
***: estimated numbers, based on online sources and/or feedbacks. The numbers can vary greatly depending on school organisation (ex.: school is part of a group, it employs internal staff or external consultants or has public staff without employing them …). Refer to all the links provided to have accurate and updated numbers.
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