The development goal of Wuhan University of Technology is to build a multidisciplinary, open, and distinctive research university, namely "the nation first class university overall and the world first class university in some disciplines”. To achieve this goal, Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) firmly adheres to the principle of "people-oriented, truth-seeking and innovation, strengthening characteristics, and coordinated development" and sets scientific research as a bridge and center linking discipline construction, talent training, knowledge innovation, and social services, making scientific and technological innovation the school’s core competency.
WUT pays attention to the construction of scientific research bases and innovation platforms. It has established 40 national, provincial and ministerial research bases, including the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, National Engineering Research Center for Water Transportation Safety, National Engineering Laboratory for Fiber Optic Sensing Technology and the National Engineering Research Center for Water Transportation Safety, 3 provincial and ministerial level collaborative innovation centers, including the Center of the Intelligent Inland Water Transportation in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport, the Center of Automotive Parts and Components Technology, and the Center of Early Warning and Emergency Response System in collaboration with Hubei Province, as well as more than 230 scientific and technological cooperation and achievement transformation institutions in collaboration with local governments and industry enterprises. Since 2007, the school has been approved to establish 5 subject innovation and intelligence introduction bases including the Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing and Advanced Functional Materials, and 4 international scientific and technological cooperation bases including the International Joint Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing. Since 2009, the school has established 16 high-level international cooperative research platforms with famous universities in the United States, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, and Japan.
Since the Tenth Five-Year Plan, the university has undertaken a total of 5377 national, provincial and ministerial science and technology projects, with a total of 10.532 billion yuan in scientific research funds (including 1.074 billion yuan in 2019). WUT has won 1083 scientific and technological achievements awards, 39 of which are at national level and 741 at provincial and ministerial level. including 39 national science and technology awards 741 items, provincial and ministerial level science and technology awards. 10975 papers of WUT had been included by SCI/SCIE, and 11066 papers by EI.
In recent years, the university's major projects have set a record high. In 2019, academician Yan Xinping of the Transportation Center led the Green Intelligence Inland Ship Innovation Major Project entrusted the Ministry of Industry and Information. The number of projects funded with tens of millions hit an all-time high. In 2018, Professor Pan Changxue from the School of Art and Design, receiving 129.23m yuan in research funding, led the Research on Key Technologies for Cruise Ship Aesthetics entrusted by the Ministry of Industry and Information.
In 2019, the school won 3 State Science and Technology Prizes, including two Second Prizes of the State Natural Science Award and the State Technological of Invention Award as the first completion organization, as well as the Special Prize of the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award as an participating organization,ranked 19th in terms of the number of awards nationwide... Since 2010, WUT, as one of the leading universities in China, has been honored with 15 State Science and Technology Awards.
At present, the school’s scientific and technological work is showing a good momentum of rapid and sustainable development. Relying on the characteristics of the three major industries of materials, transportation, and automobiles, it has established a diversified structure of scientific and technological innovation system in which "knowledge innovation acts as the foundation, technological innovation as the focus, and achievement transformation innovation as a breakthrough" and a scientific research management model with "clear goals, sound systems, reasonable policies, and effective measures" has been formed.
On the journey of independent innovation, the school will further condense its direction, integrate resources, gather teams, deepen the integration of production, education and research, actively undertake major national scientific and technological tasks, promote international scientific and technological cooperation, lead the development of industrial science and technology, and serve regional economic construction. It will form a large team, strive for large projects, and make great achievements by building a large platform, so as to promote the school's leapfrog development!
