Founded in 1909 and located in Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu Province, Lanzhou University is one of the key universities under Ministry of Education, China. Currently, it houses 23 schools: School of Chinese Language and Literature, School of Journalism and Communication, School of History and Culture, School of Economics, School of Management, School of Philosophy and Sociology, School of Foreign Languages and Literature, School of Law, School of Politics and Administration, School of Arts, School of Education, School of Mathematics and Statistics, School of Information Science and Engineering, School of Physical Science and Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, School of Life Science, School of Resources and Environment, School of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, School of Atmospheric Science, School of Continuing Education, School of Network Education, School of Higher Vocational Education, School of International Cultural Exchange.

   There are 6 National Bases for the Training of Researching and Teaching personnel for Fundamental Disciplines. The University operates an additional 35 institutes along with 1 national key Laboratory of the Applied Organic and 3 key laboratories of Arid and Grassland Ecology, West China Environment, Magnetism and Magnetic Materials of the Ministry of Education, a key laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystem of the Ministry of Agriculture.

   In 1981, Lanzhou University became one of the first universities entitled to enroll Bachelor, Master’s and Doctoral degree candidates; it was also authorized to set up postdoctoral research programs in Physics, Chemistry and Biology. The undergraduate degree program consists of four years of study, while postgraduate and doctoral candidates complete their studies from between 2 and 3 years. In total, the University provides education for over 36, 400 students, among whom there are nearly 12,000 formal undergraduate students.

   By placing emphasis on basic theoretical research, Lanzhou University has made great achievements in the fields of Organic Chemistry, Cell Biology, Theoretical Physics, Nuclear Physics and Technology, Magnetics, Plant Physiology, Ecology, Basic Mathematics, Mechanics, Natural Geography, Synoptic Dynamics, Inorganic Chemistry, Analytic Chemistry, and others. According to statistics provided by the Scientific Citation Index (SCI) and the Index Scientific Research (ISR), Lanzhou University is one of the top ten universities in contributions to academic publications in international journals frequently cited by ongoing research from around the world. Specifically, in 1992 and 1993, the university ranked third nationally in contributions to academic publications and sixth place in journal citations, thus bringing international attention to the university from academic societies worldwide. In the last decade the University has emphasized studies in the special characteristics and problems of China’s Northwestern Provinces in the fields of Customs, Economy, Society, Science and Culture, Dunhuang Studies, Northwestern History and Geography, Population, Geological Engineering, Glaciation, Plateau Atmosphere, Plant Physiology and Arid Ecology. The importance of these studies has brought high recognition and praise from the Central Government.

   At the conference on Asian Higher Education held in Manila, Philippines in 1993, 100 universities were cited for their academic excellence; Lanzhou University ranks sixth among the 26 universities selected from China. In 1995, 13 Chinese universities were selected as the most Prominent universities in China and, once again, Lanzhou University ranked sixth in this category. All of these achievements help make Lanzhou University well-known at home and abroad.

Lanzhou University is active in developing international education exchange and cooperation through the international exchange of post-graduate students, visiting scholars and scientific research cooperation with universities and organizations in more than 30 foreign countries and regions including USA, Japan, UK, France, Germany, Australia, Canada, Russia, Kong Kong and many others.

   The current President of Lanzhou University is Professor Zhou Xuhong.