Beihang University stands as a pioneering institution in China for research and application in software technology and software engineering. During the National Discipline Assessments, the Software Engineering discipline received an A+ rating and has consecutively been listed among the National "First-class Disciplines" on two occasions. Since its establishment in 2002, the School of Software, recognized as one of the initial National Demonstrative Software Colleges, has consistently played a crucial role in supporting the software engineering discipline. Over the past years, it has cultivated more than 26,000 software professionals who are actively driving technological advancements in the country and the industry. In 2019, the School was honored to be selected as one of the first-batch National Flagship Undergraduate Major Programs for software engineering. Additionally, in 2021, it was distinguished as one of the initial Distinctive and Demonstrative Software Colleges, further underlining its leadership in software education and research.
School of Software
Study
The School has devised a novel approach to exploring the integration of industry and education in cultivating talents for key software, with representative directions including critical basic software, large-scale industrial software, safety-critical software, and intelligent software engineering. This approach aims to serve the major strategic needs of the country and achieve three transformations in software engineering talent cultivation: shifting from being primarily driven by market demands to being primarily driven by national strategies in cultivating software talents; transitioning from cultivating talents who merely adapt to the development of the software industry to rearing advanced and composite software talents with independent innovation capabilities; and balancing the focus between talent cultivation and technological breakthroughs oriented towards national strategic needs.
As one of the first national first-class undergraduate programs for software engineering, the School primarily focuses on cultivating excellent engineers in the realm of critical software. Additionally, it holds the position of Chairman Unit within the Consortium dedicated to fostering Excellent Engineers in the field of Key Software. Its mission is to nurture high-level, composite software talents with independent innovation capabilities, emphasizing innovative potential and engineering prowess. By concentrating on professional areas such as intelligent industrial software, big data analytics, basic software, new platform software, and intelligent software engineering, the School aims to equip students with strong professional ethics, a sense of responsibility, robust theoretical and professional knowledge in software engineering, excellent communication and coordination skills, international competitiveness, and innovative abilities. The School explores a "Beihang Model" for software engineering talent development that meets the needs of national economic progress.
The School encourages students to develop holistically, fostering qualities and abilities that are highly valued and sought after by both society and enterprises. The School actively fosters an ecosystem aimed at nurturing students' innovation and entrepreneurship capabilities by leveraging a comprehensive four-tier scientific and technological innovation platform that spans from the college level to the university, domestic, and international realms. This platform ensures that all our undergraduates engage in science and technology competitions. Leveraging university-enterprise cooperation platforms, students' scientific and technological innovation projects are steered towards focusing on industry forefronts, thereby enhancing their practical value and relevance.
In recent years, students have earned more than 500 awards, including high-profile honors like the National Grand Prize in the "Problem-Solving and Innovation Challenge" category of the "Challenge Cup" National Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Works Competition, the National Gold Award at the China International College Students' Innovation Contest, and Third Place in the Asian Regional Contest of the International Collegiate Programming Contest.
Currently enrolled students and graduates have founded thirteen high-tech enterprises, several of which have successfully made their debut on the stock market. Over the past three years, more than 75% of undergraduates have opted for graduate studies, while the employment rate has soared above 98%. Notably, over 80% of graduates have secured roles in scientific and technological industries, key software sectors, and reputable high-tech companies, reflecting a broad employment spectrum, superior employment quality, and lucrative salaries.
Faculty
The School has built a world-class faculty team by implementing an integrated strategy focused on "leadership development, core strengthening, structural diversity, industry partnerships, and global engagement." This approach follows a "strong core-expanded periphery" model, blending full-time scholars, jointly appointed experts, and adjunct professionals to drive innovation and excellence.
The faculty consists of 50 full-time members, featuring one academician, three national-level leading talents, six national-level young talents, 23 full professors, and 21 associate professors.
The School's adjunct faculty system brings together top academics from China's elite 985 universities and renowned industry experts worldwide, creating a dynamic intellectual ecosystem. This tiered structure ensures visionary leadership from world-class researchers shaping strategic direction, cutting-edge innovation driven by emerging scholars, and a balanced approach integrating theoretical rigor with practical expertise.
Research
The School conducts research in alignment with national strategies and academic frontiers in key software sectors, leveraging national and provincial-level research platforms like the National Key Laboratory of Complex and Critical Software Environment and the National Key Laboratory of Virtual Reality Technology and Systems, as well as school-locality cooperation initiatives such as the Hangzhou Research Institute. These efforts have forged leading-edge advancements in fundamental software for human-cyber-physical systems, advanced industrial software methodologies and environments, safety-critical system software and engineering, and artificial intelligence and intelligent software engineering. By achieving breakthroughs in fundamental theories and core technologies, establishing crucial systems and platforms, tackling national major research initiatives, supporting the security validation of independently developed operating systems, fulfilling software testing and evaluation responsibilities for various major projects, and addressing key software challenges encountered during the development and operation of national projects, the School is driving significant technological advancements in China's critical software sector.
Over the past five years, the School has achieved remarkable success by publishing over 350 research papers in highly esteemed journals and prestigious international conferences, including Nature's sub-journals, IEEE Transactions, ACM Transactions, ICSE, TPAMI, CVPR, ASE, ISSTA, AAAI, FSE, and more. It has also garnered significant recognition with 12 Best Paper awards and three Outstanding Paper honors at notable conferences such as ASE, ISSTA, ICSE, FSE, AAAI 2021, and IEEE IWQoS 2022. Additionally, the School has received ten national, provincial and ministerial awards, including the second prize of the National Natural Science Award, the first prize of the Natural Science Award from the Ministry of Education, and the first prize of the Science and Technology Progress Award from the China Electronics Society. It is noteworthy that four faculty members have been acknowledged as national leading talents, three have been recognized as top 2% global scholars or highly cited scientists, and another three have been selected for the China Association for Science and Technology's Youth Talent Support Program. These achievements have notably enhanced the School's international reputation and made invaluable contributions to the progress and development of its academic disciplines.
The School promotes the integration of industry and education, as well as scientific research innovation, by seamlessly incorporating software engineering talent development into collaborative software technology research efforts through interdisciplinary partnerships and industry-driven initiatives. For years, it has forged joint laboratories or research hubs for software technology with esteemed entities such as aviation industry enterprises, aerospace science and industry corporations, aerospace technology enterprises, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, the Manned Spaceflight Software Engineering Center, Huawei, Kylinsoft, and the Digital Design and Manufacturing Group.
International Cooperation
The School vigorously pursues international teaching and research collaborations, utilizing the online mode to innovate and explore new mechanisms for international cooperation. It explores the creation of a comprehensive system that integrates international software engineering faculty, curriculum, and training certifications, aiming to enhance students' competencies in international communication and global employability. Additionally, the School hosts prestigious software engineering academic conferences to elevate its international standing and visibility. Efforts are also made to strengthen international cooperation in talent cultivation and technological innovation, constructing an open international cooperation network that integrates online and offline elements and establishing a normalized mechanism for international academic exchanges. Through international talent recruitment initiatives, the School invites highly qualified international faculty to deliver short-term courses. Teachers and students regularly visit foreign countries to participate in international conferences and various academic activities, while foreign experts are invited to deliver academic reports, providing effective support for research work, talent cultivation, and faculty team construction.
The School is committed to establishing benchmarks for a distinctive and exemplary software college, aligning its endeavors with national strategic directives and the dynamic needs of the software industry. Furthermore, it aspires to emerge as a pivotal hub for nurturing national strategic scientific and technological innovation capabilities and exceptional software talents, particularly in the fields of critical basic software and large-scale industrial software. This ambition will be fueled by harnessing interdisciplinary synergies and fostering seamless integration between academia and industry.
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Tel: +86-10-82338957
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Email：wangyanji@buaa.edu.cn
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Address：School of Software, Beihang University, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, P.R. China
