First established in 1902 as Sanjiang Normal School, it was only in 1952 that Nanjing University received its present name. The picturesque, tranquil and green city of Nanjing, one of the old imperial capitals, is both historically and culturally one of the most interesting cities in China. Within only 70 minutes you can reach the modern economic metropolis Shanghai by train.

Today Nanjing University houses 21 faculties and 59 institutes and offers 78 bachelors, 213 masters, 9 professional masters and 147 PhD programs. Nanjing University performs outstandingly in the disciplines Astronomy (Astrophysics), Physics, Material Science, Chemistry and Earth Science.

In 2012, Nanjing University ranked 6^th best university in China. It belongs to both the 211 and the 985 Project and is a member of the C9-League.

In the course of the partnership between Nanjing University and Freie Universität Berlin, which started in 1999, the two universities founded the Sino-German Nanjing Integrated Center for Earth Science (NICE) together, led by professors of FU Berlin and DAAD long-term lecturer Bernd Wünnemann. In 2012 this successful cooperation brought about a DAAD funded Geosciences double-master-program in Environmental Earth Sciences. A shared PhD program is also being planned on after the completion of the master's program.

Next to the partnership that has been maintained with the Freie Universität Berlin since 1999, Nanjing University has developed a wide network of international cooperations containing about 300 partners worldwide and 15 partners in Germany.