The history of Tongji University can be traced back to 1907 when the
German Medical School for the Chinese () in Shanghai was founded by the German government together with the German physicians Erich Paulun, Oscar von Schab and Paul Krieg. The school was affiliated with the Tongji-Hospital the German physicians had established in Shanghai on the initiative of Paulun. The name Tongji, which is a phonetic approximation in
Shanghainese of German
deutsche ("German"), suggests cooperating by riding the same boat. The school was expanded to include engineering in its programs and got its new name as German Medical and Engineering School for the Chinese in Shanghai in 1912. It was formally established as a Chinese university under the name of Tongji University in 1923/1924 and was renamed as National Tongji University in 1927. During the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), the university campus was moved from
Shanghai first to
Zhejiang Province, then to
Jiangxi Province and
Yunnan Province and later to
Sichuan Province. It was eventually moved back to
Shanghai in 1946. Tongji became one of the first universities authorized by the
State Council to establish a graduate school. It became a member of the
Project 211, which provided universities with substantial government fund. In 1995, the university became one to be jointly supported by the State
Education Commission and the
Shanghai Municipal Government. In 1996 the university merged with Shanghai Institute of Urban Construction and Shanghai Institute of Building Materials. The merger was acknowledged by the State Council as "Tongji Model" in the system renovation of higher institutions in China. In April 2000, the expanded Tongji merged again with Shanghai Railway University. The university is now a comprehensive university which offers a wide range of programs in science, engineering, medicine, arts, law, economics and management.
Timeline • November 2010 - Signed a cooperation agreement with
Instituto Superior Técnico making IST the Portuguese Campus of Tongji University • July 2005 - Signed a cooperation agreement with
Politecnico di Milano and
Politecnico di Torino concerning the development of Sino-Italian University Campus in Shanghai and establishment of a Sino-Italian House, one year later a dual bachelor's degree project in engineering, called PoliTong, was launched • 2002 - Listed in
Project 985 • April 2000 - Merged with Shanghai Railway University (a merge between Shanghai Railway College and Shanghai Railway Medical College in May 1995) • August 1996 - Merged with Shanghai Institute of Urban Construction and Shanghai Institute of Building Materials • November 1995 - Listed in
Project 211 • October 1995 - Declared to be jointly built by the former State Education Commission and the Shanghai Municipal Government • December 1978 - Upon consent by the State Council, resumed connection with Germany and became the window of the cultural, technology and science exchanges between China and Germany • February 1972 - Tongji University merged with the Marine Geology Department of
East China Normal University • 1952 - The Departments of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry in College of Science merged into
Fudan University, the Departments of Machinery, Electrical Engineering and Ship Manufacture merged into
Shanghai Jiaotong University. In the meanwhile, Tongji University merged the Civil Engineering Department and School of Architecture from
Saint John's University, Shanghai and several other universities. • 1951 - The Department of Biology in College of Science merged into
East China Normal University, the Medical School and the Department of Survey in College of Engineering moved to Wuhan,
Hubei Province • September 1949 - College of Literature and Arts, College of Law merged into
Fudan University • June 1949 - Tongji University was taken over by Shanghai Military Control Commission • August 1946 - College of Science expanded as College of Literature and Science moved back to Shanghai • April 1946 - Moved back to
Shanghai • 1945 - Established the College of Law • October 1940 - Moved Lizhuang in Yibin,
Sichuan Province • Winter 1938 - Moved to
Kunming,
Yunnan Province • September 1937 - Moved to the south of China due to the
Second Sino-Japanese War • August 1927 - Renamed as National Tongji University • May 20, 1924 - Approved by the government to be one of the first national universities in China. • March 1922 - Renamed as Tongji Medical and Engineering University • October 1907 - Established as Tongji German Medical School ==Present==