Xiangtan University (XTU; ) is a provincial public university in Xiangtan, Hunan, China. Founded in 1958, the university is affiliated with the Hunan Provincial People's Government with co-sponsorship from the Ministry of Education of China and SASTIND. The university is part of the Double First Class University Plan.
History
In 1958, under the proposal of Mao Zedong, Xiangtan University was founded in Xiangtan County of Hunan Province, where Mao was born and grew up. The university ceased to run by the order of the provincial authority in 1959, but then recovered its function in 1974. The university became a member of the Double First Class University Plan in 2022.
Rankings
General Rankings
As of 2022, the Best Chinese Universities Ranking, also known as the "Shanghai Ranking", placed the university the best in Xiangtan and 4th in Hunan (the only university outside Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province) .
As of 2023, the Academic Ranking of World Universities, also known as ShanghaiRanking, placed Xiangtan University # 801-900th globally.
In 2017, Times Higher Education ranked the university top 800-1000 in the world. In 2021, Xiangtan University was ranked in the top 1000 universities in the world by several international rankings including the Academic Ranking of World Universities, the Times Higher Education, the U.S. News & World Report and the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR).
Research and Subject Rankings
The 2023 CWTS Leiden Ranking ranked Xiangtan University at 610th in the world based on their publications for the period 2018–2021. The Nature Index Annual Tables 2023 by Nature Research ranked Xiangtan University among the top 500 leading universities globally for the high quality of research publications in natural science.