Central South University (CSU; ) is a national public university in Changsha, Hunan, China. The university is sponsored by the China Ministry of Education. It is a Chinese state Double First Class University. Hunan Medical University, Changsha Railway College, and Central South University of Technology merged to establish Central South University in April 2000. History CSU was established by approval of the State Council on 29 April 2000 by merging three separate universities: Hunan Medical University (HMU), Changsha Railway University (CRU) and Central South University of Technology (CSUT). HMU, formerly under the administration of the Ministry of Health, dates back to 1914 when Xiangya Medical College was founded through the joint efforts of Hunan Yuqun Society and the Yale-China Association. CRU, one of the universities under the administration of the Ministry of Railways, initially restructured in 1953 as Central South College of Civil Engineering and Architecture. It was established in 1960 based on its predecessor's teaching and research divisions. CSUT, one of universities under the administration of the Ministry of Education, was originally named Central South Institute of Mining and Metallurgy in 1952 when a nationwide restructuring of institutes of higher education began. It incorporated departments of mining and metallurgy from six universities including Wuhan University, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangxi University, Hunan University, Nanchang University and Beijing Institute of Technology. Academics Central South University (CSU) is a national key university under the direct administration of the Ministry of Education of China and a member of the Double First Class University Plan, former nationally prestigious Project 211 and Project 985. CSU covers an area of 392.4 hectares with campuses located across the Xiang River at the base of the Yuelu Hill close to its neighbor Hunan University. CSU offers 83 bachelor's degrees, 282 master's degrees and 142 doctorate degrees from 31 colleges and institutes and a graduate school: Literature and Journalism Foreign Languages Architecture and Art Business School Law School Marxism Public Administration Mathematics and Statistics Physics and Electronics Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Energy Science and Engineering Material Science and Engineering Powder Metallurgy Research Institute Traffic and Transportation Engineering Civil Engineering Metallurgy and Environment Geoscience and Environmental Engineering Info-physics and Geomatics Engineering Resources and Safety Engineering Minerals Processing and Bioengineering Information Science and Engineering Xiang-ya School of Medicine Pharmaceutical Sciences Public Health Basic Medical Sciences Stomatology School of Life Sciences Research Department of Physical Education School of