INTRODUCTION 

     Fudan University, which was founded in 1905, began its first chemistry program in 1926 to undertake responsibility for training students of science and engineering. The program developed quickly and the Department of Chemistry was established 3 years later. In 1952 as a result of the national reorganization of institutions of higher learning the chemistry departments of 7 universities (Fudan, Zhejiang, Jiaotong, Tongji, Hujiang, Datong and Zhendan) combined to form the new Department of Chemistry of Fudan University. Through 70 years' development and improvement, the Department has become one of the important educational bases for training first-class professionals in its field. Since 1952, over 5,000 B.Sc., 500 M.Sc. and100 Ph.D. graduates have received their training in the Department.

     The Chemistry Department consists of 4 disciplines, 2 institutes (Institute of Applied Chemistry and  Institute of Laser Chemistry), 2 experimental centers (Educational Experiment Center of Fundamental Chemistry  and Educational Experiment Center of Comprehensive Chemistry). The disciplines are Inorganic Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and Physical Chemistry(including Electrochemistry, Catalysis and Laser Chemistry). In early 1980s, the Discipline of Physical Chemistry was officially recognized by the State Education Commission (SEC) as one of the national key disciplines and it was chosen as one of the foremost disciplines of Fudan University recently. The Discipline of Inorganic Chemistry(including Analytical Chemistry) is also one of the major disciplines of the university. Furthermore, Proteomics  and Chip Analysis are two new cross-discipline development programs. In 1989, as a part of the World Bank Loan Project the State Special Laboratory of Physical Chemistry was established in the Department to strengthen research and training of postgraduate students in the field. Five years ago, following the designation of Fudan University by the government as a constituent of the State "211 Project"  receiving  financial priority  to develop and expand educational programs a new Laboratory of Surface Chemistry was constructed.

     The department academic staff, which now totals about 95, is headed by 2 members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and 25 full professors. There are also 15 visiting professors from other universities and research institutions, who make an important contribution to enhance constant and valuable interchange of experience and knowledge.

     The departmental teaching and research laboratories covering an area of 20,000m2 are equipped with a wide variety of sophisticated instruments, such as X~ray Diffractometer, Infrared-Raman Spectrometer, Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer, Auger Electron Spectrometer, X-ray and Ultraviolet Photoelectron Spectrometer, 500 MHz and 300 MHz Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer, Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscope, SMART-APEXCCD Single Crystal Diffractometer, Molecular Beam System, Stop-flow Dynamics System, Physisorption-Chemisorption Analysis System and so on. The departmental library with an area of 500m2 has a collection of over 30,000 books in Chinese and foreign languages and subscribes to more than 500 chemical journals or magazines. A Chinese Chemistry Bibliographic Database is available and the data retrieval system is connected with the university library directly, providing a favorable service to fulfill the requirements of the teachers and students. From the year of 2000 to 2003, the university will spare another 10 million and 20 million for the improvement of fundamental education and scientific research conditions of the Department, respectively.

     At the undergraduate level two Major Subjects, Chemistry and Applied Chemistry, are offered, both of which lead to B.Sc. Degree authorized by SCE. In 1993 our Chemistry Subject was singled out by SCE to be one of the National Training Bases for Scientific Researchers and Teachers. In the education of graduate students, the Department has 4 Ph.D. programs and 4 M.Sc. programs in chemistry, including Physical Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry and Organic Chemistry. A Post-doctoral Research Center was built to attract young Ph.D. graduates from other institutions home and abroad to join in our research and teaching work. To encourage outstanding students to take advanced studies, the department provides continuous graduate programs from B.Sc to M.Sc and M.Sc to Ph.D. At present, the Department has a student body of about 650 including 500 undergraduates, 100 M.Sc. candidates and 50 Ph.D. candidates.

     Our attitude to undergraduate studies is to ensure an adequate background in fundamental chemistry and a good training in experimental skills and to allow a balance between specialization and a broadly based education. For this purpose, more than 100 lecture and laboratory courses are offered each year. Since 1978 our faculty members have published dozens of textbooks, 8 of which have won the Prize of ''Teaching Material of Excellence'' awarded by SEC or Shanghai Municipal Administration. During the years of 1981-85, national examinations for Chemistry Graduate Program were administered among  China's key universities to select qualified students for further studies in American universities. 80% of the students from our department who participated in the competition succeeded in the examinations and were admitted into American universities, making up l/6 of the total number of qualified students and ranking the first in China's key universities. In order to motivate students to study harder and to inspire teachers to work better, the Chemistry Department has set up a number of Scholarships and Prizes in addition to those of the University, such as Exxon Scholarship, Tian Jigeng Scholarship, Shanghai Society of Chemistry and Chemical Industry Scholarship, and Liang Zaihui-Ji Xiaohui Prize.

     In scientific research, we adhere to the principle of integrating theory with practice, and lay emphasis both on basic and applied research. Since the 1980s, our staff members have undertaken or participated in more than 90 important research projects of various kinds which are supported by the state or municipal government. Every year, we have several hundred papers published in important scientific journals. Since 1978, we have been awarded 5 prizes by the National Conference of Science, 6 invention prizes by the State Council, over 40 prizes by SEC or other administrations at various levels. In 1999, the total research fund of the Department was above 6 million, and more than 200 papers, among which above 50% were cited by SCI, were published.

     It has been more than 70 years since the Chemistry Department was established. We have achieved great success in the decades past. We are confident that a brilliant future lies before us in the new millennium.

 Prof. FAN Kang-Nian

Chairman of Department

 Department of Chemistry, Fudan University

Address: No. 220 Handan Road, Shanghai, China

Area Code: 200433

Telephone: 86-21-65642791 (General office)

86-21-65642798 (Chairman)

Fax: 65641740

E-mail: chmoffice@fudan.edu.cn