OVERVIEW

     The South China University of Technology (SCUT) is a public research-intensive university directly governed by the Chinese Ministry of Education.It is located in Guangzhou, and consisted of of three campuses: the Wushan Campus, the University Town Campus, and the Guangzhou International Campus.In 1960, SCUT was selected as a National Key University; in 1995, it was listed in China’s “Project 211”, a national endeavor aiming at strengthening top institutions of higher learning as a priority for the 21st century. In 2001, the university was listed in “Project 985”, which at the time was the country's most significant educational project for funding world-class universities. Then in 2017, it was chosen into China’s Double World Class project as a Category-A University. In 2018, SCUT was ranked the world's top 201-300 universities by the Academic Ranking of World Universities.

    The School of Physical Education (SPE) in SCUT was founded in January 2006, with a first-level discipline master program in physical education and a bachelor program in sport training. The school was formerly known as the Department of Physical Education, which was first founded as the Teaching and Research Section for Physical Education when the University was established in 1952. 

    The SPE at SCUT consists of (1) three departments: public physical education, competitive sports, and exercise science; (2) two centers: the center for gymnasium management and the center for fitness and health management; (3) two provincial level research bases: research base for sports industry of Guangdong Province, and research base for physical fitness monitoring and rehabilitation for drug addicts; and (4) one national level youth sports club.

    The school has a quality faculty team of strong professional capability and reasonable structure, with 83 faculty and staff, among which 71 are full-time teachers. There are 85 mater students and 183 undergraduate students. 

    With a goal of first-class university and first-class sports, the school holds the educational belief of all-round development, education first, and equal emphasis on physique and personality, adheres to the path of connotative development. While we give full play to the school running advantages of national double first-class universities, follow the idea of teaching as the core, group as the foundation, competition as the highlight and scientific research as the driving force, the school has taken the road of college sports development with SCUT characteristics. At present, the school is at the forefront of the country in physical education teaching and reforms, awarded as the national sunshine sports advanced unit. The university athletes have maintained a national leading position, winning President's Cup of the National University Games for seven consecutive times. Our training of sports professionals has distinct characteristics.

    SCUT has first-class sports venues and facilities in the country, including 3 multi-functional stadiums, 4 swimming pools, 5 track and fields (soccer field), 1 golf driving range, 1 rock climbing wall, and over 100 outdoor courts for a variety of ball sports.

    In the past 5 years, the school has made remarkable progress in research, with 7 funded national social science projects, 12 provincial and ministerial scientific research funds, and over 50 papers published in core journals. Moreover, the results from 5 research projects have been approved by provincial and ministerial governors to be adopted by relevant departments.

    The SPE has started its recruitment of undergraduate major in sports training since 2007. After obtaining the right to grant the master’s degree of primary discipline of physical education in 2011, the school obtained the qualification for master’s enrollment in 2014. In 2020, sports training was selected into the list of national and provincial first-class undergraduate professional construction sites. At present, the college recruits undergraduate students majoring in sports training, graduate students majoring in physical education (research and teaching oriented). We are committed to train high-level interdisciplinary sports professionals with creativity and practical skills, as well as all-round development of morality, intelligence and physique.

    The SPE continuously pays attention to the communication and cooperation with domestic and foreign institutions, including graduate and undergraduate student exchange programs with the University of Texas at Austin, Shanghai University of Sport, Taiwan Normal University etc. Moreover, we carried out faculty professional development programs, academic research communication and sports competition with many overseas famous universities such as Hong Kong Polytechnic University, University of Besancon, Springfield University, and University of Idaho. We have established two student practice bases with Zhengding national table tennis training base and Guangdong Ersha sports training base.

HISTORY

    The SPE originated from the physical education teaching and research section during the establishment of SCUT in 1952, and was changed to the Department of Physical Education in 1992. The SPE was finally established in 2006 to meet the needs of the development of the university and society, and began to recruit undergraduate major in sports training in 2007. After 4 years of development, the SPE was approved by the Ministry of Education to grant the first-class master of physical education in 2011 and began to recruit full-time master students in physical education. In 2014, the SPE obtained a professional master degree program qualification.

    The old stadium (original location of the department of physical education) 

 the university leaders and the student athletes way back

    The Asian College Student Track and Field Invitational Tournament was held at SCUT in November, 1995 

    The SCUT women’s soccer team won the championship of the 3rd National College Students “Jinbao Cup”in 1993