山东大学是一所历史悠久、学科齐全、学术实力雄厚、办学特色鲜明，在国内外具有重要影响的教育部直属重点综合性大学，是国家“211工程”和“985工程”重点建设的高水平大学之一。
山东大学是中国近代高等教育的起源性大学。其医学学科起源于1864年，为近代中国高等教育历史之最。其主体是1901年创办的山东大学堂，是继京师大学堂之后中国创办的第二所国立大学，也是中国第一所按章程办学的大学。从诞生起，学校先后历经了山东大学堂、国立青岛大学、国立山东大学、山东大学以及由原山东大学、山东医科大学、山东工业大学三校合并组建的新山东大学等几个历史发展时期。百余年间，山东大学秉承“为天下储人才”、“为国家图富强”的办学宗旨，践行“学无止境，气有浩然”的校训，踔厉奋发，薪火相传，形成了“崇实求新”的校风，为国家和社会培养了40余万各类人才，为国家和区域经济社会发展做出了重要贡献。
作为国家首批重点建设的“211工程”和“985工程”大学，近年来山东大学实现了跨越式发展，各项事业均达到了前所未有的高度。学校的综合办学实力和竞争力明显增强，办学质量和为国家、区域服务的能力显著提高，国际影响力大幅度提升，9个学科的学术影响力和贡献能力跨入世界前1%。学校基本完成了从教学科研型大学向研究型大学的转型。
学校规模宏大，实力雄厚。总占地面积8000余亩（含青岛校区约3000亩）， 形成了一校三地（济南、青岛、威海）八个校园（济南中心校区、洪家楼校区、趵突泉校区、千佛山校区、软件园校区、兴隆山校区及青岛校区、威海校区）的办学格局。现有4所附属医院，3所非隶属附属医院，11所教学、实习医院。拥有在职教职工7782人（不含附属医院）。各类全日制学生达6万人，其中，全日制本科生41103人，研究生16607人，留学生1813人。学校汇聚了一批杰出人才，共有教授1107人，博士生导师907人。其中，诺贝尔物理学奖获得者Peter Grünberg教授加盟山东大学，受聘为特聘教授；山东大学研究生导师莫言教授荣获2012年诺贝尔文学奖。同时，学校有中国科学院和工程院院士8人，双聘院士43人，山东大学终身教授11人，山东大学人文社科一级教授14人；“千人计划”国家特聘教授22人，“青年千人计划”5人；国务院学位委员会学科评议组成员7人；国家百千万人才工程入选者26人；教育部“长江学者奖励计划”特聘教授、讲座教授39人，国家杰出青年基金获得者32人，山东省泰山学者特聘专家教授45位、泰山学者海外特聘专家22位、泰山学者攀登计划人选4位，国家级教学名师9人。7个优秀科研创新团队入选教育部“创新团队发展计划”，3个优秀科研创新团队入选“国家自然科学基金创新研究群体”。学校还拥有精良的教学科研平台，有一级学科国家重点学科2个（涵盖8个二级学科）、二级学科国家重点学科14个、二级学科国家重点培育学科3个，省级重点学科70个，覆盖文、理、工、医四大学科领域，实现了各学科的协调发展；有国家重点实验室、国家工程技术研究中心、国家工程实验室、国家工程技术推广中心等国家级科研平台8个，国家“111创新引智计划项目”5项，教育部人文社会科学重点研究基地4个，教育部、卫生部重点实验室及工程技术研究中心20个，另有大批省级重点实验室和工程技术研究中心。
山东大学是中国目前学科门类最齐全的大学之一，在综合性大学中具有代表性。本科生和研究生层次教育涉及哲学、经济学、法学、教育学、文学、历史学、理学、工学、农学、医学、管理学、艺术学等12大学科门类。拥有一级学科博士学位授权点40个，一级学科硕士学位授权点55个，专业学位博士点3个，专业学位硕士点27个，本科专业118个，博士后科研流动站38个，形成了结构完整、实力雄厚、独具特色的人才培养体系。在历史发展中，山东大学形成了自己的学科优势和特色。特别是经过20世纪30年代和50年代在青岛办学时期的辉煌与发展，不仅奠定了“文史见长”的学术特色，出现了一批在国内外享誉甚高的人文学者，以及像《文史哲》这样备受关注的学术阵地，而且在自然科学领域也打下了良好基础，使山东大学跻身于中国著名学府的行列。上世纪末三校合并以来，新发展的金融数学、晶体材料、凝聚态物理、胶体界面化学、微生物、机械、材料学、心脑血管功能修复、新药制造、中国古典哲学等学科均达到国内一流水平，有些方向和领域已处在世界水平。
2010年7月，全国教育工作会议召开和《教育规划纲要》颁布实施以后，我国高等教育又将迎来新的机遇和历史性跨越，所有高等学校都站在了新的历史起点上。面对前所未有的历史性机遇，山东大学提出了在建校120周年时初步建成世界一流大学的宏伟目标。在新的历史起点，山东大学将抓住机遇，坚持走内涵发展、质量发展、特色发展道路，坚持学术立校、人才强校、特色兴校、依法治校战略，大力推进国际化，全面实施学术振兴行动计划，为实现建设世界一流大学的新的办学目标而不懈努力！
Shandong University, under the direct jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, is a key comprehensive university with a long history, a variety of disciplines, strong academic strength, and distinctive characteristics, which has great influence both at home and abroad. Shandong University is a member university of Project 211 and Project 985, two national key construction projects to support the development of high-quality universities.
Shandong University is one of the initiative universities of modern Chinese higher education. Its medical school, established in 1864, signified the beginning of modern Chinese higher education. Its main body, Shandong Imperial College (Shandong Da Xue Tang) established in 1901, was the second national university in China, only after the Imperial University of Peking. Moreover, it was the first university to be established and run in accordance with a chartered constitution.
Since its birth, Shandong University has gone through several stages of significant growth and change: starting as the Shandong Imperial College, it was then reborn as the National Qingdao University, the National Shandong University, Shandong University, and the Shandong University in its present form, which is the result of the merger of Shandong University, Shandong Medical University and Shandong Industrial University. For more than 100 years, Shandong University has been following the mission of “Reserve talents for the world, and seek prosperity for the nation” and the motto of "Noble in spirit, endless in knowledge." For this aim, it has cultivated over 400,000 talented young people of various specialties, and has been making significant contributions for the country and the regional economic and social development.
As one of the first universities finding its name on the list of Project 211 and Project 985, Shandong University has been developing by leaps and bounds in recent years, and each of its undertakings has reached unprecedented levels. The educational quality and competitiveness of the university have been remarkably improved. This improvement in the quality and capability of teaching has greatly increased both its international influence and its ability to serve the country and the local regions. The university has essentially accomplished its transformation from a teaching and research-oriented university to a research-oriented one.
Shandong University comprises 8 campuses (Jinan Central Campus, Hongjialou Campus, Baotuquan Campus, Qianfoshan Campus, Software Park Campus, Xinglongshan Campus, Qingdao Campus and Weihai Campus) in three different cities (Jinan, Qingdao and Weihai), covering an area of over 533 hectares (including 200 hectares of the Qingdao campus).
The university currently has 4 affiliated hospitals, 3 non-subordinate affiliated hospitals and 11 teaching hospitals. It also enjoys a teaching and administrative staff of 7,782 (not including affiliated hospitals). Its full-time student population totals up to 60,000, of which 41,103 are full-time undergraduates, 16,607 are postgraduates and 1,813 are international students. It also has an excellent faculty team of 1,107 professors, including 907 doctoral supervisors. Moreover, Professor Peter Grünberg, a German physicist and winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics, joined Shandong University as a special-term professor in 2012. Professor Mo Yan, a graduate supervisor from Shandong University, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in October 2012.
And now there are 8 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences or the Academy of Engineering, 43 double-hired academicians, 11 tenured professors of Shandong University, 14 first grade professors in humanities and social sciences; 22 distinguished professors of National “1000-talents Plan”, 5 scholars of National “Young 1000 Talents Plan”; 7 faculty members are seated on the Discipline Appraisal Group of the State Council Academic Degree Committee, 26 become candidates of the “100-, 1000- and 10000-talent Plan”, 39 distinguished professors and part-time professors from the "Changjiang Scholars Program" of the Ministry of Education , 32 winners of the "National Outstanding Youth Foundation” award, 45 posts for distinguished professors and experts from the "Taishan Scholars" of Shandong Province and 9 “National Renowned Teachers”. Seven academic innovation teams found themselves in the Innovation Team Development Plan of the Ministry of Education, and another three academic innovation teams were chosen as the Innovative Research Groups of National Natural Science Foundation of China. Shandong University provides 2 national key first-level disciplines (including eight second-level disciplines), 14 national key second-level disciplines, 3 key national second-level disciplines under cultivation, and 70 provincial key disciplines, covering the 4 disciplinary fields of liberal arts, science, engineering and medicine. Such a comprehensive disciplinary system helps it to achieve coordinated development between different disciplines. The university has eight state scientific research platforms, including a key national laboratory, a state engineering technology research center, a state engineering laboratory and a state engineering technology promotion center. It also has 5 state "111 Innovation and Education Planning Projects," 4 key social science research bases approved by the Ministry of Education, and a large number of provincial key laboratories and provincial engineering technology research centers.
Shandong University is one of the largest ranges of academic disciplines in China. There are at present 12 general disciplines for undergraduates and postgraduates, namely philosophy, economics, law, education, literature, history, science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, management, and fine arts. There are 40 first-level doctoral programs, 55 first-level master degree programs, 3 professional doctoral programs, 27 professional master degree programs, 118 programs for undergraduates, 38 mobile post-doctoral research stations, forming a complete system for cultivation of talent.
The growth of the university over the years has seen SDU rise to the forefront of many fields in China. In the 1930s and 1950s, when Shandong University was located in Qingdao, it was the home to many nationally famous scholars who paved the way for great success especially in the fields of literature and history. Up to this day, Shandong University is well-known for its strong liberal arts programs, and published the highly reputable academic journal Literature, History & Philosophy. These two periods also laid a good foundation for the university in natural sciences, enabling it to find itself among the noted institutions in China. Since the merger at the end of the last century, the university’s newly-developed disciplines of financial mathematics, crystal materials, condensed matter physics, colloid and surface chemistry, micro-biology, machinery, material science, cardiovascular functional recovery, new drug manufacturing, and classical Chinese philosophy have all risen to the first-class level within the country, and some are even known abroad.
With the opening of the National Educational Conference and the implementation of the “Education Planning Outline” in July, 2010, China’s higher education has yet another new opportunity for a historic leap, and all institutions of higher learning are standing at a new historic starting point. Facing the unprecedented opportunity, Shandong University has set a grand educational objective: initially becoming a world-class university by its 120th anniversary. At the new historical starting point, Shandong University will seize the opportunity, and adhere to the way of connotative development, quality promotion and feature building, to the strategy of institution existence by academia, strengthening by talents, prosperity by features, and management by law. Meanwhile, the university is to promote the internationalization of it, implement the Operation for Academic vitalization. With an already strong academic foundation and even more untapped potential, we are sure to achieve the goal of becoming one of the world’s highest ranking universities.
