Jilin University is a national key comprehensive university under the direct administration of Ministry of Education in China. Located in Changchun, Jilin Province, the university was founded in 1946. In 1960, it was listed as a national key university. In 1984, it was one of the 22 universities initially granted the permission to admit postgraduates. In 1995, it became one of the first "Project 211" universities, as determined by the State Education Commission of China. In 2001, Jilin University was listed as one of the “Project 985” key construction universities. In 2004, it became one of the universities under the direct administration of the Ministry of Education of China. In 2017, it was rated as one of the universities for building world-class universities in the “Double World-class Initiative”.
In 2000, Jilin University merged with the former Jilin University of Technology, the former Norman Bethune University of Medical Sciences, the former Changchun University of Science and Technology, and the former Changchun Institute of Posts and Telecommunications. In 2004, the former University of Military Logistics also joined.
Jilin University offers a wide range of disciplines, within 52 colleges or schools, covering 12 academic categories, namely: philosophy, economics, law, education, literature, history, science, engineering, agriculture, medical science, management, and art. Among them, archaeology, mathematics, physics, chemistry, materials science and engineering, philosophy, law, mechanical and bionic engineering, electronic science and technology, geological resources and engineering, and one health are selected as “Double First-class” constructing disciplines according to the list released by Ministry of Education. JLU has 141 bachelor degree programs, 63 master degree programs, 49 doctoral degree programs, and 2 interdisciplinary doctoral programs. It also has 44 post-doctoral research stations.18 disciplines rank in the top 1% of the ESI. Two of these disciplines are in the top 1‰.