Formerly known as Changchun Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Changchun University of Science and Technology (CUST) was founded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1958. It is New China’s first institution of higher education dedicated to cultivating specialized optical‑field talents. Wang Daheng, a meritorious contributor to the “Two Bombs, One Satellite” program and member of both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, was the university’s founder and its first president. Through more than 60 years of construction and development, CUST has grown into a key provincial university of Jilin Province with distinctive optoelectronic features. It is a member university of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization University, the China‑Russia Comprehensive University Alliance and the China‑Russia Engineering University Alliance, and enjoys the reputation of “Cradle of China’s Optical Talents”.

The university hosts 9 post‑doctoral research mobile stations. It offers 9 first‑level discipline doctoral degree authorization programs covering 38 doctoral disciplines, 21 first‑level discipline master’s degree authorization programs covering 102 master’s disciplines, 2 categories of professional doctoral degrees and 11 categories of professional master’s degrees. Among its authorized disciplines are 1 national key discipline, 5 national defense‑featured disciplines, 3 Jilin Provincial university‑level world‑class nurturing disciplines, 4 top‑priority disciplines of Jilin Province, and 16 high‑level featured disciplines of Jilin Province, alongside 58 undergraduate majors.

In the 6th Round of China Discipline Evaluation organized by the Ministry of Education, the discipline of Optical Engineering at CUST was rated Class‑A nationwide, placing the university in a prominent leading position among provincial‑run universities in disciplinary strength. CUST is one of China’s early research institutions engaged in advanced optical design, novel imaging technologies, optical system testing and optical manufacturing technologies. Relying on the Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Optical System Design and Manufacturing Technology and the China‑Russia Mirror Experimental Center, it boasts prominent characteristics and advantages in optical design & manufacturing, as well as assembly, alignment and testing of complex optical systems.

Brief Introduction to ITMO University

Founded in 1900, ITMO University is one of Russia’s leading engineering‑focused universities, maintaining world‑leading standards in information technology and quantum optics. In 2009, it became one of Russia’s 29 universities granted the status of National Research University. In 2012, it was selected for Project 5‑100, the Russian federal initiative to enhance the international competitiveness of national higher‑education institutions. In 2021, it joined Russia’s Priority‑2030 Program. The university comprises 20 faculties, with over 12,000 enrolled students and more than 1,200 faculty and research staff, among whom over 700 hold Doctor of Sciences or Candidate of Sciences degrees.

Its key research areas cover optical technologies, computer information engineering, technical control systems, precision mechanical engineering, electronic engineering and electronics, as well as applied research in fundamental mathematical technologies. In the QS World University Rankings 2021, ITMO University was ranked 365th globally. It is the world’s only university to have won the ACM‑ICPC International Collegiate Programming Contest seven times.