Wuhan University (WHU) is proficient in natural sciences research. Its sciences have a solid foundation and its engineering boasts distinct characteristics.

WHU is proud of its prominent faculty. It has 4 members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 7 members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 11 leading scientists from National 973 Program, 4 specialists of the 863 Program, 4 innovative teams of CSC (China Scholarship Council) and 29 winners of National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars.

WHU has 4 state key laboratories, 2 national engineering research centers, 2 national field research stations, 12 key laboratories at the level of MOE (the Ministry of Education), 5 engineering research centers at the level of MOE, 37 key research bases of natural sciences at provincial and ministry level and an array of WHU scientific research centers.

After the integration with three other universities in 2000, WHU has made great progress in scientific and technological innovation.

In 2000, the total funding for the four universities for scientific research was below 100 million RMB. In 2004, the number surpassed 250 million RMB and 580 million RMB in 2008. In 2010, funding for scientific research amounted to 1 billion RMB. The total funding for scientific research accounted for about 30% of WHU's revenue since 2004.

As for the projects supported by Chinese National Natural Science Foundation, WHU had 62 projects approved with a total funding of 13.36 million RMB in 2000, 89 approved with 17.96 million RMB in 2001, 277 approved with 106 million RMB in 2009 and 343 approved with 122.6 million RMB in 2010.

With regard to the National Major Science and Technology Project, WHU presided over 14 projects (tasks) in 8 major projects of Significant New Drug Development, Prevention and Control of Major Infectious Diseases such as AIDS and Viral Hepatitis, Cultivation of New Varieties of Genetically Modified Organisms, and Next-Generation Broadband Wireless Mobile Communication Network, etc. and participated in 35 tasks with a total state funding of 170 million RMB.

In recent years, WHU has made vigorous efforts to promote the exceptional distribution and development of key research bases, investing in total 300 million RMB in the construction of the bases. 8 national platforms, 54 provincial and MOE platforms and 64 WHU scientific research centers (including the WHU-run enterprises research and development centers) have been built, forming a system of research centers where the nation, Hubei Province and WHU achieve an organic integration and coordinated development. Also, the system of research centers became a significant prop for WHU's scientific innovation, laying the foundation for WHU's sustained development in science and technology.

From 2001 to 2009, WHU identified and approved more than 250 applicable scientific and technological achievements, and won more than 400 national, ministerial or provincial scientific and technological awards among which national awards amounted to 25 including 1 National Prize for Technological Invention, 5 National Prizes for Natural Sciences, and 19 National Prizes for Progress in Science and Technology. In 2010, WHU won 2 National Second Prizes for Natural Sciences, 11 National Prizes for Progress in Science and Technology and 46 provincial or ministerial scientific and technological awards.

The amount of patent application and authorization for WHU keeps increasing year by year among which more than 60% are patents for invention. In 2010, WHU applied for up to 383 patents including 296 patents for invention which account for 78% of the total number of patent applications. 285 patents were finally authorized among which 132 were patents for invention.

The number of scientific papers published by WHU has been increasing steadily. The quality of scientific papers by WHU published in the international journals ranks in the forefront among all the universities in China. According to the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information for China, in 2009, 1211 international scientific papers by WHU indexed in SCI were cited and the cited times were 5613, ranking No. 8 in the nation. In 2008, WHU published 1240 papers in the interdisciplinary areas of natural sciences and social sciences, maintaining the traditional strengths of WHU in the cross-disciplinary areas.