The School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, has grown and developed on the basis of the majors of Silicate Engineering and Plastics Engineering established in the early 1950s when the university was founded. After more than 70 years of accumulation and innovation, it has formed the development philosophy of Stronger Fundamental Sciences, More Powerful Engineering, and Integration of Science and Engineering, making outstanding contributions to China's materials industry.

In 1981, the school obtained the right to award doctoral degrees in Polymer Materials and master's degrees in Inorganic Non-Metallic Materials. In 1986, it gained the right to confer doctoral degrees in Inorganic Non-Metallic Materials and master's degrees in Composite Materials. In 1997, in accordance with the postgraduate discipline and specialty catalog issued by the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council and the Ministry of Education, the aforementioned disciplines were adjusted to the current Materials Science discipline. In 1993, the university adjusted its department management system, merging the Department of Inorganic Materials, the Institute of Inorganic Materials, the Department of Polymer Materials, and the Institute of Materials Science into the Materials Discipline. In 1997, the School of Materials Engineering was established, and the Institute of Technical Chemical Physics was placed under its jurisdiction. In November 2001, it was renamed the School of Materials Science and Engineering. In 2017 and 2022, the discipline of Materials Science and Engineering was selected into the list of national first-class discipline construction. In 2024, the Materials discipline entered the top 1‰ (one thousandth) of ESI globally.

1. Solid Foundation and Outstanding Achievements

Currently, the school has 136 full-time teachers, including 60 with senior professional titles, 55 with associate senior professional titles, 1 academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 double-appointed academician, 19 recipients of national talent programs (including 1 National Distinguished Teacher), and 3 Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK). It has 1 Innovation Group of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and 1 Innovation Team in Key Fields of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The school currently boasts 1 Frontier Science Research Center of the Ministry of Education, 2 national-level research and engineering centers, 1 national-level experimental teaching demonstration center, and 13 bases and platforms such as provincial and ministerial-level key laboratories and engineering centers. It has 4 national first-class undergraduate majors, 2 national first-class undergraduate courses, and 3 national excellent courses and video open courses. Additionally, 4 of its majors have passed the national engineering education accreditation.

In recent years, the school (as the first completing unit) has won 2 Second Prizes of the National Natural Science Award, 1 Second Prize of the National Technological Invention Award, and 2 Second Prizes of the National Science and Technology Progress Award; 1 First Prize of the Ministry of Education Natural Science Award and 1 First Prize of the National Defense Technological Invention Award; 1 Special Prize of the Shanghai Technological Invention Award; 7 First Prizes including the Shanghai Natural Science Award, Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Award, and Shanghai Technological Invention Award; 1 Second Prize of the National Teaching Achievement Award, and 3 First Prizes of the Shanghai Teaching Achievement Award.

2. Moral Education as the Foundation and Pursuit of Excellence

Adhering to the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education, the school takes improving the quality of education and teaching as the core, deepens reform and innovation, es connotative development, and is committed to cultivating high-level talents with solid foundations, strong practical abilities, high quality, innovative spirits, and international perspectives.

The school attracts high-quality students from home and abroad, and has trained more than 20,000 graduates for the country, who are now working across the globe. Among its alumni, 3 have been elected as academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 4 have been awarded the title of National Model Worker, 1 has been honored as a National Outstanding Communist Party Member, and a large number of graduates have become academic elites and industry leaders.

3. Radiating Influence, Leading Development, and Distinctive Features

Centering on major national needs in areas such as national defense and security, life and health, energy and environment, the school combines basic theory with engineering application, focuses on its advantages and characteristics, and es the creation and industrialization of new materials.

It has internationally influential research capabilities and core technologies in distinctive fields such as advanced polymer materials, biomedical materials, nanomaterials and engineering, new energy materials and engineering, and has achieved the transformation of a number of important research results.

The school has established close cooperation and joint training mechanisms with more than 30 internationally renowned universities (including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom) and multinational companies (such as BASF and Honeywell). It currently has 5 Sino-foreign cooperative education programs approved by the Ministry of Education, 1 base under the 111 Plan (Program of Introducing Talents to Universities for Disciplinary Innovation), and 1 China-Europe International Joint Laboratory for New Energy Materials and Devices.