Beihang University (BUAA) was founded in 1952 with the merger of the aeronautical departments from eight top Chinese universities. Today it is one of the nation’s foremost research universities supported by China’s Project 211, Project 985 and Project 2011. Beihang has an enrollment of more than 29,247 students, attending 27 schools in two campuses in Beijing and many going on exchange in partner universities across Europe, Asia, the Americas and Oceania. Among the first Chinese universities to offer postgraduate programs in English for international students, Beihang annually attracts over 1,700 foreign students from 90 countries. The faculty totals over 2,000 members whose research and teaching encompasses sciences, engineering, economics, management, humanities, law, philosophy, education, medicine and art. A strong body of 20 accomplished professors have been inducted as members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Beihang offers 268 academic programs, including 61 undergraduate programs and 207 postgraduate programs. The University has been reputed for its competitive edge in such disciplines as aeronautics and astronautics, instrument science and technology, computer science and technology, management science and engineering, etc. As a powerhouse of research and innovation, Beihang has earned 1,264 awards for achievements at national or ministerial level, including three First Prizes of National Science & Technology Progress Awards and six First Prizes of National Technological Innovation Awards. Beihang also has strong links with the industrial sector, which contributes to more than 50 percent of the University’s research projects. The center of Beihang is its Xueyuan Road campus in the heart of "China's Silicon Valley" – Zhongguancun Science Park. The Park is one of the technology centres in the world and is growing fast into a high and new-tech industrial cluster. In addition to its Xueyuan Road Campus, the University is also located in northwest Beijing’s Changping District with a newly developed campus and has comprehensive research facilities, notably the National Laboratory on Aerospace (NLA). Beihang has also grown to be a university of global outreach, with a recently inaugurated Europe Office in Brussels and visibility in several global consortia, including Top Industrial Managers for Europe (T.I.M.E). The University maintains partnerships with 185 universities, research institutions and companies in over 30 countries. The cooperation covers faculty and student exchanges, joint workshops and publications, joint research endeavors and international educational projects. The Sino-French Engineer School (or, Ecole Centrale de Pekin), established by Beihang and the Groupe des Ecoles Centrales in 2005, has won international recognition for its excellence in international engineering education. Beihang is also home to the U.N. Regional Center for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific (China) established in November 2014.