In response to the national strategy for the Greater Bay Area, the construction of major facilities such as the China Spallation Neutron Source in Dongguan, and the establishment of the Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory in the same city by Guangdong Province, the university founded the School of Materials Science and Engineering in 2019.

I. Academic Programs

The school offers four undergraduate programs: Materials Science and Engineering, Polymer Materials and Engineering, Metallic Materials Engineering, and Integrated Medical-Engineering Joint Training Program. In 2020, the Polymer Materials and Engineering program was approved as a distinctive program of Guangdong Province, and was selected as a provincial first-class program in 2022. In 2021, the school was approved to offer the professional master's degree in Materials and Chemical Engineering, and took the lead in Guangdong Province in applying for authorization to offer the professional doctoral degree in the same field. The professional master's degree program in Materials and Chemical Engineering enrolled its first cohort of students in 2023. In 2024, the ESI ranking of the Materials Science discipline jumped to 568th in the world, placing it among the top 0.3928% globally. In 2025, the Materials Science discipline entered the top 0.3339% of the ESI global ranking.

II. Platforms

The school has four provincial-level engineering technology centers for materials disciplines, one joint laboratory with Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, three key laboratories in Dongguan City, and university-level platforms such as the New Energy Materials Research Center, the Analysis and Testing Center, and the Research Institute of Interdisciplinary Science. It has also established the Dongguan University of Technology Branch of the National Engineering Technology Research Center for Electronic Circuit Substrates, the Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for High-Performance Copper Clad Laminate Key Materials, and the Guangdong Provincial Innovation Joint Laboratory for Electronic Interconnection and Packaging Materials, providing first-class platform support for talent cultivation.

III. Faculty Strength

The school has 126 faculty members, including 28 high-level talents and 20 postdoctoral researchers. Among the 88 full-time faculty members, 17 hold specially appointed senior professional titles, 41 hold specially appointed associate senior professional titles, 60 are master's supervisors, and 51 have dual qualifications (academic and industry). All full-time faculty members hold doctoral degrees. There are also 96 corporate supervisors for industrial training bases. (The above data are as of March 2026.)

IV. Program Features

The school regards fostering moral integrity and nurturing talent as its fundamental mission in undergraduate education. With discipline development as a strategic lever, the school addresses the key needs of technological innovation and advanced manufacturing in the Greater Bay Area, focusing on the frontiers of new materials and related areas. It collaborates with the Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory to build a world-class platform for scientific research and talent development. Relying on the national platform of the China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS), the school integrates teaching with research to cultivate innovative talents in frontier materials. It adopts a tutor-system to cultivate innovative interdisciplinary talents with solid foundations and strong practical skills. It also implements the "Three-Entry Project" (entering the laboratory, entering the research team, entering the research project), deeply integrating industry, university, research, and education to provide comprehensive collaborative education. Furthermore, the school adopts a small-class instruction model, promptly transforming high-quality scientific research results and cutting-edge industry developments into teaching resources. This produces innovative materials talents for the new era—individuals with a solid foundation, advanced knowledge, and outstanding ability.

V. Educational Achievements

Adhering to the school philosophy of "Unity of Knowledge and Action, Fostering Moral Integrity and Nurturing Talent", the school cultivates versatile innovative talents. It has established student practice and internship bases with companies such as Shengyi Technology, Yi'an Technology, Kingfa Technology, Silver Jubilee Technology, Xuguang Technology, and Veken Technology. The school's talent development model, characterized by a solid foundation and an emphasis on application, has gradually gained prominence. Students have undertaken 36 projects on innovation and entrepreneurship for college students, at both national and provincial levels. They have won 3 national awards and 6 provincial awards in the National Metallographic Competition, 1 special prize and 1 second prize in the Guangdong Provincial Challenge Cup Competition, and 1 silver award in the Guangdong Provincial Division of the China International College Students' Innovation Competition. They have also received numerous awards in discipline competitions such as the Heat Treatment Competition and the Huagang Cup. The postgraduate admission rate for undergraduates is among the top in the university. The admission rate for the 2025 graduating undergraduates is 25.24%, and more than 50% of those admitted entered "Double First-Class" universities. The rate of graduates working in related fields has exceeded 85% over the past three years. Approximately 80% of graduates stay in Guangdong for employment or to start their own businesses, and about three-quarters of those choose to remain in Dongguan. Graduates are employed primarily in national emerging strategic fields such as electronic information, new energy, and new materials. The graduate employment rate has averaged over 90% over the past three years.

[Introduction to Enrollment by Discipline Cluster]

The school currently offers four undergraduate programs: Polymer Materials and Engineering, Metallic Materials Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Integrated Medical-Engineering Joint Training Program. To meet the societal demand for cross-disciplinary integration and the cultivation of versatile high-level talents, the school has implemented enrollment by discipline cluster for materials-related programs since 2021. It has adopted new engineering education concepts such as "student-centered" and "skill development", implemented a "tutor system" for undergraduate talent cultivation, and fostered deep university-enterprise integration in education to collaboratively promote the development of high-quality, application-oriented innovative talents. Under the discipline cluster enrollment system, the "2+1+1" innovative talent cultivation model has been adopted. Professional specialization is carried out based on students' overall academic performance in the first academic year. This model provides students with a solid foundation during lower grades, deepening their knowledge and abilities in materials-related fields. It also emphasizes technical skills in upper grades, strengthening students' ability to solve complex engineering problems while focusing on cultivating versatile and innovative undergraduate talents in materials.

(As of March 2026)