Established in 1896, Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU, a.k.a. Northern Jiaotong University) is a multidisciplinary national key university, leading in information and management disciplines and featuring traffic and transportation science and technology. It is among the first universities qualified for doctorate and master’s degree conferral. Over the past century, BJTU has developed into a key base of cultivating talents for social and economic development especially for the modernization of railway transportation. It attaches great importance to international education and provides scholarship opportunities to international students and offers preparatory, bachelor, master, doctoral programs and exchange programs in the fields of engineering, management, economy, science, arts, law, and philosophy. It is the institution nearest to downtown Beijing.