Located in Changsha, a famous historical and cultural city in China, Central South University is the only national key university directly under the central government and the Ministry of Education in Hunan Province. It is the first batch of key universities in the national "2 1 1 Project", "985 Project" and "20 165438 Plan". It is a university selected by "11plan", "excellent engineer education and training plan", "excellent doctor education and training plan" and "excellent legal talent education and training plan", and it is a key university jointly established by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Hunan Province.
Central South University was formed in April 2000 by the merger of Hunan Medical University, Changsha Railway Institute and Central South University of Technology. The former Central South University of Technology, formerly known as Central South Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, was founded in 1952. Changsha Railway Institute, formerly known as Central South Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture, was founded in 1953. It enjoys the reputation of "Troika" in China civil engineering discipline. Hunan Medical University, formerly known as Xiangya Medical College, was founded in 19 14. It is one of the earliest institutions of higher learning in western medicine in China and enjoys the reputation of "Xiangya in the south and Concord in the north".