Located in Changsha City, Hunan Province, Central South University is a national key university directly under the Ministry of Education, the first batch of national "2 1 1 Project", the provincial key university of "985 Project" and the first batch of national "20 165438 Plan". 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 was formerly known as Central South Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, founded in 1952, and the former Changsha Railway Institute was formerly known as Central South Institute of Architecture and Engineering, founded in 1953. The main disciplines of the two universities can be traced back to the course of Mining and Road in Hunan Higher Institute of Technology founded by 1903. Hunan Medical University, formerly known as Xiangya Medical College, was founded in 19 14 and is one of the earliest institutions of higher learning in western medicine in China.