Shanghai University of Science and Technology, referred to as "Shanghai University of Science and Technology" for short, is a full-time ordinary institution of higher learning jointly established by Shanghai Municipal People's Government and China Academy of Sciences, and headed by Shanghai Municipal People's Government. It is a pilot institution of Shanghai comprehensive education reform in the "one city, two schools" national comprehensive education reform pilot zone, and is also responsible for the management center of Zhangjiang comprehensive national science center.

Shanghai University of Science and Technology is dominated by science and engineering, and consists of College of Materials Science and Technology, College of Life Science and Technology, College of Information Science and Technology, College of Entrepreneurship and Management, and College of Creativity and Art, with a collegiate system and no departments. The school has the Institute of Immunochemistry, the Institute of Anthropology, the Institute of Mathematical Sciences and the General Education Center.