The Department of Computer Science and Technology at Shantou University was founded in 1985 and is one of the University’s earliest academic units dedicated to education and research in computer science. The Department began admitting undergraduate students to the Computer Science and Technology program in 1985. In 1993, it was authorized to offer a master’s degree program in Computer Software and Theory, one of the first master’s degree programs established at Shantou University. After more than four decades of development, the Department has established a multi-level education system covering undergraduate and master’s programs, together with a well-developed disciplinary framework. In 2021, the Computer Science and Technology program was designated as a national first-class program, while the Data Science and Big Data Technology program was recognized as a first-class program in Guangdong Province. In 2024, the Computer Science discipline at Shantou University entered the top 1% globally in the ESI (Essential Science Indicators). In 2025, the Computer Science discipline was approved to offer a doctoral program in the secondary discipline of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. In the same year, the Artificial Intelligence undergraduate program began admitting students.
The Department currently has 33 full-time faculty members, including 6 professors and 13 associate professors. Supported by research platforms such as the Key Laboratory of Intelligent Manufacturing Technology of the Ministry of Education and the Guangdong Engineering Research Center for Digital Content Management, the Department conducts fundamental and key technology research in areas including pattern recognition and artificial intelligence, intelligent systems, and network security. In recent years, faculty members have published more than 300 papers in leading international journals and conferences, including TPAMI, TKDE, TNNLS, TAC, TIP, AAAI, and SIGIR, and have undertaken more than 200 national-level and provincial/ministerial-level research projects.
The Department upholds the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education and has established an OBE-CDIO-based talent cultivation system that closely integrates research projects, academic competitions, industry practice, and classroom teaching, while continuously advancing New Engineering education and the internationalization of talent cultivation. The Department currently offers undergraduate programs in Computer Science and Technology, Computer Science and Technology (Excellent Engineer Program sponsored by the Ministry of Education), Data Science and Big Data Technology, and Artificial Intelligence. It is also authorized to confer an academic master’s degree in Intelligence Science and Technology and a professional master’s degree in Electronic Information (ComputerTechnology).In disciplinary development and talent cultivation, the Department places strong emphasis on industry–education integration. It has established long-term partnerships with more than 50 enterprises and public institutions, including China Telecom and Sangfor Technologies, and has developed multiple joint university–enterprise education and practice platforms, providing students with extensive opportunities for research training, engineering practice, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Students actively participate in national- and provincial-level science and technology competitions and have achieved outstanding results. Graduates pursue further studies at renowned universities in China and abroad or take up positions in Fortune Global 500 companies, high-tech enterprises, research institutes, government agencies, and other organizations, applying their professional expertise in artificial intelligence, big data, cybersecurity, software development, and related fields.