The Suzhou University of Science and Technology (SUST) was established on September 1, 2001, with the approval of the National Ministry of Education and the Government of Jiangsu Province, through the merging of the former Suzhou Institute of Urban Construction and Environmental Protection and the former Suzhou Railway Teachers College. The newly established university is an engineering-centered multi-disciplinary institution of higher education, covering such fields as engineering, science, liberal arts, and management. Centering upon undergraduate programs, concurrently adult continuation education, the University takes an active part in developing postgraduate programs and undertakes the responsibility of fostering practical and creative talents.

SUST is situated in the New District— the west of Suzhou. It consists of three campuses, Shihu campus, Jiangfeng campus, and Tianping campus, occupying a total area of 2,338 mu (approximately 385 acres). SUST has organized its academic programs into 15 schools such as School of Architecture and Urban Planning. There are over 1600 staff and faculty including about 150 professors and over 330 teachers with doctor degree. SUST now offers 58 undergraduate programs, covering 6 disciplines: engineering, natural physical science, arts and humanities, business and social sciences and agriculture. There are 21000 full-time undergraduate students on campus and over 1000 postgraduate students. SUST also offers 30 master’s programs (including 24 academic master’s degree and 6 professional master’s degree), such as Urban Planning and Design, Environmental Engineering and etc.. There are 3 key provincial disciplines: Environmental Engineering, Structural Engineering, and World History. There are 4 key provincial laboratories: the Key Provincial Laboratory of Environmental Science and Engineering, the Key Provincial Laboratory of Structural Engineering, the Key Provincial Laboratory of Environmental Material Science and the Key Provincial Laboratory of Technological Project of Environmental Engineering.

SUST has over the course of time established international cooperation links with more than 30 foreign institutions , like University of South Wales (UK), York St. John University (UK), Molde University College (Norway), St. Michael’s College (USA), Portland State University (USA), Valdosta State University (USA) , Indiana-Purdue University Fort Wayne (USA), National University of Ireland Maynooth ((Ireland)), Nara University (Japan) and Kansai University of Foreign Studies (Japan), Narasangyo University (Japan)，J. F. Oberlin University (Japan ),etc.. SUST established International Education School in 2011, and offers 4 Joint-degree programs in Construction Management, Mechanical Engineering, Logistics Management and Civil Engineering. SUST accepts students from Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Australia, Ghana, and Nigeria for the study of the Chinese language or for internship. Assigned by the Ministry of Commerce, SUST holds the yearly Training Course on Environmental Protection and Logistics Management for Developing Countries and has trained over 500 technicians and administrative personnel for more than 100 developing countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, America and Oceania.

SUST solidly improves its quality of education upholding its teaching-centered orientation. It is striving to improve the quality of its undergraduate teaching by reforming training modes of human resources, teaching contents, curriculum system and improving its administration. SUST attaches much importance to fostering students’ practical capacity and creativity and enhancing their overall abilities, and has witnessed satisfactory results. Quite a number of students have won awards in national or provincial contests. In recent years, a large number of students have been admitted into Master’s programs in SUST and other universities. SUST graduates are popular in the job market, with the average employment rate above 90%.