Chongqing University is one of the national key universities directly under the Ministry of Education, a first-class comprehensive research-oriented university within the framework of the State 211 Project and 985 Project and a class-A university under the National World-First-Rate University Construction Program. Chongqing University has an extensive disciplinary coverage, and has 11 disciplines, including science, engineering, economics, management, law, literature, history, philosophy, medicine, education and art. There are a total of 35 schools under 7 faculties. Affiliated hospitals of Chongqing University include CQU Cancer Hospital, CQU Three Gorges Hospital, CQU Fuling Hospital, CQU Jiangjin Hospital, CQU Qianjiang Hospital and CQU Central Hospital. CQU is home to 13 state-level scientific research platforms, including 3 national key laboratories, 1 state research center for engineering technology, 1 collaborative innovation center under the National "2011 Program" and 1 national field observation and research station. CQU has been making all-out efforts to bolster its internationalization development and playing an active role in implementation of the "Belt and Road" Initiative and development of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in west China. Its material cooperation with world first-rate colleges, universities and research institutions has come a long way and it has maintained stable and good cooperative relations with 186 colleges, universities and research institutions from 32 countries and regions. Besides, CQU has set up nearly 20 international cooperation platforms including state-level bases under the “111 Program” and international joint laboratories under the Ministry of Education.

In recent years, CQU's efforts to deepen the reform of scientific research management and service, and build up and upgrade the "1+5" scientific and technological innovation system comprising 1 management organization of the Institute of Scientific Research and Development and 5 scientific research entities, including the Institute of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, the Institute of Advanced Technologies, the International Joint Research Institute, the Institute of Technical Transformation, and the Industrial Technology Research Institute, have yielded high-quality achievements. Furthermore, Chongqing University has been consolidating connotation construction of its innovation system, and implementing the Basic Research Everest Program for Colleges and Universities, Talent Training Program for Major Project Achievements, Major Research Base Construction Program and the Military-Civilian Development Action Plan in an all-round way. Focusing on frontier scientific research, Chongqing University has been fully involving itself in construction of West China (Chongqing) Science City, expediting construction of CQU Scientific Center and construction of the large-sized scientific device for "super-transient experiments", and speeding up establishment of a number of interdisciplinary research platforms including the Research Institute of Artificial Intelligence, the Research Institute of Smart City, the Research Institute of Carbon Neutralization, the Research Institute of Intelligent Oncology, the Research Institute of Rural Revitalization, and the Research Center for Ecological Restoration and Management of the Drawdown Area in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area. It's also planning to build up high-level original innovation platforms in disciplines like synthetic biology, future chip, and quantum material science.

Since beginning of the "13th Five-year Plan" period, Chongqing University has built up a 23 additional state-level, province-level and minister-level scientific research platforms and has seen remarkable increase in its ability to undertake national major tasks. It has directed more than 40 major projects above 10-million-yuan level, and won first prize for science and technology of the national, provincial and ministerial level over 60 times. With historical breakthrough made in terms of the number of times of national first prize for progress in science and technology, construction of large-sized scientific devices, major projects supported by the National Natural Science Foundation and number of papers published in Nature and Science, Chongqing University has repeatedly set new all-time highs in the amount of scientific research funds (which reached 2.8 billion yuan in 2021), and has seen marked growth in the number of granted invention patents and published high-standard papers. With Humanities & Social Sciences Prospering Program in process, Chongqing University is undertaking a number of projects under the National Key R&D Program and has claimed the Lu Xun Literature Prize. It is currently making continued efforts to expedite construction of new-type high-end think tank platforms, including the "Chongqing Academy of S&T for Development", "Local Government Governance Collaborative Innovation Center", “Research Center for Urbanization and Regional Innovation Pole Development” and "Chongqing Talent Development Research Institute", in an effort to serve science-based decision making. Seven CQU-run journals have been named as authoritative and core journals.