From Jun. 18 to Jun. 20, the 3^rd SINOROCK2013 Symposium was held in Tongji University. The SINOROCK2013 Symposium was the third SINOROCK Symposium: the first was held at the Three Gorges Project Dam Site in 2004; and the second was held at the University of Hong Kong in 2009. All three Symposia have been outputs of the ISRM Commission on Design Methodology. Prof. Qihu Qian, President, Chinese Society for Rock Mechanics and Engineering (Hon. Chairman), Prof. John A Hudson, ISRM President 2007-2011, Prof. Xia-Ting Feng, ISRAM President 2011-2015, Prof. Hehua Zhu, Tongji University co-chaired this Symposium. It began with the SINOROCK Lecture given by Prof. E.T. Brown of Australia and the Honorable Lecture given by Prof. Qihu Qian of China. Over the three days of the Symposium, one day was allocated to each of the major themes, with two keynote papers being presented for each theme. The arrangement of papers reflects the rock characterization, modeling and design tripartite division. The keynote lecturers are from China, Germany, Peru, Sweden, Turkey, and the UK. More than 200 representatives from more than 20 countries and regions attended this symposium, among them, 70 representatives come from overseas countries.