Kyushu University

Symbol

Kyushu University does not have an official school song, instead it has one cheering song and three student songs including Matssubara-ni, with lyrics by Yoshifumi Akiyama.

The University's logo features a background of pine needles inset with an older iterance of the kanji for "university". The logo was officially established in 2004, but was originally proposed by student Sou Yoshihide in the mid 20th century, and was used then on from 1950. There have also been alternatives designs, such as those featuring the Japanese KU or Q, for Kyushu instead of "university".

On March 3, prior to the incorporation of national universities in April 2004, the Committee of Public Relations agreed on a new university logo and color that symbolize Kyushu University under the new structure.

University logos

The pine needle design, which is used in the current university logo, remains in the new logo. On deciding the new logo, consideration was given as to whether it would still be highly distinctive even when electronically rendered. The introduction of the new logo, however, does not limit or eliminate the use of the previous one Fig. B.

Several patterns of university logos (Figs. C-F) have been created for use on PR materials and merchandise. Fig. C uses the same design as Fig. A without the two Chinese characters that mean “university,” while Fig. D illustrates a design using the capital letters of Kyushu University (KU). Fig. E symbolizes the letter “q” for “Q-shu” University. Fig. F is the logo originally printed on the university diploma. These logos are also registered and used as trademarks of Kyushu University.

Logo color

Dark red colors have been used for the logo of Kyushu University. The committee chose wine red as the new university logo color given that it is similar to the previous one and does not spoil the established image of Kyushu University’s logo color. Since the visual effects of color can vary according to usage, a variation of the wine color within an allowable range can be used as the logo color. To allow broader variations, the use of sub-colors was also approved.

Merchandise

An array of merchandise featuring Kyushu University’s logos and color will be made available for purchase, including badges, paperweights, cups, watches, pens, ties and bookends.

Global 30 Project

In July 3, 2009, Kyushu University was chosen as one of thirteen venues for the“Global 30 (G30) Project,”planned and funded by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). The major aim of the project is to further promote the globalization of Japanese higher education by assisting a select number of universities through the prioritized allocation of grants. The recipient schools are expected, among other things, to build and improve a system whereby overseas students may study and engage in research with minimal cultural and linguistic barriers. This more focused approach to budget allocation is also expected to help realize the government’s public commitment to accommodate more than 300,000 international students on Japanese campuses by 2020.

In February 2010, the University opened an all purpose office in Cairo, Egypt, bringing the number of its overseas offices to 13 . Although the Cairo Office is managed by Kyushu University, all other Japanese colleges and universities can have access to its services and facilities when trying to recruit students or promote academic projects in Egypt.

By implementing these measures, Kyushu University is expecting to raise the number of its international students to 3,900 within a decade, a 300% increase over the current number. By the time the five-year grant terminates, the University will also have laid the foundation for a new interdisciplinary department (tentatively called the “International School of Arts and Sciences”), which is expected to launch by 2020.

Liberal arts subjects and basic sciences

For the first year and a half, students in the international undergraduate programs study various liberal arts subjects and basic sciences. This segment of the programs aims not only to equip students with in-depth liberal arts knowledge and to help them deepen their understanding of various disciplines, but also to broaden their range of interests, and to enable them to continue learning independently.

Short-term programs

MJIIT (Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology)

The governments of Japan and Malaysia have jointly established a university in Malaysia which follows the Japanese style of education in engineering. It opened in September 2011. From the time the concept of this project was initiated, Kyushu University has played a core role and now, as the leading university of mechanical precision engineering sub committee of a school specializing in precision mechanical engineering, it hopes to take an active role in the promotion of this project.

AUN/SEED-NET

(ASEAN University Network/ Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network) The AUN/SEED-Net was established in 2003 to full the following; to strengthen the main ASEAN universities education and research abilities, to strengthen the network between the universities of all the countries involved, including Japan, as well as, continuing to produce scientists needed in the economic and social areas of ASEAN nations. By accepting International Students and dispatching teachers, Kyushu University endeavours to train teachers of universities in ASEAN nations.

BOP by ICT.

Income generation project for farmers at the BOP by ICT Kyushu University uses the funding from JICA to support Bangladeshi farming villages by creating business centers where ICT is used to provide farmers with necessary information for farming. These centers are available anytime the farmer would like to visit. They are information hubs, where useful information regarding farmers produce and sales are being distributed by the use of ICT, amongst farmers in the hope that this will improve their income and reduce poverty.

University libraries

Number of holdings

(As of 1 April 2011)

Undergraduate schools

Graduate schools and faculties

Kyushu University has instituted a Graduate School/Graduate Faculty system - the first attempt of this kind at a Japanese university - as part of the overall reorganization of undergraduate and graduate education at the university in 2000. In separating the former Graduate School into the Graduate School (the education body) and the Graduate Faculty (the research body to which faculty members belong), the University is seeking to revitalize relationships between the Graduate Faculty and the Graduate School, and the Graduate Faculty and Undergraduate School. These changes should promote a more dynamic functioning of the Graduate Faculty in its relation to the Graduate School and the Undergraduate School. (Refer to chart below.)

Under the Graduate School/Faculty system, all faculty members have been transferred from members of the Undergraduate Faculty to members of the Graduate Faculty. In addition, the educational body (Graduate School) and research body (Graduate Faculty) have become independent administrative entities. This new, more responsive administrative mechanism will enable Graduate Faculty members to participate more flexibly in the education of both the Undergraduate and Graduate School bodies. In implementing a more dynamic configuration of the education bodies (Undergraduate and Graduate Schools) and research body (Graduate Faculty), the university can more readily accommodate changes and shifts to pedagogic and research foci that may occur in the future.

History

Kyushu University is one of the seven former Imperial Universities created in the Meiji period. The university is the largest research university in the Kyushu region with research centers in eleven different academic faculties, including the humanities, social sciences, medicine, and science.

Kyushu University Hospital is affiliated with the Faculty of Medical Sciences and the Faculty of Dental Science.

1867 The Kuroda Clan establishes an institution for Western medicine (Sanseikan) for the children of the lord and their retainers. The roots of present-day Kyushu University Hospital can be traced back to the clinic affiliated with that school.

1879 In the beginning of the Meiji period the clinic becomes an affiliated hospital of Fukuoka Prefectural Medical School.

1903 Fukuoka Medical College, a branch school of Kyoto Imperial University is established, and the hospital becomes affiliated with that school.

1911 Kyushu Imperial University is established in Fukuoka, and this hospital becomes affiliated with the university’s Faculty of Medicine.

1931 The Research Institute of Balneotherapeutics is established in Beppu, Oita Prefecture.

1947 Following the university reform that took place after World War II, the hospital’s name was changed to the Kyushu University Faculty of Medical Sciences Affiliated Hospital. Fifteen departments, including a dental department, were established.

1967 The Faculty of Dental Science becomes an independent facility. The Faculty of Dental Science Affiliated Hospital opens.

2003 The three hospitals affiliated with Faculty of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Dental Science and Medical Institute of Bioregulation merge to form Kyushu University Hospital.

2009 Plans for the construction of a new hospital, which began in 2000, are completed. The new hospital consists of a South Ward, North Ward, West Ward and Outpatient Ward.

Medical Institute of Bio-regulation

The Medical Institute of Bioregulation at Kyushu University seeks to facilitate understanding of the essential regulatory mechanisms involved inhuman biology at the cellular and molecular levels, with a long-term goal of curing diseases. At the Institute, we are interested in learning how individual cells regulate each other in the complex multi-cellular environment of the human body. The body is constantly exposed to a variety of threats such as infection, apoptosis, malfunctioning of organelles, and tumorigenesis. Yet, most of the time, homeostasis is maintained, and the body survives. How do our bodies, organs, and cells thwart threats and prevent disasters? We believe that the answers to this question will provide cures to medical conditions ranging from infection, cancer, allergies, and autoimmune diseases to multi-factorial genetic disorders and degenerative diseases of the central nervous system.

Research for Applied Mechanics

The Research Institute for Applied Mechanics (RIAM) was established in, and consists of three research divisions (the Division of Renewable Energy Dynamics, the Division of Earth Environment Dynamics, and the Division of Nuclear Fusion Dynamics) as well as the two research centers of the Center for East Asian Ocean-Atmosphere Dynamics (COAR) and the Advanced Fusion Research Center (AFRC). In 1997, RIAM was recognized as an inter-university collaboration research institute and became a Center of Excellence (COE), nationally promoted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). In 0 0, RIAM was again admitted to the COE of applied mechanics for the period between 0 0 and 0 by MEXT.

Institute for Materials Chemistry and Engineering

The IMCE consists of four divisions engaged in a wide variety of research, including the synthesis of new functional molecules, the chemistry of new molecular assemblies, the chemistry of organic-inorganic hybrid materials, and the processing of advanced materials into devices. In cooperation with research groups in each field, the IMCE promotes research related to the basic science and application of the structure and functions of materials ranging from the atomic, molecular and nanoscale to macroscales. The IMCE is spread across three campuses in Chikushi, Hakozaki and Ito. The faculty members on each campus respectively belong to the Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences, the Graduate School of Sciences, and the Graduate School of Engineering, as well as the Graduate School of Integrated Frontier Sciences. Their work includes recruiting graduate students for masters and doctoral courses in their respective graduate schools.

Mathematics for Industry

Mathematics for Industry (MI) is a new research area that will provide a foundation for creating future technologies. It has been created with the aim of responding to the needs of the industrial sector by reorganizing and merging pure and applied mathematics into flexible and versatile forms. The Institute of Mathematics for Industry (IMI), established in April 2011, is the first research organization for mathematics in Asia involved with industrial technologies. It is constituted by the divisions o“f Advanced Mathematics Technology”“, Applied Mathematics”and“Fundamental Mathematics”. Also included is the Office for Promotion of Collaboration and Consultation to promote smooth interaction and joint research with industry.

Institute of Health Science

The Institute of Health Science was established in 1978 as a comprehensive research and educational institute to tackle fundamental issues of health science, and to promote and maintain human health by using innovative and unique research.

Information Infrastructure Initiative

The Information Infrastructure Initiative is an organization that provides information infrastructures for both inside and outside of Kyushu University. For inside the university, the Information Infrastructure Initiative provides services such as Educational Computer Environments, Campus-Wide Software, Authentication and Authorization, Teleconferencing, University Mail, Hosting Services, Shared Storage, Networks, and Information Security. For outside the university, the Information Infrastructure Initiative provides high performance computing resources and academic databases for university researchers all over Japan. The Information Infrastructure Initiative is composed of the Research Division, the Technical Support Division, and the Administration Division. The Research Division has six sections: The Academic Information Section, Language Education Environment Section, Learning Spaces Design Section, Next Generation and Future Network Section, Interdisciplinary Computational Science Section and Advanced Computing Infrastructure Section.

Research Institute for East Asia Environments (RIEAE)

The East Asian Environmental Problems Project, overseen by Kyushu University, was initiated in September 2007 as one of the events conducted to mark the 100th anniversary of the university. The project was reestablished as the Research Institute for East Asia Environments (RIEAE) in April 2009. RIEAE proposes what our nation must do as a member of the community of East Asian countries to find and provide practical solutions to environmental problems that require international cooperation with industry, government, and academia.

The mission of RIEAE is to provide practical solutions to environmental problems, which are growing in severity in the East Asian region. RIEAE was established as a leading institute that seeks to quickly respond to the diverse and pressing environmental issues of the East Asian region, and to contribute to the development of the East Asian region through international cooperation with industry, government, and academia. Presided over by the president of Kyushu University, RIEAE is one of the university’s largest specific research projects.

Institutes for the Joint Use of Kyushu University

1. Biotron Application Center
2. Institute of Tropical Agriculture
3. Radioisotope Center
4. Center for Advanced Instrumental Analysis
5. The International Student Center
6. The Kyushu University Museum
7. System LSI Research Center
8. Space Environment Research Center (SERC)
9. Research Center for Korean Studies
10. Research Center for Education in Health Care System
11. Research Institute of Superconductor Science and Systems
12. Integrated Kansei Design Center
13. Art, Science, and Technology Center for Cooperative Research
14. Research Laboratory for High Voltage Electron Microscopy
15. Center of Environment and Safety
16. Natural Disaster Information Center of Western Japan
17. Laboratory for Ionized Gas and Laser Research
18. Kyushu University Archives
19. Robert T. Huang Entrepreneurship Center (QREC)
20. Admission Center
21. International Research Center for Hydrogen Energy
22. Center for Future Chemistry
23. Bio-Architecture Center
24. Research Center for Steel
25. Low Temperature Center
26. Center for Accelerator and Beam Applied Science
27. Inamori Frontier Research Center
28. Research and Education Center of Carbon Resources
29. Research Center for Synchrotron Light Applications
30. Incubation Center for Advanced Medical Science (ICAMS)
31. ITOH Research Center for Plasma Turbulance
32. Material Management Center
33. International Research Center for Molecular Systems (IRCMS)
34. Center for Japan-Egypt Cooperation in Science and Technology (E-JUST Center)
35. Center for Applied Perceptual Research
36. Center for Plasma Nano-Interference Engineering
37. Center for Advanced Medical Innovation
38. EU Center (EUIJ-Kyushu)
39. Research Center for Advanced Immunology
40. Research Center for Environmental and Developmental Medical Sciences
41. Research Center for Cancer Stem Cell
42. Risk Science Research Center
43. Research Center for Nucleotide Pool
44. Epigenome Network Research Center
45. Center for Asian Conservation Ecology
46. Human Proteome Research Center
47. Center for Advanced Research in Drug Creation (CARDC)
48. Yunus and Shiiki Social Business Research Center (SBRC)
49. Research Center for Advanced Biomechanics

LL.M. Program in International Economic & Business Law

Taught from a Japanese perspective, the one-year program offers students the opportunity to study international economic and business law, and Japanese and comparative law in a Japanese law faculty. A three-year LL.D. program and another one-year Master’s course in Comparative Studies of Politics and Administration in Asia (CSPA) were launched in October 1999. As a result of the success of these programs, in 2001, Kyushu University was invited by the Ministry of Education to host the Young Leader's Program in Law, a program which, among others, seeks to foster good relations among future national leaders in Asia and other countries. In 2009, it was again selected by the Ministry of Education to host a Bilingual Program in law (LL.M). This unique master aims to overcome barriers of language and culture in the field of international law. This is achieved through law classes conducted in both Japanese and English, an internship, as well as a thesis written in both languages. Its first batch of students graduated in 2010.

Exploratry Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO)

The Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO) research funding program was founded in 1981, to promote basic research in science and technology. Its mission was to make Japan a world leader in science and technology: bringing a brighter future for Japan as well as making significant contributions to the international community.

In 2002, influenced by the government’s “Second-stage Basic Plan (Master Plan) for Science and Technology” (2001-2006) and by the strategies set_up by the Council for Science and Technology Policy (CSTP), ERATO received a complete makeover, under the bigger umbrella of “Strategic Basic Research Programs” initiated by the government.

The goal of Strategic Basic Research Programs is to promote problem-solving oriented basic research, guided by strategies set by the government based on social and economic needs as well as the national policy on science and technology.

International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (I²CNER)

Director: Prof. Petros Sofronis

The International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (I2CNER) was established on the Ito Campus in December, 2010. I2CNER is the newest of six research institutes to be funded under the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI) program sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). The objective of the I2CNER is to realize a carbon-neutral energy fueled society through Green Innovation.

Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics Research

Director: Prof. Chihaya Adachi

The new research building for the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics Research (OPERA) was completed at the ITO campus in August 2011 and several OPERA research laboratories have been constructed inside. The building has three doors and is 2400 square meters in area, and has a clean room, physical equipment room, synthetic laboratory rooms, conference rooms and a cafe.

JST ERATO Takahara Soft Interfaces Project

The 19th century was the era of hard materials such as steel, some of which were replaced by polymers in the 20th century. The 21st century will be the time of “soft materials”, including polymers, colloids, gels, vesicles, emulsions, films, surfactants, micelles, suspensions and liquid crystals. They are essential to produce various electrical & optical devices, and biodevices etc. The soft materials are increasingly indispensable in our daily live. Since surfaces and interfaces of soft materials“( soft interfaces”) play an important role in various technological applications and bio-interfaces, precise control of soft interfaces would greatly promote the innovation of future science and technology. In this project, we are focusing on the understanding of fundamental science of soft interfaces formed in nature and extract the molecular and structure design principles. The following three groups are organized in order to pursue this project: 1) Precise molecular design of soft interfaces based on precise synthetic chemistry, 2) Hierarchical structural control and fabrication of soft interfaces through understanding natural systems, and 3) Development of in situ and dynamical characterization methods of soft interfaces.

General rankings

The university has been ranked 8th in 2010 and 2009 in the ranking "Truly Strong Universities" by Toyo Keizai. In another ranking, Japanese prep school Kawaijuku ranked Kyusyu as the 7th best university in Japan.

In 2011 QS World University Rankings ranked Kyushu University 122nd in the world. Its subject rankings were: 123rd in Engineering & IT, 170th in Life Sciences & Biomedicine, and 150th in Natural Sciences. It is also the 18th best university in Asia, according to QS Asian University rankings.

Research performance

Kyushu is one of the top research institutions in Japan. According to Thomson Reuters, Kyushu is the 6th best research university in Japan. Its research excellence is especially distinctive in Materials Science (6th in Japan, 49th in the world), Chemistry (6th in Japan, 41st in the world), Biology & Biochemistry (4th in Japan, 95th in the world), Immunology (4th in Japan, 68th in the world), and Pharmacology & Toxicology (4th in Japan, 76th in the world).

Weekly Diamond reported that Kyushu has the 16th highest research standard in Japan in terms of research funding per researchers in COE Program. In the same article, it is also ranked fifth in terms of the quality of education by GP funds per student.

Furthermore, Nikkei Shimbun　on 2004/2/16 surveyed about the research standards in Engineering studies based on Thomson Reuters, Grants in Aid for Scientific Research and questionnaires to heads of 93 leading Japanese Research Centers, and Kyushu was placed 11th (research planning ability 10th) in this ranking.

Kyushu University is one of Japan's National Seven Universities. Since Prof. Suzuki received the Nobel Prize in 2010, all the other Universities have alumni or professors who received a Nobel Prize, Kyushu University is only National Seven University whose alumni or staff have not won a Nobel Prize.

Graduate school rankings

Eduniversal ranked Kyushu as 9th in the rankings of "Excellent Business Schools nationally strong and/or with continental links " in Japan.

Kyushu has a good Law schools in Japan, as it was ranked 12th in the number of successful candidates of Japanese Bar Examination in 2009 and 15th in 2010.

Alumni rankings

According to the Weekly Economist's 2010 rankings, graduates from Kyushu have the 53rd best employment rate in 400 major companies in Japan.

École des Mines de Paris ranks Kyushu University as 38th in the world in 2011 in terms of the number of alumni listed among CEOs in the 500 largest worldwide companies.

Popularity and selectivity

Kyushu is one of the most selective universities in Japan. Its entrance difficulty is usually considered as one of the top in Japan.

Scholarships for international students

Kyushu offers a number of selected scholarships for international students. Some of them are:

Ph.D.

Bachelors

Former professors