Okayama University

Okayama University is a top-class national university with over 140 years of history. We have 11 faculties, 8 graduate schools and various programs, embracing the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, environmental and life sciences, and pedagogics.
Okayama University boasts an extensive campus within an hour’s distance from major cities of Japan by air or by train. Approximately 13,200 students, including 700 international students, are currently enjoying life on our university campus, where 2,700 staff members are engaged in education, research, and administration.

Okayama University is committed to its middle-term goal of “Building up a new paradigm for the sustainable evolution of human society” in order to provide substance to our society’s commitment to knowledge.

We constantly strive to become one of the leading research institutions recognized all over Japan and the world.

Number of Students

Undergraduates 10,157
Graduate Students 2,988
International Students 710

Number of Partner Schools

University-Level 156
Department-Level 151
Student Exchange Partner 234

Overseas Locations (Office name and location)

• Changchun (China)
• Shenyang (China)
• Shanghai (China)
• Hue (Vietnam)
• Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam）
• Kolkata (India)
• London (U.K.)
• Yangon (Myanmar）
• Mandalay (Myanmar）

Facuilties

• Letters
• Education
• Law
• Economics
• Science
• Medicine
• Health Sciences
• Dentistry
• Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Engineering
• Environmental Science and Technology
• Agriculture
• Discovery Program for Global Learners

Graduate Schools

• Education
• Humanities and Social Sciences
• Natural Science and Technology
• Health Sciences
• Environmental and Life Science
• Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering in Health Systems
• School of Law

Activities

New BA program: The Discovery Program for Global Learners

Okayama University launched a brand-new four-year Bachelor’s program in English and Japanese to fulfill its mission as part of the “Top Global University Project”. This Discovery Program for Global Learners at Okayama University started in October 2017. We accepted thirty students from abroad and thirty students from Japan.

Students acquire specialized knowledge through taking courses suited to their future goals. They also gain problem-solving skills for cross-cultural settings by cooperating with others of differing cultures and major fields. The program aims to produce young leaders who will discover their own paths to taking active roles on the global stage. By working closely with a wide range of faculties and departments, the program enables students to tackle global issues through an interdisciplinary education.

For more information, visit our website.
https://discovery.okayama-u.ac.jp/en

Campus Life

Exchange Program Okayama (EPOK)

Exchange Program Okayama (EPOK) enables students from the partner institutions who have inter-university exchange agreement with Okayama University. Students receive education for a semester or two semesters within an academic year, acquiring credits as well as research guidance. EPOK offers ideal curriculum and environment to learn and experience Japanese languages, culture, society and environment, while encouraging students to learn actively in the fieldwork, interactively with Japanese students, and creatively with own individual research interest.

International Students from the world

Okayama University Foundation Course for Post Graduate Studies

Foundation Course for Post Graduate Studies aims to offer tuition of Japanese language as well as courses to enhance understanding of research activities for self-financed international students intending to apply for graduate schools of Okayama University. It is organized by Center for Global Partnerships and Education of Okayama University.

Okayama University Campus

Okayama University-North East China Universities Platform Graduate Student Exchange Program (O-NECUS)

Okayama University and seven universities in the Northeastern region of China are running a collaborative graduate program.
This program allows students with some graduate schools to obtain a Master’s degree at both universities by entering both schools as fully legitimate students and fulfilling the requirements for a Master’s degree.

International Students at a dormitory

Erasmus Program (from Erasmus Mundus to Erasmus +)

The Erasmus Mundus program is a cooperation and mobility program in the field of higher education that aims to enhance the quality of European higher education and to promote dialogue and understanding between people and cultures through cooperation with Third-Countries.

The European Union’s Erasmus+ program is a funding scheme to support activities in the fields of Education, Training, Youth and Sport. The Program is made up of three so-called “Key Actions” and two additional actions. They are managed partly at the national level by National Agencies and partly at the European level by the EACEA. The European Commission is responsible for Erasmus+ policies and oversees the overall programme implementation.
In Erasmus + program, Okayama University have applied and launched several projects at Key Action 1 (higher education students and staff) as a partner or an associated partner in order to extend the scope of the activity through the mobility.

For more information, visit our website.
http://embeam.ccsv.okayama-u.ac.jp/en-home/

Researches

The Organization for Global Advanced Interdisciplinary Sciences

In 2013, Okayama University (OU) has established the Organization for Global Advanced Interdisciplinary Sciences to accelerate research activities especially in physics and basic life science, which are areas where we are particularly strong.

Research Core for Extreme Quantum World

Professor Noboru Sasao, a director of the research core is proposing to con-duct research in ordinary, inexpensive university labs in an attempt to demystify the world of newtrinos and the origins of the universe through the Spectroscopy with the Atomic Neutrino (SPAN) project.

Laser spectroscopy experiment system

Research Core for Biological System Based Optical-Energy Conversion

The research core focuses on the Photosynthesis-related research and their results were published in Nature and Science. Professor Jian-Ren Shen, a director of the research core, is interested in the analysis of the structure and function of Photosystem II (PSII) which is a huge membrane-protein complex to reveal the molecular mechanism of water oxidation.

Research Core of New Functional Materials for Energy Production, Storage, and Transport

One of main research topics is to develop new superconductors exhibiting high superconducting transition temperature. Development of new transistor devices and solar cells is also an important research subject. Recently, they started the research exchange program funded by JSPS and strengthened their research collaboration with European research institutes.

Frontiers in plant mineral stress tolerance research.

Professor Jian Feng Ma is one of the leading researchers and his research group focuses on the identification of critical transport mechanisms governing the absorption and distribution of mineral nutrients and toxins by rice and other plants. Recently Professor Ma and Associate professor Naoki Yamaji were selected as Highly Cited Researchers 2015 in the category of Plant & Animal Sciences by Thomson Reuters.

Silicon transporters for uptake in rice.

Efforts to Contribute to Achieving SDGs

Okayama University has made university-wide efforts to contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) . In 2017, we held the world’s first international conference on attainment of SDGs in Okayama City in cooperation with other organizations. We were also the only national/public university to be a recipient of the first Japan SDGs Awards organized by the national government. Thus, we have produced satisfactory results regarding promotion of the SDGs.

For more information, visit our website.
http://www.okayama-u.ac.jp/eng/about_okayama_university/okayama-sdgs.html

Okayama University hosts First RCE Thematic Conference: Towards Achieving the SDGs

Information

Website　 www.okayama-u.ac.jp/index_e.html
Address　 1-1-1 Tsushima-naka, Kita-ku, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
Tel　+81-86-251-7036
Fax　+81-86-251-5022
Email　 kokusai@adm.okayama-u.ac.jp