Internationalizing research through the foundation of an interactive education and research environment, and fostering innovation.

"I" stands for International and Innovative. By providing our students and researchers with a richly international environment, keeping abreast of international developments, and engaging in ongoing dialogue with the international community, we aim to provide fertile ground for the production of epoch-making innovations. We aim to enhance our activities in these areas through a diverse range of interaction with overseas universities, research institutions, and industry.

Strategic Priority 2-1

Creating a richly international environment.

Promoting international research collaboration: 1.We will pursue strategic and multifaceted joint research projects with internationally competitive universities overseas, including research team exchanges through on-site laboratories* mutually established with partner institutions. In order to further promote international exchange, we will form partnerships based on academic and student exchange agreements.; 2.We will develop and utilize the university’s approximately sixty overseas offices and facilities to hold international symposia and promote joint research projects with overseas institutions in order to acquire external funding and accelerate our international research collaboration.

Strategic Priority 2-2

Establishing international research hubs that attract top researchers from Japan and overseas by providing a truly international research environment and comprehensive support systems for researchers.

Enhancement of research support systems: 1.We will cultivate internationally-minded administrative staff who are fluent in English and highly skilled in administrative operations. We will provide comprehensive support for researchers through our University Research Administrator (URA)* system and the development of ICT infrastructure, thereby creating an environment in which talented people working in diverse fields can fully devote themselves to research and education.

Cultivating the next generation of leading researchers: 2.We will develop enhanced employment systems, including tenure tracks,* utilize our Superior Graduate Programs (tentative name),* the John Mung Program,* the Kyoto University Research Development Program (Ishizue),* and establish the Graduate Student Training (GST) Center (tentative name), in order to build a strong institutional foundation upon which to cultivate the next generation of research leaders through coordinated research and education activities.

Utilization of the Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study (KUIAS) (World Premier International Research Center*): 3.The Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study (KUIAS), a newly established international research hub, will develop new cutting-edge research that capitalizes on Kyoto University’s particular strengths, and cultivate research professionals through researcher exchange with institutions in Japan and overseas.

Strategic Priority 2-3

We will promote and disseminate the university’s creative research internationally.

Pioneering frontier science fields: 1.In order to contribute to the advancement of academic research through intellectual endeavors encompassing basic, applied, and developmental research, we will promote cutting-edge and creative research activities leveraging the university’s strengths, and pioneer fields at the frontiers of research in the international academic community.

Disseminating the university’s new approaches to the social sciences and humanities: 2.We will further enhance internationalization in order to advance Japan’s research in the social sciences and humanities. We will promote interaction with and enhance support for international students and researchers with a strong interest in the culture of Kyoto and Japanese thought. Building on the university’s long history of humanities studies, we aim to develop new approaches to the humanities through enhancing collaborative efforts in our strongest research areas, including collaboration with the natural sciences. We will share the knowledge generated throughout the world, and through our efforts, we aim to contribute to addressing the diverse issues currently facing global society.

Utilizing the university’s academic resources: 3.In order to develop new knowledge and share our academic achievements, we will promote the international use of the diverse academic resources that have been accumulated by the university, and which have supported research in various fields of the natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences. We will maintain and develop those resources as internationally valuable assets.

Enhanced sharing of information: 4.In order to more effectively promote Kyoto University’s research undertakings and achievements, and as part of our efforts to effectively disseminate information as a global center of scholarship, we will enhance our website and other media from an international perspective, and provide information in multiple languages.

Strategic Priority 2-4

We will seek to address social problems and improve the health of the general public through industry-government-academia collaboration, the promotion of social engagement and other programs, and by providing high-quality medical care.

Promotion of venture development programs: 1.In order to maintain Kyoto University’s advancement of original research and development to the highest international standards, and draw on domestic and international resources to connect our research findings to the establishment of new industrial ventures, we will engage in “universal technological development” through a thoroughgoing promotion of basic research, and pursue industry-government-academia collaboration through our International Science Innovation Building. Particular emphasis will be placed on the promotion of university-based venture development programs that can become sources of innovation.

Development of industry-government-academia collaboration and establishment of the "Kyoto University Model"

To provide training, consulting services, and support for commercialization efforts, we will establish a 100%-owned subsidiary of the university (the Kyoto University Original Co., Ltd.), and establish a new industry-government-academia collaboration model in cooperation with the university’s existing subsidiaries engaged in technology transfer and venture support.

To further enhance our research and education activities and develop international human resources, we will strengthen our comprehensive industry-academia cooperation, including organization-to-organization research collaboration with proactive participation from industry and a view to pursuing open innovation.

Moreover, in order to share our diverse research output with wider society, we will develop an intellectual property portfolio management system* with a view to the future needs and requirements of the industrial sector, and we will pursue strategic approaches to technology transfer grounded in the basic sciences. As part of these initiatives, we will conduct training programs designed to develop the practical and innovative capabilities of future entrepreneurs.

Promotion of social engagement and other programs

In order to raise our university’s profile, attract new benefactors, and cultivate a sustainable framework of support for the university, as well as contribute to addressing the various problems in contemporary society, we will extend the reach of our cutting-edge educational and research output through public lectures and public access to facilities, and conduct debates which are open to the wider community.

Additionally, in light of the fact that many of society’s problems are in fact global-scale problems, we will endeavor to involve students enrolled in our Leading Doctoral Programs in making practical contributions to tackling the challenges that confront humanity as a whole.

Sharing Kyoto’s unique academic culture with wider society: 4.Through the Kyoto Academia Forum established in Marunouchi, Tokyo, we will disseminate academic information on culture, art, and science from Kyoto in cooperation with the city’s arts-oriented universities. We will promote exchange between faculty members/researchers and companies/economic organizations as a center for technology transfer and venture capital investment activities.

Development and provision of cutting-edge medical care

Centering on the Kyoto University Hospital, we will utilize new medical technologies and high-quality biological sample storage and analysis technologies in areas such as regenerative medicine, and use genome and other accumulated medical information together with the latest information technologies to establish a safer, high-quality medical care system and develop revolutionary drugs, medical equipment, and medical software, in order to contribute to medical innovation in Japan.

We will provide world-class medical care, both locally and in other Asian countries, through strengthening our partnerships with regional hub hospitals and local governments and further developing our medical personnel exchange programs with overseas hospitals, particularly those in Asia.

Opening ceremony for the 2017 Universität Hamburg-Kyoto University Symposium
President Yamagiwa chairs a session at the 3rd ASEAN-JAPAN Workshop
(organized by the STS forum)
Research meeting at a KUIAS laboratory