Tsukuba University

About the University of Tsukuba 

The University of Tsukuba (筑波大学 Tsukuba daigaku), one of the oldest national universities (established by Japanese Government) and one of the most comprehensive research universities in Japan, is in the city of Tsukuba (known as Tsukuba Science City), Ibaraki Prefecture in the Kantō region of Japan. The university has 28 college clusters and schools with around 16,500 students (as of 2014). The main Tsukuba campus covers an area of 258 hectares (636 acres), making it the second largest single campus in Japan. The branch campus is in Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, which offers graduate programs for working adults in the capital and manages K-12 schools in Tokyo that are attached to the university.

The university's academic strength is in STEMM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine), physical education, and related interdisciplinary fields. It is by taking located in Tsukuba Science City which has more than 300 research institutions. The university has had three Nobel laureates (two in Physics and one in Chemistry, see also "History"), and about 70 athletes, their students and alumni, have participated in the Olympic Games.

It has established interdisciplinary Ph.D. programs in Human Biology and Empowerment Informatics, and the International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine, which were created through the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's competitive funding projects.

Its Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences is represented on the national Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction.

Internationalization

Their founding philosophy states the University of Tsukuba is "a university which is open to all within and outside of Japan."

As of August 2015, the university has over 300 international inter-university agreements and 13 overseas offices in 12 countries, located in Brazil, China, Germany, France, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Tunisia, Taiwan, United States, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

The university is also known for its internationalization efforts. It has won Japanese government funding projects for internationalization of Japanese universities, including the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's "Global 30" Project and the "Super Global University Project" (formally known as "Top Global University Project"). In the Super Global University Project, University of Tsukuba won Type A funding, which is for 13 elite Japanese universities to be ranked in the top 100 in global university rankings by 2023. Their initiative includes expanding the number of courses and degree programs taught in English only, sharing faculty members with partner institutions such as National Taiwan University, University of Bordeaux, and University of California, Irvine to promote education and research collaboration, and establishing so-called "Course Jukebox System" which enables their and partner institutions' students to take partner institutions' courses as if they are at their original institution.

In 2009, the University of Tsukuba participated in the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization's (SEAMEO) affiliated member, and it has been cooperating in the development of education in the ASEAN region. The university is a member of AIMS program, which is to promote regional student mobility among the ASEAN and participated countries including Japan.

In 2004, the university established the Alliance for Research on North Africa (ARENA) as an academic research center with the purpose of promoting comprehensive research concerning the North African Region through integration of humanities and sciences. Since then, ARENA has been expanding its research fields, and the university established a branch office in Tunis, Tunisia in 2006. The University of Tsukuba is also accepting African students through the ABE initiative, which was initiated by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and is bringing 1,000 African graduate students to Japanese universities in five years from 2014. The University of Tsukuba is planning and leading Japan-Africa Academic Network (JAAN) initiative to bring together all the Japanese universities' resources for Africa and to deepen the academic relationship between Japan and Africa.

In May 2008, the Tokyo International Conference on African Development became an opportunity for the African Development Bank (AfDB) and universities in Japan to promote partnership on higher education, science and technology. Donald Kaberuka, the president of the AfDB, and the president of University of Tsukuba signed a memorandum of understanding during the three-day event.

History of the University of Tsukuba 

The university was established in October 1973. A forerunner was Tokyo University of Education (東京教育大学 Tōkyō kyōiku daigaku) which was founded in 1872. It was one of the oldest universities in Japan, Tokyo Higher Normal School (東京師範学校 Tōkyō Shihan Gakkō).

In October 2002, the University of Tsukuba merged with the University of Library and Information Science (ULIS, 図書館情報大学 Toshokan jōhō daigaku). The School of Library and Information Science and the Graduate School of Library and Information – Media Studies were established.

The University of Tsukuba has provided several Nobel Prize winners, such as Leo Esaki, Hideki Shirakawa and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga. Dr. Satoshi Ōmura was an auditor at Tokyo University of Education.

Rankings

Global university rankings (overall)

Research performance

• Tsukuba is one of the leading research institutions in Japan. According to Thomson Reuters, Tsukuba is the 10th best research institutions among all the universities and non-educational research institutions in Japan.
• Weekly Diamond (ja) reported that Tsukuba has the 27th highest research standard in Japan in research fundings per researchers in COE Program.
• In the same article, it's ranked 11th in the quality of education by GP (Japanese) funds per student.
• It has a good research standard in Economics, as Research Papers in Economics ranked Tsukuba as the eighth best Economics research university in January 2011.

Graduate school rankings

• Tsukuba's law school was ranked 19th in 2010 for its passing rate of the Japanese bar examination.
• Eduniversal ranked Tsukuba as seventh in the rankings of "Excellent Business Schools nationally strong and/or with continental links" in Japan.

Alumni rankings

• According to the Weekly Economist's 2010 rankings, graduates from Tsukuba have the 64th best employment rate in 400 major companies in Japan.
• By contrast, the alumni of Tsukuba's average salary is very high with the 8th best in Japan, according to PRESIDENT, Inc.

Student life @the University of Tsukuba 

Our Tsukuba campus is located in the Tsukuba Science City, sixty kilometers northeast of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. It’s less than an hour by train to Tokyo. The Tsukuba Science city was born by advanced national project in 60s, which aimed to construct new science park and avoid from overconcentration to Tokyo by relocating national research institutes from Tokyo to Tsukuba. 
There are over thirty of Japan’s leading national research institutes corresponding to approximately 30% of all national research institutes and more than 200 private research institutes. In addition, among two hundred thousand residents of Tsukuba City, 1 out of 10 is a researcher. 
This well-planned city sustains harmony with academic atmosphere and abundant natural environment. A pedestrian and bicycle way connects our university, station, the national institutes and huge greenery parks in the center area. The city provides the environment to deepen your study and network with researchers at institutes in Tsukuba. 
In addition, Mt. Tsukuba is located north from our campus. It is a popular and beautifully shaped mountain with twin peaks and historical shrine. It’s also called “Shiho”, purple peaks. The name comes from changing colors of mountain surface many times in a day, as indigo in the morning, green in the daytime, and purple in the sunset.

Student Residence Halls

The University of Tsukuba student residence halls were established to offer its students excellent study environment along with the opportunity to experience autonomous civic life. A total of 60 residences with 3,430 private rooms, 153 double rooms, and 251 family rooms are located in Ichinoya, Hirasuna, Oikoshi, and Kasuga Campus. Every room is furnished with a bed, a table, a washbasin, a dormitory telephone etc. One can afford to stay in the dormitory if things of personal use are arranged. Furthermore, every building has a laundry room, a communal kitchen and shower room, etc. Also each campus (excluding Kasuga campus) has a community center that has the Administrative Office (In Kasuga Area, it is established in the 1F, Building 1), a beauty and hair salon, and an electric goods store. In addition, Hirasuna Community Center has cafeterias and bath house, and Ichinoya Community Center has convenience stores.

The university makes sure the rooms are available to undergraduate freshmen on a priority basis. When the number of new applicants exceeds the available number of rooms, students coming to Tsukuba from different district/state are given priority over those local students who can possibly commute to the university from nearby areas.

Services of the University of Tsukuba 

University Library

The University of Tsukuba Library is dedicated to be the core of academic information through cooperation with the local community, research laboratories and educational organizations in Japan and overseas.
The Libray consists of the Central Library and four specialized libraries (Art and Physical Education Library, Medical Library, Library on Library and Information Science, and Otsuka Library).

University Hospital

University of Tsukuba Hospital is a major teaching hospital of the University of Tsukuba, School of Medicine and has led the country in providing innovative training programs in residencies and fellowships in various specialties. As a teacing hospital, the hospital provides multidisciplinary education to students in various areas of specialty. The hospital is also designated as a "Special Functioning Hospital" that is committed to provide state-of -the-art medical care and to conduct educational and research activities that promote patient care.

Laboratory Schools

The University of Tsukuba serves as the educational core for primary and secondary education at 11 affiliated schools under the University of Tsukuba Education Bureau of Laboratory Schools.