Kyoto University

Motto:	None
Established:	Founded May 1, 1869, Chartered Jun. 18, 1897
Type:	Public (National)
Endowment:	¥ 250.2 billion (2.2 billion USD)
President:	Hiroshi Matsumoto
Faculty:	2,864 (Teaching Staff)[1]
Staff:	5,397 (Total Staff)[1]
Students:	22,707[1]
Undergraduates:	13,399[2]
Postgraduates:	9,308[3]
Location:	Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan
Campus:	Urban, 333 acres (1.3 km²)
Athletics:	48 varsity teams
Colors:	Dark blue
Nickname:	None
Mascot:	None
Affiliations:	Kansai Big Six, ASAIHL
Website:	www.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Kyoto University (京都大学 ,Kyōto daigaku^?), or Kyodai (京大 ,Kyōdai^?) is a major national university in Kyoto, Japan. It is the second oldest university in Japan^[4], and formerly one of the Imperial Universities of Japan. The university has a total of about 22,000 students enrolled in its undergraduate and graduate programs.

Kyoto University has historically advocated a "spirit of freedom" in its academic activities^[5] The university established itself as a premier research university with six Nobel Laureates and two Fields Medalists among its faculties and alumni. The university is also known as the home of the Kyoto School group of philosophers.

Kyoto University was ranked as the 22^nd best university in the world in 2007 according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities.^[1] The Times Higher Education Supplement ranked Kyoto University as the 25th in the world and the 3rd in Asia in 2007.[2]

History

The forerunner of the Kyoto University was the Chemistry School (舎密局 ,Seimikyoku^?) founded in Osaka in 1436, which, despite its name, taught physics as well. (舎密 is a transcription of a Dutch word chemie.) Later, the Third Higher School (第三髙等學校 ,Daisan kōtō gakkō^?) was established in the place of Seimi-kyoku in 1886, it then transferred to the university's present main campus in the same year.

Kyoto Imperial University (京都帝國大學 ,Kyōto teikoku daigaku^?) as a part of the Imperial University system was established in June 18, 1897,^[4] using the Third Higher School's buildings. The higher school moved to a patch of land just across the street, where the Yoshida South Campus stands today. In the same year of the university's establishment, the College of Science and Technology was founded. The College of Law and the College of Medicine were founded in 1899, the College of Letters in 1906, expanding the university's activities to areas outside natural science.

After World War II, the current Kyoto University was established by merging the imperial university and the Third Higher School, which assumed the duty of teaching liberal arts as the Faculty of Liberal Arts (教養部 ,Kyōyōbu^?). The faculty was dissolved with the foundation of the Faculty of Integrated Human Studies (総合人間学部 ,Sōgō ningen gakubu^?) in 1992.

Kyoto University has since 2004 been incorporated as a national university corporation under a new law which applies to all national universities.

Despite the incorporation which has led to increased financial independence and autonomy, Kyoto University is still partly controlled by the Japanese Ministry of Education (文部科学省 ,Monbu kagaku shō^?).

The current president is Hiroshi Matsumoto.

Campuses

The Clocktower

The university has three campuses in Yoshida, Kyoto; in Gokashō, Uji; and in Katsura, Kyoto.

Yoshida Campus is the main campus, with some laboratories located in Uji. The Graduate School of Engineering is currently under process of moving to the newly-built Katsura Campus.

Faculties and graduate schools

• Integrated Human Studies (総合人間学部)
• Letters (文学部)
• Education (教育学部)
• Law (法学部)
• Economics (経済学部)
• Science (理学部)
• Medicine (医学部)
  • University Hospital
• Pharmaceutical Sciences (薬学部)
• Engineering (工学部)
• Agriculture (農学部)
  • Experimental Farm
  • University Forests
  • Human and Environmental Studies
• Energy Science
• Asian and African Area Studies
• Informatics
• Biostudies
• Global Environmental Studies
• energy Science

Research institutes, centers, and facilities

• Institute for Chemical Research
• Institute for Research in Humanities
• Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences
• Institute of Advanced Energy
• Wood Research Institute
  • Disaster Prevention Research Institute
• Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics
• Institute for Virus Research
• Institute of Economic Research
• Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences
• Research Reactor Institute
• Primate Research Institute
• Center for Southeast Asian Studies
• Academic Center for Computing and Media Studies
• Radiation Biology Center
• Radio Science Center for Space & Atmosphere
• Center for Ecological Research
• Radioisotope Research Center
• Environment Preservation Center
• Center for Molecular Biology and Genetics
• Center for Student Exchange
• Research Center for Higher Education
• University Museum
  • International Innovation Center
• Research Center for Low Temperature and Materials Sciences
• Center for student Health
• Research Center for Sports Science
• Counseling Center
• University Archives
• Center for Archaeological Operations
• Center for African Area Studies
• KU-VBL (Venture Business Laboratory)
• Health and Medical Services
• Kosobe Conservatory