Kyoto University

Kyoto University is a major national university in Kyoto, Japan. It is the second oldest university in Japan, 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. 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.

University Clock Tower

History

The forerunner of the university was the Chemistry School (Seimi-kyoku) founded in Osaka in 1869, which, despite its name, taught physics as well. Later, the Third Higher School 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 ( Kyōto teikoku daigaku) as a part of the Imperial University system was established in June 18, 1897, 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 ( Kyōyōbu). The faculty was dissolved with the foundation of the Faculty of Integrated Human Studies ( 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 (Monbu kagaku shō).

Faculties

Faculty of Integrated Human Studies
Faculty of Letters
Faculty of Education
Faculty of Law
Faculty of Economics
Faculty of Science
Faculty of Medicine
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Faculty of Engineering
Faculty of Agriculture

Graduate Schools

Graduate School of Letters
Graduate School of Education
Graduate School of Law
Graduate School of Economics
Graduate School of Science
Graduate School of Medicine
Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Graduate School of Engineering
Graduate School of Agriculture
Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies
Graduate School of Energy Science
Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies
Graduate School of Informatics
Graduate School of Biostudies
Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies
School of Government
Graduate School of Management
Kyoto University Law School
Kyoto University School of Public Health

Kyoto University ranked 25th in the 2007 THES World-University ranking

Kyoto University ranked 25th in the 2008 THES World-University ranking
Kyoto University ranked 25th in the 2009 THES World-University ranking
Kyoto University ranked 25th in the 2010 QS World-University ranking

Kyoto University ranked 32nd in the 2011 QS World-University ranking