Kinki University

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Kinki University (or informally, Kindai University)
近畿大学
Motto None
Established Founded 1925,
Chartered 1949
Type Private
President Hiroyuki Hata
Academic staff 920 full-time
Undergraduates 30,379
Postgraduates N/A
Location Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan
34°39′05″N 135°35′13″E / 34.651413°N 135.586964°E / 34.651413; 135.586964Coordinates: 34°39′05″N 135°35′13″E / 34.651413°N 135.586964°E / 34.651413; 135.586964
Campus Urban / Suburban, 271 acres (1.1 km²)
Athletics 48 varsity teams
Mascot None
Website www.kindai.ac.jp/english/

Kinki University (近畿大学 Kinki daigaku), or Kindai (近大), is a private non-sectarian and coeducational university based in Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan with campuses in five other locations: Nara, Nara; Ōsakasayama, Osaka; Uchita, Wakayama; Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima; and Iizuka, Fukuoka.

The word "Kinki" used in the name of the university means "the surrounding area of the capital city (Kyoto)" (see Kansai region).

History

The University dates its foundation to the establishment of Osaka Technical College (大阪専門学校 Ōsaka semmon gakkō) in 1925. Kinki University started in 1949 when the founder college merged with Osaka Science and Engineering University (大阪理工科大学 Ōsaka rikōka daigaku), established in 1943. The first president was Koichi Seko.

Initially there were two schools: the School of Engineering and the School of Commerce (now the School of Business and Economics).

After the war, when food was in short supply, the university opened its Marine Research Center in 1948 in Shirahama-cho, Wakayama Prefecture. Today it is the Fisheries Laboratory. This was the first time that marine fish farming research was carried out in Japan. Other pioneering projects include, along with the opening of the Atomic Energy Research Institute, establishing the first private nuclear reactor facilities in 1960.

When Masataka Seko became the head of Kinki University in 1965, he built and improved the curricula and environment. In 1974, the School of Medicine was opened, followed by a teaching hospital one year later. Existing university buildings were reconstructed and laboratories and other facilities were improved and expanded. Another aspect of his vision that "Education comes from the environment" was realized: There is more greenery on campus.

In 1989, adding to a university that had concentrated on science and technology, the School of Literature, Arts and Cultural Studies was opened. At the same time, the School of Agriculture was moved to Nara Prefecture which was more conducive to studies concerned with the natural environment.

In 1993, the School of Biology-Oriented Science and Technology was opened in Uchita-cho, Wakayama Prefecture. It attracted public interest as the first center in Japan to concentrate on this new field concerning superior functions possessed by organisms.

As it comprises 11 schools, 44 departments, and a School of Medicine that runs three general hospitals, Kinki University covers many fields of research. The contribution it makes increase each year.

Organization

In addition to its 11 schools, Kinki University runs graduate schools, a distance learning division, four junior colleges, a technical college, a nursing school, and other schools from kindergarten to high school. These facilities cover the whole of western Japan.[1]

International work

From its earliest days, Kinki University has been committed to promoting international understanding through active exchanges with overseas universities. There are two main channels for this interchange.

  • First, there are programs for exchanging personnel, both staff and students, in experience and joint research projects.
  • Second, the university exchanges scientific documents and shares information with partner institutions.

Both of these channels have helped students and staff to develop perspectives that are truly international in nature.

Some of the institutions Kinki University works with are Chulalongkorn University, Chiang Mai University, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing Forestry University, Dalian University of Technology, Great Wall Hospital, Xi'An University of Technology, Sofia Medical University, University of Illinois, University of California, Davis, University of Calgary, University of Nottingham, University of Sussex, and Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich.

Scholarly exchange

In 1987, Kinki University welcomed the opportunity for the exchange of research with Sofia Medical University and, in 1988, actively entered into similar agreements with Thailand's Chulalongkorn and Chiang Mai universities. The joint research with Chiang Mai University has included ways to eliminate poppy growing and continues today.

Meanwhile, the schools of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Agriculture, and Medicine have received samples of herbs native to Thailand, all of which are being investigated to determine their effects and analyzed to determine their active agents.

Meanwhile, to help with research into breeding kelp bass and other saltwater fish, experts from Kinki University have been dispatched to Chulalongkorn University. There are academic collaboration workshops between the department of architecture, school of engineering, and faculty of architecture and planning with Thammasat University, Thailand.

Overseas students at Kinki University

According to Koichi Seko, Kinki University's first president, "The mission of this university is to throw open its lecture halls and laboratories to the young people of the world and to encourage the development of truly international attitudes." Committed to making these words a reality, in 1953 the university accepted 15 scholarship students from Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, former Burma, and India. About 300 international students are studying in graduate programs or standard university courses.

In 1991, the International Student Center was established to offer detailed advice about studies and daily life in Japan. Supplementing their academic studies, overseas students learn much about Japanese culture and language through interaction with Japanese students and the local community. Kinki University provides a Japanese language course for students who do not have sufficient competence in Japanese.

List of alumni

See also

  • Kinki University Mathematics Contest

References

  1. ↑ Associated Facilities Run by the University (English)

External links

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