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University of Tsukuba

174= 234   Arts & Humanities143  Natural Sciences
154  Engineering & IT215  Social Sciences
World Rankings200  Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Source: Times Higher Education - QS World University Rankings Copyright © 2009 QS Intelligence Unit
216= -   Arts & Humanities143  Natural Sciences
201  Engineering & IT293  Social Sciences
World Rankings271  Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Source: Times Higher Education - QS World University Rankings Copyright © 2009 QS Intelligence Unit
209= 463  Arts & Humanities169  Natural Sciences
164  Engineering & IT415  Social Sciences
World Rankings280  Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Source: Times Higher Education - QS World University Rankings Copyright © 2009 QS Intelligence Unit
269     
    
World Rankings  
Source: Times Higher Education - QS World University Rankings Copyright © 2009 QS Intelligence Unit

The University of Tsukuba, founded in October 1973, is one of Japan’s leading comprehensive universities. Three Nobel Prize laureates have served as either president or faculty. The University of Tsukuba is a relatively new university, yet in fact, it has a long and distinguished history in the Japanese university system. Its origin dates back more than 130 years to the Meiji era when Japan started its modernization. What is now the University of Tsukuba was founded in 1872 as the Normal School (which later became the Tokyo Higher Normal School), the first teachers’ college in Japan. Its successor, the Tokyo University of Education, founded in 1947, moved to the Tsukuba area, which is about 60 km (36 miles) northeast of Tokyo, in 1973.

The planners of the University of Tsukuba aspired to create a new kind of institution at a time when scholars in Japanese universities were still reluctant to break down disciplinary barriers. As such, since its inception, Tsukuba has been a forerunner in university reform in Japan. For example, our academic and research units were designed in such a way as to enable interdisciplinary research and education. Moreover, it was here that Japan’s first graduate-level evening courses for professionals were offered in such areas as law and international business.

Located at the center of Tsukuba Science City, the university grew simultaneously with the development of the city. This science city is well known internationally for its large concentration of major research institutes such as the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK). The name “Tsukuba” has attained high international esteem for its multitude of research accomplishments.

Our campus is quite distinctive. The main Tsukuba campus covers an area of 258 hectares (636 acres), making it the largest single campus in Japan. Moreover, both the campus and the city are surrounded by beautiful nature. It is, however, not far from the metropolitan district. The Tsukuba Express, the new train system that began its service in the summer of 2005, now connects downtown Tsukuba with Akihabara, Tokyo, in 45 minutes.

Faculty

Number of Faculty Staff Headcount: 2,817 FTE: 2,113

Total number of academic faculty staff who are responsible for planning, directing and undertaking teaching only, research only or both teaching and research. Please include: vice-chancellors, deputy vice-chancellors, principals, professors, heads of school, associate professors, principal lecturers, tutors or postdoctoral researchers. Please exclude research assistants*, PhD students who contribute to teaching, hospital residents and exchange scholars or visiting faculty staff who are members of another university. * The important distinction for us is that staff counted as 'research only' should be academically involved in that research and should be likely to publish research outputs. A research assistant, in our understanding, is any individual who is not doing own research and is therefore not likely to publish own research outputs. Said individual is (only) involved in research in terms of operation execution , such as lab technician or equipment operator.

Number of International Faculty Staff Headcount: 132 FTE: 91

Number of academic faculty staff who are of foreign nationality. The term 'international' is hereby determined by citizenship. For EU countries, this includes all foreign nationals, even if from another EU state. In Hong Kong, this includes professors from Mainland China. Inclusion and exclusion mirrors those for academic faculty staff. In case of dual citizenship, the 'deciding' criteria should be 'citizenship obtained through birth', basically first passport obtained.
Number of Inbound Visiting Faculty Staff Headcount: 238 FTE: 122

Number of academic faculty staff contributing to teaching or research at your university in the last 12 months who are visiting from an overseas institution for a minimum period of at least 3 months.
Number of Outbound Visiting Faculty Staff Headcount: 9 FTE: 9

Number of academic faculty staff employed by your institution contributing to teaching or research at an overseas institution in the last 12 months for a minimum period of at least 3 months.
Number of Staff with PhD Headcount: 1,520 FTE: 1,425

Number of academic faculty staff employed by your institution that have studied a PhD

Undergraduate Information

Number of Undergraduate Students Headcount: 10,190 FTE: 10,190

Number of students pursuing a Bachelor’s level or equivalent degree. This excludes certificates/diplomas and associate’s degrees.

Number of International Undergraduate Students Headcount: 230 FTE: 230

Number of undergraduate students who are foreign nationals. The term 'international' is hereby determined by citizenship. For EU countries, this includes all foreign nationals, even nationals of other EU states. In Hong Kong, this includes students from Mainland China. In case of dual citizenship, the 'deciding' criteria should be 'citizenship obtained through birth', basically first passport obtained. Please exclude all exchange students. As for language students, if the language students take up a particular language course that is outlined as 'undergraduate degree program' they should be included under 'international undergraduate students' . Language students who take part in a course not contributing to a degree qualification should be counted under 'Total International Students'.

Number of Inbound Exchange Undergraduate Students Headcount: 87 FTE: 29

Number of undergraduate students attending your university on international exchange programs for at least 1 semester in the last 12 months.
Number of Outbound Exchange Undergraduate Students Headcount: 154 FTE: 154

Number of undergraduate students registered at your institution who have attended another institution abroad for at least 1 semester on an exchange program in the last 12 months.
Average International Undergraduate Fees $ USD 5,935

Average tuition fees per academic year (two semesters) that an international student would be expected to pay for an undergraduate program, with ‘program’ referring to the complete range of courses contributing to a degree. FAQ: How do I calculate average fees?

Average Domestic Undergraduate Fees $ USD 5,935

Average tuition fees per academic year (two semesters) that a domestic student would be expected to pay for an undergraduate program, with ‘program’ referring to the complete range of courses contributing to a degree. FAQ: How do I calculate average fees?

Average Undergraduate Class Size Headcount: 36

The average size of class across all undergraduate programs. The term ‘class’ refers to an unit of instruction or taught session in which a teacher has pre-defined material to cover. It does exclude tutorial seminars.
Number of first year Undergraduate students Headcount: 2,272 FTE: 2,272

Number of students pursuing a Bachelor's level or equivalent degree in their first year of study. This excludes certificates/diplomas and associate's degrees.

Graduate / Postgraduate Information

Number of Graduate / Postgraduate Students Headcount: 6,548 FTE: 6,548

Students pursuing a higher-level degree (Master and Doctorate), including both taught and research postgraduates (e.g. PhD students)
Number of International Graduate/Postgraduate Students Headcount: 1,050 FTE: 1,050

Number of graduate / postgraduate students who are foreign nationals. The term 'international' is hereby determined by citizenship. For EU countries, this includes all foreign nationals, even nationals of other EU states. In Hong Kong, this includes students from Mainland China. In case of dual citizenship, the 'deciding' criteria should be 'citizenship obtained through birth', basically first passport obtained. Please exclude all exchange students. As for language students, if they take up a particular language course that is outlined as 'postgraduate degree program', they should be included under 'international postgraduate students'. Language students who take part in a course not contributing to a degree qualification should be counted under 'Total International Students'.

Number of Inbound Exchange Graduate/Postgraduate Students Headcount: 42 FTE: 14

Number of graduate / postgraduate students attending your university on international exchange programs for at least 1 semester in the last 12 months.
Number of Outbound Exchange Graduate/Postgraduate Students Headcount: 67 FTE: 67

Number of postgraduate students registered at your institution who have attended another institution on an exchange program for at least 1 semester in the last 12 months.
Average International Graduate / Postgraduate Fees $ USD 5,935

Average tuition fees per academic year (two semesters) that an international student would be expected to pay for a graduate / postgraduate program, with ‘program’ referring to the complete range of courses contributing to a degree. FAQ: How do I calculate average fees?

Average Domestic Graduate / Postgraduate Fees $ USD 5,935

Average tuition fees per academic year (two semesters) that a domestic student would be expected to pay for a graduate / postgraduate program, with ‘program’ referring to the complete range of courses contributing to a degree. FAQ: How do I calculate average fees?

Average Taught Graduate / Postgraduate Class Size Headcount: 10

The average size of class across all taught graduate / postgraduate programs. The term ‘class’ refers to an unit of instruction or taught session in which a teacher has pre-defined material to cover. It does exclude tutorial seminars.
Number of first year Postgraduate students Headcount: 2,485 FTE: 2,485

Number of students pursuing a Master's level or equivalent degree in their first year of study, including both taught and research postgraduates.

Students

Total Students Headcount: 16,738 FTE: 16,738

Total number of students.
Total International Students Headcount: 1,625 FTE: 1,395

Number of students who are foreign nationals. The term 'international' is hereby determined by citizenship. For EU countries, this includes all foreign nationals, even nationals of other EU states. In Hong Kong, this includes students from Mainland China. In case of dual citizenship, the 'deciding' criteria should be 'citizenship obtained through birth', basically first passport obtained.
Total Outbound Exchange Students Headcount: 221 FTE: 221

Total number of students registered at your institution who have attended another institution on an exchange program for at least 1 semester in the last 12 months.
Total Inbound Exchange Students Headcount: 129 FTE: 43

Total number of students attending your university on international exchange programs for at least 1 semester in the last 12 months.
Average International Student Fees $ USD 5,935

Average tuition fees per year that an international student would be expected to pay for any course
Average Domestic Student Fees $ USD 5,935

Average tuition fees per academic year (two semesters) that a domestic student would be expected to pay for any program, with ‘program’ referring to the complete range of courses contributing to a degree. FAQ: How do I calculate average fees?

Average Class Size Headcount: 24

The average size of class across all programs. The term ‘class’ refers to an unit of instruction or taught session in which a teacher has pre-defined material to cover. It does exclude tutorial seminars.
Number of Male Students Headcount: 10,459 FTE: 10,459

Number of students who are male out of the total number of students studying at your university
Number of Female Students Headcount: 6,279 FTE: 6,279

Number of students who are female out of the total number of students studying at your university

Graduate Output

Proportion of Graduates Pursuing Further Study Headcount: 43 %

Proportion of graduates from undergraduate programs pursuing further study at your own institution or any other within 6 months after graduation.

Proportion of Graduates Employed Headcount: 94 %

Proportion of graduates (excluding those opting to pursue further study) in permanent employment within 6 months of graduation
Number of PhDs Awarded Headcount: 466

Total number of PhDs awarded in the last 12 months

Entry Requirements

Avg Entry Requirements Headcount: 4

Please express the average academic achievement entry requirements for your institution. Please convert your domestic requirements to the US Grade Point Average system. The five-point numerical scale is typically correlated with the A-F/A-E quality index. (A=4.0, B=3.0, C=2.0, D=1.0, E or F = 0.0) In our context, a value of 0 will imply to us that your institution has an "open access" admissions policy and will in no way count against your institution in any future table built upon this data. You can use World Education Services (WES) Toolkit as guidline: http://www.wes.org/gradeconversionguide/index.asp (copy and paste)

Applications

Total Number of Applications Headcount: 13,308

Total number of applications your institution received in the last 12 months for all undergraduate and postgraduate courses

Careers Support

Number of Full-Time Careers Advisors Headcount: 47 FTE: 47

Total number of staff employed by your institution on a full-time basis who are exclusively responsible for career support for your students (undergraduate and/or postgraduate)

Internationalisation

Number of University Collaborations or Partnership Agreements Headcount: 174

Number of universities your institution has collaborations or partnership agreements with. These partnership agreements may include student and teaching exchanges, as well as collaborative research projects, exchange of academic materials and other information, and jointly offered executive development programmes. This includes collaborations at either a university or faculty level. Please also state the names of these institutions in the Submission Notes box. Click here to see a list of universities in top 500 over last 3 years
Main claims to international academic or non-academic excellence

Traditionally, education has been a particularly strong point of the University of Tsukuba, as its predecessor institution, the Tokyo University of Education, was originally established to train teachers.
The University of Tsukuba is well known for research and advancement in a number of fields, particularly the sciences, robotics, medicine, the social sciences, and sports. In the areas of physics and chemistry, three Nobel Prize laureates have served as either president or faculty (two in physics and one in chemistry). The current President of the University of Tsukuba, Dr. Yoichi Iwasaki, is well known for developing massively parallel computers for computational physics, which, at the time of their development in 1996, were the fastest supercomputers in the world. In 2005, a team of robotics researchers from the University of Tsukuba developed the robot suit HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb), which can expand and improve the physical capabilities of humans. This invention, which has attracted much attention around the world, was awarded the 2006 World Technology Award. Our School of Medical Sciences is famous for producing well-trained doctors, nurses, and medical experts. In fact, the quality of service offered at the University Hospital satisfies the world�s highest standards as set forth by the ISO9001 quality management system. In the social sciences, a large-scale survey of civil society organizations has been conducted in 11 countries.
The University of Tsukuba also has a distinguished history in the field of sports, and the School of Health and Physical Education is proud of its accomplishments in the Olympic Games. We have more than 50 athletes, currently enrolled, graduated, or teaching, who have competed in the Olympics. Jigoro Kano, the first principal of the Tokyo Higher Normal School (predecessor of the University of Tsukuba), became well known in the early 20th century as the �Father of Judo,� and was the leader of Japan�s first Olympic team sent to Stockholm in 1912. Continuing the University of Tsukuba�s tradition of active participation in the Olympics, a professor at the university�s Institute of Health and Sports Science was recently appointed as Secretary-General of the Tokyo Olympic Games Bid Committee.

Range of Fees

ï¿¥535,800 (Annual)
$5,935 ($1=ï¿¥90.28323: As of Feb 12, 2009)

Accommodation

Single rooms: 3,456
Double rooms: 538
Family rooms: 186

Accommodation Range

ï¿¥13,840 to ï¿¥32,225 (per month)
$153.3 to $357.0 ($1=ï¿¥90.28323: As of Feb 12, 2009)

Finance and Scholarships

Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) Scholarships
Scholarships for self-supporting students are divided into two types, according to the application methods: the first type of scholarship requires application through the university, while the second type allows direct application to the scholarship foundation.

Entry Requirements

The University of Tsukuba does not have academic achievement entry
requirements expressed through a grade point average system, but rather
relies on entrance examinations, the first being the nation-wide test in
Japan that allows successful top students (eligible for national
universities) to take the subsequent Tsukuba specific examination which
determines admission.

Non-English Language Requirements

Japanese