Kyoto University has been selected for the FY2014 Top Global University Project, a higher education reform initiative launched this fiscal year by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).
The MEXT program aims to raise Japan’s global competitiveness in higher education by supporting internationalization and reform efforts at select institutions. Kyoto University’s reform initiative is called “Japan Gateway: Kyoto University Top Global Program” and is categorized as “Type A: Top Type” in the Top Global University Project. The Japan Gateway initiative focuses on the following research areas: Mathematics, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Human Biosciences, Social Sciences and Humanities.
The discipline of Social Sciences and Humanities covers the three Graduate Schools of Economics (GSE), Letters (GSL) and Agriculture (GSA: Division of Natural Resource Economics). To cultivate globally minded individuals with the capacity to contribute to the sustainable development of Asia and the world, the Asian Platform for Global Sustainability & Transcultural Studies(AGST) has been set up with six modules in the program: #1 Environmental policy and rural development studies; #2 Business history and industry policy studies; #3 International trade and financial studies; #4 Social policy and labour studies; #5 Developing and transition economies studies; and #6 Comparative and transcultural Asian studies.
