Okayama University established the “Graduate School of Environmental, Life, Natural Science and Technology” by reorganizing and integrating the Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology and the Graduate School of Environmental and Life Science in April 2023, and a signboard unveiling ceremony for the graduate school was held on May 18. The aim of the new graduate school is to foster human resources who will contribute to new value creation and global innovation as “pioneers who continue to proactively transform themselves” with leadership and transferable abilities, to take the initiative to discover and solve issues by combining new academic disciplines related to environmental and food issues with a knowledge and the technologies of basic science and applied engineering.

At the ceremony, President NASU Yasutomo, Executive Director for Academic Affairs SUGA Seiji, and Dean of the Graduate School of Environmental, Life, Natural Science and Technology TSURUTA Kenji placed a signboard for the new graduate school in front of the Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Research Building. President Nasu provided encouragement, saying that: “I expect the Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology and the Graduate School of Environmental and Life Science to academically merge and to establish new academic disciplines.”

* Graduate School of Environmental, Life, Natural Science and Technology

For this graduate school, the Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology specialized in fundamental science and applied engineering, and the Graduate School of Environmental and Life Science specialized in environmental and food issues and the creation of a recycling-oriented society, were integrated in order to merge different fields and establish new academic disciplines.

To flexibly respond to issues in the turbulent modern society, the graduate school provides a curriculum without the traditional boundaries and barriers of academic disciplines, grades, time differences and campuses. Four new degree programs have been reorganized for each of the master’s and doctor’s courses, where students set a curriculum on their own while adhering to the course model provided by each program.