Miyazaki University was founded in 1949 through Miyazaki Advanced Agricultural and Forestry School, Miyazaki Prefectural Normal School for Primary Education, and the Miyazaki Prefectural Advanced Technical School. In October 2003, following the merger of Miyazaki University with Miyazaki Medical College, the University of Miyazaki (UoM) was formed. In April 2004, UoM gained National University Corporation status. Currently, UoM has five faculties: Education, Medicine, Engineering, Agriculture, and Regional Innovation.
The University of Miyazaki took a significant step forward in April 2016 by opening our new Faculty of Regional Innovation. This addition brought our total number of faculties to five and our faculties of Agriculture, Education, Engineering, and Medicine. The new faculty will span a range of different disciplines, including the humanities and social sciences and agriculture and engineering.
As we move forward, a task will be to specialize in university functions while also enhancing individualization. Simply put, we need to bring out the distinctive qualities of the University of Miyazaki--as encapsulated in our slogan: Look at the World, Start with the Community. Examples of how the University of Miyazaki is enhancing its specialization and individuality can be seen in our Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Agriculture and Engineering, our Graduate School of Education, and our Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. In those and other cases, we are bringing together different academic disciplines to forge innovative new research and educational initiatives while also building the networks needed to meet local communities' needs. We continue to demonstrate our unique qualities as a university by advancing research in our core disciplines, including life sciences, environmental science, food science, and energy science.
The University of Miyazaki has been earning praise from outside observers for our approach to fostering leading young researchers. In this area, we have introduced the Organization for Promotion of Tenure Track (OPTT) system that offers young researchers mentoring by three "troika supporters" to develop researchers into tenured professors at UoM. We will also be stepping up our efforts to provide more excellent career opportunities for women across the university, including both students and faculty members, by creating a new human resources organization dedicated to fostering activities and career opportunities for women on campus.
These are just some examples of how our university's role encompasses not only education and research but also contributions to society. One organization that brings these three areas together is our "Center of Community" (COC) organization, which has achieved steady results through its cooperation with the different faculties. And we have launched "COC Plus," which aims to expand the organization's scope through collaboration with other universities and groups located in Miyazaki Prefecture. Also, Miyazaki University Hospital has been contributing to health care in the prefecture and practical education in regional health care.
At the University of Miyazaki, we will continue to strive to be a beacon through our role as a university that steadily deepens its roots in local communities while fostering individuals capable of thinking and acting globally throughout their careers.
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