University of the Ryukyus

Foreign Language Center

The Foreign Language Center is open to all students, faculty members, and other University personnel, as well as local inhabitants for the purpose of providing language learning opportunities.

Academic Museum (Fujukan)

The University of the Ryukyus Museum, Fujukan, houses over 40,000 specimens and various exhibits collected from all over the Ryukyu Islands, as part of university's educational and academic research activities. The specimens of endangered animals and birds such as the Iriomote Cat and Okinawa rail as well as archeological materials from Shurijo-Castle and folklore material including traditional crafts and farming tools of Okinawa are exhibited in a room on the first floor. There is a "biotope" where various animals and plants are available for field study by school students.

A variety of scholarly information produced within the university has been made available to the public. Various information on the museum specimen is available to viewers on the Fujukan Online Collections Database. As a contribution to the community, the museum offers classes to local elementary schools and conducts faculty development workshops.

Low Temperature Center

Liquid helium (-269°C) and liquid nitrogen(-196°C) are manufactured in the Low Temperature Center and are supplied to all over the University. As helium gas is a sparse resource, collecting and recycling lines for helium gas from experimental rooms are set completely in the Center. Only a few selected universities have Helium liquefiers in Japan, such as Kyushu University, Kumamoto University and our university in Kyushu and Okinawa area.

Since there are many cases that the cryogen cause accidental situations such as oxygen deficiency, explosion and frostbite for users, safety education is provided for them. Also the Center supports and promotes education and research in the field of low temperature. Device development and research in low temperature regions is actively performed. In addition, science education held in local schools is popular among students.

The nitrogen and helium liquefiers were renewed up to last year. Both liquids can be sufficiently supplied to all over the University.

University Evaluation Center

The University Evaluation Center was established as one of the Joint-Use Inter-Departmental Institutes in our University. The purposes of the Center are as follows: research and planning for the self-assessment and evaluation of higher education, arrangement of external evaluations, and improvement of our education and research. The Center is composed of 10 faculty members and 2 staff members.

Recently, the Center has been working on publication of our self-assessment reports, implementation of the trial of faculty performance measurement, and building evaluation culture in our university. We have held meetings seeking expert opinions to utilize them for our university reform.

Placement Center

The Placement Center aims at broadening an awareness of career possibilities, providing students with career consultation, conducting research and analysis in support of employment searching, supporting university-wide student recruitment activities, and coordinating with related organizations.

As support activities, the Center offers career subjects for 1st and 2nd-year students which are designed to enhance awareness of the importance of working. In addition, career guidance and seminars, as well as advice for job interviews and resume reviews, are also offered to help students start their employment search.

To make students aware of these opportunities, the Center also carries out joint job fairs on campus as well as sessions for individual companies. Moreover, useful information regarding recruit activities is distributed to students via email.

Disaster Prevention Research Center for Island Regions

Recent global warming induced increase of destructive tropical storms and rapid sea level changes in the world, especially in tropical-subtropical areas. Measures against these natural hazards are in demand. Preparedness against possible devastating earthquakes is also a matter of great urgency in the recent complicated societies/structures of the world. Disaster Prevention Research Center for Island Regions has been established considering above facts and provides the stronghold of researches of natural disasters in Okinawa Prefecture. The center promotes the multi-disciplinary studies on earthquake disaster prevention, flood control along the coastline and riverbank, reduction of ground disasters such as rainfall-induced landslides, and prediction of these disasters based on numerical modeling.

International Institute for Okinawan Studies (IIOS)

The International Institute for Okinawan Studies aims to do research on Okinawa and areas that have a close relationship with Okinawa. To accomplish this aim, the institute will carry out interdisciplinary research and projects in addition to research conducted by individual researchers at the institute. The institute hopes to be an international center for such research and contribute to mutual understanding and promotion of research.

The institute may also be defined in these terms:

1. (1)It is an institute that aims to carry out comprehensive, interdisciplinary scholarly collaborations.
2. (2)It emphasizes collaborations with natural scientists.
3. (3)It attempts to construct an international network in which humanists and social and natural scientists collaborate and cooperate.
4. (4)It will also aim to create new scholarly approaches based on cultural, historical, and geographical features of the Ryukyus.

The institute has the following research areas:

1. (1)Ryukyuan / Okinawan Studies
2. (2)Contemporary Okinawan Studies
3. (3)Island Studies
4. (4)American Studies
5. (5)Asian Studies

Thus, the International Institute for Okinawan Studies aims to be a bridge for scholarly activities in the Asia-Pacific region and serve as core centers for such activities.

Strategic Research Promotion Unit (SRPU)

Strategic Research Promotion Unit (SRPU) is a core advisory committee for the University President. Its mission includes the strategic promotion of new research in interdisciplinary areas that are dedicated to study multiple issues on Okinawa or subtropical environment.

The major activities of SRPU in 2008 were the promotion of integrated research and the establishment of a new research grant funded by the University of the Ryukyus. SRPU organized workshops and symposiums for faculty development on how to get research funding. The research grant "Young Investigator Research" was established by SRPU to support the research programs that were planed and conducted by young faculty members in the University. SPRU also planned and organized "Rising Star Program for Subtropical Island Sciences", a new program for the University of the Ryukyus funded by the MEXT.

Transdisciplinary Research Organization for Subtropics and Island Studies (TRO-SIS)

Transdisciplinary Research Organization for Subtropics and Island Studies (TRO-SIS) is a research organization that promotes research activities in inter- or multi-disciplinary sciences. Encouraging three major subjects (subtropical sciences, marine sciences and island-social sciences), TROSIS has supported research task teams that explore corals, mangroves, Ryukyu culture, biodiversity, bio-resources, and sustainable agriculture and industry. In 2008 the organization has lunched "Rising Star Program for Subtropical Island Sciences", a new program funded by the MEXT. In order to establish new academic fields for "Subtropical Island Sciences," a new system is necessary to invite excellent researchers actively engaged in interdisciplinary research. Therefore, the University of the Ryukyus decided to adopt the Japanese version of the tenure-track system, which is different from the conventional system within each faculty and department, and has recruited young and energetic researchers from both Japan and abroad. TRO-SIS is in charge of this new challenge and now functions as a strategic research institute for ten Rising Star researchers.