Study and Earn Credits Outside Japan
While Enrolled in Sophia's Graduate School
Last year, Sophia University was selected for participation in the Top Global University Project organized by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology （MEXT）. It has since stepped up its global education efforts.
One of the faculties at Sophia that is most aggressively promoting global education is the Faculty of Science and Technology. “In the second year of the 10-year project, we built the foundation for facilitating the flow of globalization,” says Professor Tetsuhiro Tsukiji, who has served as Dean of the faculty since last spring.
A typical example is a new program to be launched next April at the Graduate School of Science and Technology, which allows students enrolled at Sophia to take specialized courses lasting around two weeks at world-leading research universities outside Japan.
The Graduate School has already concluded an agreement with the Warsaw University of Technology in Poland, which offers world-class training in aircraft engineering, and will gradually increase the number of partner universities.
“Unlike study abroad programs, the new program allows students to earn credits outside Japan, so there is little negative impact on their research and job-hunting activities back home,” explains Dean Tsukiji. “Receiving the best education alongside likeminded students from around the world is a valuable experience. We are so far only providing the program at our graduate school, but would like to introduce a similar program to undergraduate courses in the future.”
Sophia's Faculty of Science and Technology is also focusing on English language education. Besides offering English classes as part of language courses, the faculty has a program for systematic study of scientific and technological English for second-year students and above. The curriculum aims to help students learn technical terms in science and technology and acquire discussion and presentation skills.
Of course, there is also an enhanced English training program of the kind only Sophia can offer, namely, short-term training abroad at partner colleges of the University of California, Davis and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In this program, which is specially designed for science and technology students, participants take part in research and discussion in various fields of science and technology over the course of a three- to four-week stay abroad to improve their comprehensive communication skills.
a first-year student in the Master's Programs in Science and Technology Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Students are demonstrating the English skills they have acquired in a wide variety of settings. Particularly in recent years, the number of students participating in academic conferences in and outside Japan has dramatically increased.
In September 2015, Ryo Ueda, a first-year student in the Master's Program in the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Division of Science and Technology, was chosen as a finalist in the Best Student Paper Award at the IEEE （Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers） International Meeting. In October, Yuna Kasai and Takahito Suzuki, both completing their first year of the Master's Program in the Chemistry Division, won the Poster Award at the 2015 annual meeting of the Japan Society of Ion Exchange and the Japan Association of Solvent Extraction.
“Most graduate students at my laboratory have participated in international academic conferences,” says Dean Tsukiji. “Our university has already put in place a scholarship program to support students and will increase the amount of funding for the program from the coming academic year.”
Small University Leading Japan in Internationalism and Diversity
Another strength of Sophia University is the potential for students to interact with students and faculty members from diverse backgrounds to help them better understand different cultures and experience the diversity of the global community.
The best example of this is the English programs. These programs, in which lectures, experiments and research guidance are all provided in English, attract students from all over the world. In the autumn 2012 semester, the English-language Green Science Program and Green Engineering Program were established at the Department of Materials and Life Sciences and the Department of Engineering and Applied Sciences, respectively. Then, in the autumn 2013 semester, the Green Science and Engineering Division was established at the Graduate School of Science and Technology, with the first master's degree granted in September 2015.
“We have students from countries all over the world, such as Indonesia, Turkey and Ethiopia, not to mention the United States and China,” says Dean Tsukiji. “At seminars, we hear a mix of Japanese and English, to the point where the Japanese students have the opportunity to speak English on an almost daily basis.”
In terms of diversity management, Sophia's support for female researchers is also worth noting. The Project to Support Women Researchers in a Global Society, which received the highest evaluation under the MEXT program to support female researchers, aims to develop researchers with global competencies. To support female students in their career development, meanwhile, Sophia University invites female researchers from Japan and abroad to give lectures and also holds events where students can meet with female engineers employed at global companies.
With a focus on future generations, Sophia also holds science experiment classes for high school students. Furthermore, by putting in place systems that make it easier for researchers to focus on their work, including establishing an on-campus childcare center and allowing female researchers expecting or raising a child to hire research assistants, the university is proactive in its employment and retention of female faculty. The research assistant system has also been used by male faculty members. In the 2014 academic year, utilization of the system by male faculty was higher than that by their female counterparts.
“Women comprise about half of the first- and second-year student body at the Department of Materials and Life Sciences,” says Dean Tsukiji. “Our goal is to increase the number of female researchers to 20％ of the entire Faculty of Science and Technology by 2019, and we have already achieved 12％ as of the previous academic year.”
At many private universities, the science and technology faculty is located on a separate campus, away from other faculties. In the case of Sophia University, nine faculties, including the Faculty of Science and Technology, are concentrated at the Yotsuya campus. The mobility specific to this small university is fully evident in the global education offered by the Faculty of Science and Technology.
“Being on the same campus facilitates collaboration and information sharing between faculty members, and allows the development of curricula that integrate the humanities and sciences,” says Dean Tsukiji. “Students of the Faculty of Science and Technology can take various courses offered by other faculties, the Center for Global Discovery and the Center for Language Education and Research. They can also easily participate in international seminars and forums open to all students, regardless of major.”
Meeting Social Needs through Collaboration and Research with Global Companies
Sophia University has been engaging in industry-academic collaboration by working together with various businesses. Last November, the university signed an agreement with global car manufacturer the Volvo Group for an educational partnership. As of the autumn 2015 semester, the Volvo Group started providing short-term internships to Sophia students at its offices in Japan.
From the upcoming spring semester, a three-month internship program, conducted in English, will be launched at the Volvo Group research facilities and plants in Sweden, the United States and France as a course of General Studies. The Volvo Group has partnered with 10 “talent partner” universities in six countries, but Sophia University is the first university the Group has partnered with in Japan, testifying to the reputation of Sophia University's global education.
In the area of research, Sophia is working on the development of new technologies that can meet social needs through research funded by various companies, including Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Toyota Motor Corp. （Professor Masahiro Rikukawa, Department of Materials and Life Sciences）.
“With the keyword of `global-scale environment and human resources,'” enthuses Dean Tsukiji, “we will promote research and development to educate researchers and engineers that are competent in the international community,” thereby hinting at the tremendous expectation for the development of Sophia University science majors with a global perspective.
＞＞＞For more information on Sophia University's Faculty of Science and Technology, click here.
