Message from the President

Fukushima University is a comprehensive university with bachelor's degree programs in Human Development and Culture, Administration and Social Sciences, Economics and Business Administration, Symbiotic Systems Science, and Food and Agricultural Sciences, as well as master's and doctoral degree programs in Human Development and Culture, Public Policy and Regional Administration, Economics, and Symbiotic Systems Science and Technology. We also operate affiliated schools (a kindergarten, an elementary school, a junior high school, and a special needs school), the Fukushima Future Center for Regional Revitalization, the Environmental Radioactivity Research Institute, and affiliated farms.

Today, the world we live in is changing dramatically, as we face population issues, environmental issues, and infectious disease issues. The novel coronavirus pandemic spread across the world in the blink of an eye, not only harming the health of millions but also affecting economic conditions, highlighting racial discrimination, altering lifestyles, and influencing international political frameworks. Today's society has been called "VUCA" ¬-- an acronym which stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity -- and "VUCA" is indeed an apt description of our current chaotic world.

Fukushima University's educational philosophy is "education based on problem solving," and our aim is to develop "human resources who can take on the challenge of unsolved problems." At the time of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and the accompanying accident at Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Fukushima University carried out disaster relief activities starting immediately after the disaster. The university gained a lot of knowledge and experience through these activities, and we now apply this in our education programs.

Learning at Fukushima University is not limited to the acquisition of systematic knowledge from books. For example, our students go out into the community, where they talk with residents and gain experiences that allow them to develop their own approach to identifying problems in the complex real world and exploring these with their colleagues. We create many opportunities for our students to think about their own way of life and the realities of society.

The novel coronavirus pandemic is currently making life difficult for everyone, but please remember that there are things that can be learned, and opportunities to grow, that are unique to times such as these. Your student days are the brightest and most promising times of your life, and a precious opportunity to think about what is most important, for yourself and for society. I invite you to study at Fukushima University, and to grow together with us.

Fukushima University Mission 2030 (New President's plan)

Basic Philosophy: Finding Solutions to 21st Century Challenges with the Local Community

Creating and modeling a "new society" in the Fukushima region in an era of an aging and shrinking population and a falling birthrate.

As an institution of higher learning that experienced the Great East Japan Earthquake and accompanying nuclear accident, Fukushima University has been a pioneer among universities in education and in systematically and comprehensively tackling various issues involving the community, the environment, energy, and agriculture. Using the knowledge and experience that we have accumulated, our goal is to be a "university that finds solutions to 21st century challenges with the local community," a university that, while working to solve immediate problems, conceives and proposes new social systems suited to a new age.

The university's aims for a new society

• The wisdom and technology to live humanistically and creatively in an era of regional decentralization and low economic growth
• Ample opportunity for each and every person to live a prosperous and hopeful life, even in an aging society with a declining population and birthrate
• A university that places priority on individual and social well-being

Fukushima University as envisioned in the 4th mid-term plan (FY 2022-2028)

• A place that is open to society, and where diverse people meet
• Pursuing together the ideal society of the future
• Possessing the ideas and values, the knowledge and skills, and the creativity and practical knowhow needed to build a new society
• A "society creation laboratory" for building a better world through repeated trial and error, and practice and reflection

Policy for developing human resources

• Academic learning that builds on the experiences of the earthquake and nuclear accident
• Educating students with an eye to the issues society will face ten years from now
• Training innovative people who are able to take on "21st century challenges" at the regional and global level
• A future-oriented social hub, with people of talent who can take on the challenge of solving tough problems and creatively reconfiguring society based on social values and modern technology

Education

• Expanding community-based project learning that brings together university education and current circumstances and challenges faced by the region
• Seamlessly and thoroughly applying our student education policy to all our curricula, from bachelor's degree programs to graduate school
• High-level, integrated learning that applies basic knowledge to real-world issues, identifies regional and global challenges, employs cross-cultural communication, and takes a problem-solving approach
• Enhanced education with an emphasis on problem-based learning, information and communications technology, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics), global, and citizenship

Research

• Strengthening the policy applications of basic research on regional and 21st century issues, clarifying the research strengths of the university's faculties and graduate schools
• Promoting collaborative research across different areas in order to achieve a high degree of integration and breadth in the fields of the humanities, social studies, science and technology, and agriculture
• Establishing the Institute of Fermentation Sciences and playing a central role in planning the Hamadori International Education and Research Center, and using both of these as research and practice sites for the entire university

Contributing to the community

• Proposing new forms and configurations of local society with a ten-years-from-now vision of what the region should be like
• Reconceptualizing and prioritizing how the university can most effectively contribute to society and the community
• Designing mechanisms by which education and research benefit the community, as seen in "action research" for example
• In collaboration with the community, organically integrating the three areas of student education, research, and regional problem-solving

Teacher training and affiliated schools

• Broadening the content of teaching training so that teachers are capable of using ICT (information and communications technology), problem-based learning, active learning, etc.
• Radical reforms and innovations, including school management in a time of declining birthrate, and strengthening the merits of all university-affiliated schools

Organization and operations

• Building a new education and research organization that directs education, research, and community contribution toward the goal of being a "university that finds solutions to 21st century challenges with the local community,"
• Building a new education and research organization that strengthens the bridges and relationships among faculties, departments, and graduate schools and enables education and research to be carried out in concert, like the two wheels of a cart
• Increasing the number faculty members so that the university can better contribute to regional revitalization

The university reform process

• Pushing reforms with the aim of ensuring that the university is sustainable over the long term
• Sharpening the university's strengths through innovation and the streamlining of operations
• As Fukushima Prefecture's only national university, taking the lead in strengthening collaboration among institutions of higher learning both in and outside the prefecture