Todai to increase foreign research staff five fold

The University of Tokyo is about to embark on a major drive to offer a more international outlook in the hope of raising its relatively low standing among the world's universities.

It plans to increase its foreign staff to 1,300, five times the current level, officials said.

Todai, as the nation's most prestigious university is known, plans to raise the total number of foreign staff members, including professors, lecturers and assistants, from 250 to 1,300, officials said.

The number of facilities abroad will also be increased from the current 22 to 130.

The university is seen to be lagging behind other universities in its use of foreign researchers.

Officials believe this partly explains the university's relatively low position in worldwide rankings

The number of foreign staffers at the university accounts for only about 5 percent of the total 5,000 positions.

The percentage is much lower than Sophia University's 48 percent and still slightly lower than Waseda University's 8 percent. Both of those institutions are also in Tokyo.

Currently, the university has 22 research facilities abroad, mainly in the United States, Europe and Asia.

While it has more overseas facilities than Waseda or Tokyo's Keio University--which have nine and eight, respectively--Kyoto University has 12 more than the University of Tokyo.

Officials said the university decided to increase the number to 130 to mark the 130th anniversary this spring of Todai's founding.

The university plans to build a 220-room dormitory for foreign staff and students near its campus in Hongo, Tokyo, as well as a similar facility near its campus in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture.

At present, the university has dormitories for foreign researchers and students in Tokyo and other prefectures. But with rooms for only 500, the number is insufficient. The number of foreign students alone currently stands at over 2,000.

The university also plans to create more scholarships for foreign students.

University President Hiroshi Komiyama revealed the draft plan in a recent news conference held for foreign reporters in Tokyo.

"The University of Tokyo lags behind (other prestigious universities) in its internationalization. This is one of the biggest concerns for us," he said.

Komiyama also said he would put more importance on English education within the university.

According to worldwide university rankings released by various research organizations and magazines, the University of Tokyo ranks between 12th and 19th.
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200702260127.html