Master in Agriculture

The five graduate schools were reorganized in the 2014 academic year in order to establish the new Graduate School of Agriculture (comprising six courses). The objectives of the Graduate School of Agriculture are to enhance the specialized nature of the faculty's education; resolve domestic and international issues related to food, the environment, resources, and life; and contribute to the creation of a sustainable and productive society that exists in harmony with the natural environment. It also aims to develop professional technicians and researchers from many different countries who possess sophisticated knowledge in the field of agriculture and the ability to put this expertise to practical use.

The University of Miyazaki took an important step forward in April 2016 by opening our new Faculty of Regional Innovation. This addition brought our total number of faculties to five, along with our faculties of Agriculture, Education, Engineering, and Medicine. The new faculty will span a range of different disciplines, including the humanities and social sciences as well as agriculture and engineering. In bringing together faculty members specializing in both the humanities and sciences, the Faculty of Regional Innovation will aim to provide education of practical value that also optimally utilizes the resources of our region.

A task for us as we move forward will be to specialize 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 the needs of local communities. We continue to demonstrate our unique qualities as a university by advancing research in our core disciplines, which include 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," with an eye to developing researchers into tenured professors at UoM. We will also be stepping up our efforts to provide greater career opportunities for women across the university, including both students and faculty members, through the creation of a new human resources organization dedicated to fostering activities and career opportunities for women on campus.