HeKKSaGOn Universities
Heidelberg University
Heidelberg University, founded in 1386, is Germany's oldest university and has one of the strongest research profiles in Europe. The successes in both areas of the Excellence Initiative and in international rankings prove its leading role in the scientific community. In terms of educating students and promoting young academics, Heidelberg relies on research-based teaching and a well-structured training for doctoral candidates. Heidelberg University is a comprehensive university with the full spectrum of subjects, including medicine. The University aims to strengthen individual disciplines, to further interdisciplinary cooperation and to make research results usable for society and industry. Heidelberg also draws its strength from its cooperation with local non-university research institutions and is tied into a worldwide network of research and teaching collaborations which demonstrates its distinct global interconnectedness.
Kyoto University
Located in the historical city of Kyoto, and dating back to 1897, Kyoto University (KU) is the second oldest research university in Japan. Today, as a truly international institution, KU is dedicated to providing a free-thinking academic environment with a global perspective. KU offers a broad-minded and accommodating academic environment where researchers can engage in long-term studies and pursue new frontiers in fundamental and applied science. The strength of its methods is testified by the accolades conferred on our alumni and researchers, notably eight Nobel Prize laureates, two Fields Medalists and one Gauss Prize laureate. The internationally recognized accomplishments of its researchers owe a great deal to the university's unique approach to education and research, which emphasizes free-thinking, independence and dialogue. Through key degree programmes offered in English, KU invites students and researchers from around the world to join it.
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
On October 1, 2009, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) was founded by a union of Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe and Universität Karlsruhe, based on the KIT Merger Act in July 2009. KIT combined the missions of both precursory institutions: A university of the state of Baden-Württemberg with teaching and research tasks as well as a large-scale research center of the Helmholtz Association conducting programme-oriented provident research. Within these missions, KIT operates with three strategic field pillars: research, teaching and innovation. By focusing on these areas of concentration, KIT strives to:
Tohoku University
Tohoku University was founded in 1907 as the third Imperial University. It became the first Japanese university to accept female students in 1913. Tohoku University has been committed to the "Research First" principle, "Open-Door" policy and "Practice-Oriented Research and Education". The University consists of 10 undergraduate faculties, 16 graduate schools, 3 professional graduate schools and 6 research institutes. With over 18,000 students, the number of staff employed amounts to about 6000. It maintains university-level agreements in 32 countries with 174 institutions, department-level agreements in 43 countries with 352 institutions as of February 2013 and belongs to several internationally influential university consortia. Tohoku University is competitive at the cutting edge of international research and has gained a world renowned reputation in the research fields including materials science, physics, chemistry and engineering. WPI Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR) is a world- class research center and conducts fusion research which implements new innovation methods of atomic and molecular control. In response to the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, in 2012 Tohoku University established a new initiative: the Institute for Disaster Reconstruction and Regeneration Research to serve as a center of excellence bringing together the world's wisdom to contribute to the reconstruction and regeneration of the region by transmitting and implementing research results.
University of Göttingen
Founded in 1737, University of Göttingen is an internationally renowned research university with a strong emphasis in research-led teaching. The University is distinguished by the rich diversity of its subject spectrum, particularly in the humanities, its excellent facilities for the pursuit of scientific research, and the outstanding quality of the areas that define its profile. These steps characterize the reforms recently undertaken at the University:
At the beginning of 2003, the Georg-August-University became the first German university with a comprehensive range of disciplines to assume the legal status of a foundation under public law. The University has since then enhanced its research profile, created new research entities such as the Courant Research Centers and the Lichtenberg-Kolleg, intensified cooperation on the Göttingen Research Campus, attracted and retained outstanding academics and supported the recruitment of excellent students and young academics from abroad.
The University of Göttingen regards its strong research tradition and subject diversity to be its core strengths. Almost all academic disciplines including medicine are represented in the 13 faculties, the exception being engineering sciences. The University of Göttingen is also distinguished by its close integration with a network of first-class extra-university research establishments involving, most prominately, the Göttingen Academy of Sciences, the German Primate Center, the German Aerospace Center and five Max Planck Institutes. Together, these local partners form the Göttingen Research Campus, an alliance for collaboration in research and teaching arguably unique in the Federal Republic in terms of its depth and breadth.
Osaka University
Osaka University started in the Edo era as 'Tekijuku' founded by Ogata Koan in 1838. Since its beginning, Osaka University has developed an establishment of scholarships and education, with the motto, "Live Locally, Grow Globally". Today, Osaka University, with the incorporation of Osaka University of Foreign Studies, is comprised of 11 schools, 16 graduate schools, 25 research institutes and facilities. Furthermore, the University has four foreign research institutes in San- Francisco, Groningen, Bangkok and Shanghai. 2011 marked the 80th anniversary of Osaka University. The University challenges itself to develop more top level - global education and research opportunities, such as taking the World Premier International Research Center Initiative and the Project for Establishing Core Universities for Internationalization, in order to improve its international presence as a top research university.