University of the Ryukyus

Overview

University of the Ryukyus

University of the Ryukyus (Ryūkyū Daigaku or Ryūdai) is a public research university in Nishihara, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It was founded in 1950 under the guidance of Michigan State University. A major Japanese national university, it is the largest public university in the prefecture and is recognized as being among the top 100 universities worldwide.

University of the Ryukyus Key Statistics

The university comprises seven faculties and nine graduate schools. Its notable faculties are the Faculty of Agriculture, Faculty of Science, and Faculty of Law and Letters. Its graduate schools, on the other hand, are the Graduate School of Engineering and Science and the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences. These academic units offer 32 undergraduate and 23 graduate degree programs.

University of the Ryukyus's student population is approximately 8,079, with 7,140 undergraduates, 860 postgraduates, 330 doctoral candidates, and 79 professional degree students. It employs more than 1,260 academic and administrative staff and has a 9.78:1 student-to-faculty ratio.

Other University of the Ryukyus key statistics include its various academic and student facilities. These include the Computing and Networking Center, University Hospital, University Museum (Fujukan), and the University of the Ryukyus Library, which holds a collection of 1,600,000 volumes.

Ryūdai has academic exchange agreements with 121 universities in 42 countries/regions, including with the University of Hawaii and the University of the Philippines-Diliman.

University of the Ryukyus Research

The university is one of the leading academic research institutions in Japan and in Asia. It conducts collaborative research with national and international universities and organizations. Ryūdai is a primary recipient of research grants from various Japanese agencies, such as the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology.

The top fields of University of the Ryukyus research are biology, medicine, and internal medicine. Its research outputs have been published in prestigious journals like Hypertension Research, PLOS One, and IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion.

Its researchers have attended major scholarly conferences, such as PES: Power and Energy Society General Meeting, PEDS: International Conference on Power Electronics and Drive Systems, and TDCE: IEEE PES Transmission and Distribution Conference and Exhibition.

The most cited University of the Ryukyus research publication is Klionsky et al.'s (2008) “Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy in higher eukaryotes,” which was featured in Autophagy and has received 2,604 citations to date.

The university’s second most cited publication is Levin et al.'s (2013) “Kidney disease: Improving global outcomes (KDIGO) CKD work group. KDIGO 2012 clinical practice guideline for the evaluation and management of chronic kidney disease,” which appeared in Kidney International and has been cited 2,090 times.

Moreover, the university’s third most cited publication is Zhou et al.'s (2000) “Lipotoxic heart disease in obese rats: Implications for human obesity,” which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America and has received 1,439 citations to date.

In addition, the university is home to several inter-department institutes, such as the Education and Research Center for Lifelong Learning, Center for Cooperative Research, and Center of Molecular Biosciences.

Meanwhile, it also houses academic and research facilities on its campus. These include the Center for Asia-Pacific Island Studies, Educational and Clinical Center for Children with Disabilities, and the Center for Educational Research and Development.