About Tokyo Tech

Tokyo Tech strategic plan 2018-2023

At the center of innovation, realizing a better future through the power of science and technology

Tokyo Tech stands at the center of innovation, striving to create lasting impact and a brighter future with the power of science and technology. This requires not only responding to the shifts in population, industry, and economic structures within Japan, but also addressing environmental issues, economic disparities, and other global-scale problems that affect us all.

The Institute seeks to identify and offer solutions to these issues through its outstanding education and research, and the new knowledge and exceptional professionals that result from its activities. To provide the world with real solutions, Tokyo Tech must continue to offer an optimal learning experience during which the best emerging scientists and engineers thrive, coupled with an encouraging research environment where tomorrow's innovations flourish. In its relentless pursuit of excellence, Tokyo Tech continues to set ambitious goals and implement a variety of bold changes — something it has been doing for the better part of the 21st century.

Changes in governance have accelerated effective means of resource allocation throughout the Institute. They have also enabled management to execute decisions more rapidly while maintaining the highest esteem for faculty members directly involved in education and research. The recent reform of the education system — a result of direct, open dialogue between internal stakeholders — has inspired positive change among students. International research activities and efforts to open up new fields of research are more vibrant than ever.

Other results must be given time to materialize. As we do this, however, the environment surrounding higher education and the Institute continues to change swiftly, and we must be ready to adapt and evolve. Flexibility is precisely what allows us to scrutinize the present and gives birth to energy that propels us to new discoveries.

When Tokyo Tech became a national university corporation in 2004, it set the long-term goal of becoming "a world-leading science and technology university." While working towards this goal under competitive circumstances, Tokyo Tech's students, faculty, staff, and alumni united to hold numerous workshops to discuss and debate what its past and present members represent — who we truly are. Based on these discussions, the Institute announced Tokyo Tech 2030, a statement encapsulating the identity shared by its members.

In March 2018, Tokyo Tech was selected by the Japanese government to guide the nation into the future as a designated national university. To build on these accomplishments and reinforce the Institute's values, the 2018 Tokyo Tech Commitments were announced in October of that year.

Now, after Institute-wide discussions involving faculty, staff, and students, Team Tokyo Tech has devised a strategic plan to help guide the Institute towards its shared vision for the next five years. The four strategic goals in this plan highlight aspects from previously implemented reforms that require revisiting, but also summarizes focal points that demand attention amidst constantly changing circumstances, both now and in the future. This plan is interwoven with our spirit to create impact through science and technology, and our shared belief that Tokyo Tech is "dedicated to creating a better future."

Kazuya Masu
President, Tokyo Tech

Four strategic goals

Enhance creativity through diversity

Enhance creativity through diversity

To inspire the birth of new ideas and creations, to supply society with dreams and new value, to create a buzz, Tokyo Tech facilitates occasions. Occasions are what we make of them. Conversing with diverse individuals in creative spaces about a broad range of knowledge, academic disciplines, and social issues enhances the outcome of these occasions. By encouraging the pursuit of individual passions, constantly diversifying the student and staff population, and heightening sensitivity to diversity through the liberal arts, Tokyo Tech strives to open up new dimensions by making each occasion productive. In an inclusive environment, Tokyo Tech staff and students engage regularly with external constituents to jointly create an image of a brighter, better future. The goal is a virtuous cycle where each shared occasion sparks the next burst of creativity.

Facilitate progressive student-centered learning

Facilitate progressive student-centered learning

By providing all students with a specialized technical education supplemented by a novel liberal arts component, Tokyo Tech not only prepares its students for the world, but also develops highly skilled professionals with the drive to lead and change it for the better. The Institute has designed a framework to help students gain a clear understanding of the level of achievement expected of them, devise an independent study plan, monitor their own learning path, and visualize their results, particularly through research. This process allows them to recognize the significance of a Tokyo Tech education while envisioning their own future. Entrepreneurship is supported actively through programs and makerspaces that help students initiate new markets with their creative ideas and cutting-edge technologies. The Institute's doctoral programs, which place great importance on leadership, are supported by generous scholarships and are open to mature professionals seeking to elevate their abilities. Tokyo Tech openly welcomes ambitious students who are ready to change the world for the better.

Create impact through robust research

Create impact through robust research

The buzz at Tokyo Tech stems from our research, which aims at the discovery of new knowledge and the invention of new technologies that shape the world. To facilitate this, the Institute provides an environment where researchers, whether working individually or in groups, can conduct their projects in a determined and enjoyable manner. By transferring our findings to society, Tokyo Tech contributes to the realization of a better, more exciting future for everyone. Proactive research collaborations with industry ensure that the Institute plays an important, responsible role in creating the foundations of tomorrow. Through its dedication to basic research, the Institute shares with the public the beauty of research, and aims to contribute to a society where all are invited to enjoy and evaluate the progress of science and technology.

Pursue institutional effectiveness and financial stability

Pursue institutional effectiveness and financial stability

Tokyo Tech strives to maintain the highest level of confidence and support from the public. In its attempt to significantly strengthen its management base, the Institute is acutely aware of the investments received from the public, and works tirelessly to return this investment manyfold. Through efficient management and operations, Tokyo Tech aims to generate the highest level of added value for all stakeholders. The Institute's executives, deans, and directors carefully scrutinize the costs of education and research, clarify their effects, evaluate the return on investment to individual stakeholders, and openly share this information with the public. Particularly at a time when government funding for national and public universities is declining, all Tokyo Tech members are encouraged to consider carefully the support they receive, and to envision how their education and research activities will create lasting impact.

Tokyo Tech 2030

An alternate future
The Tokyo Tech 2030 statement, consisting of spirit and action, formulated in a series of workshops by members of the Tokyo Tech community

Tokyo Tech 2030