In a new record, Tokyo University of Science (TUS) has won the Times Higher Education (THE) Awards Asia 2023 in the 'Outstanding Support for Students' category, making it the first Japanese university to do so! The awards were announced on Wednesday, June 21, 2023, and honored outstanding work in academia, leadership, management, and professional services provided by universities across Asia.
Unlike conventional university rankings, which are based on more rigid criteria like the number of students or the number of papers cited, THE Awards evaluates universities and their initiatives for their societal impact. This year was the fifth edition of the awards, and THE Awards Asia received over 700 applications from 220 educational institutions in 20 countries and regions!
TUS won because of the comprehensive support that it provides to students. The University impressed the judges with its three-tiered support programme-which includes learning, mental health, and peer support-ensuring that students face no barriers to achieving their educational goals. The development of a series of different but linked support mechanisms by TUS provides a comprehensive package to help students realize their potential while also creating a mechanism to identify where they are experiencing difficulties.
"We congratulate the university for realizing its vision of connecting and integrating the academic and pastoral aspects of the student experience, and then overlaying the career elements," the judges said. Indeed, TUS has a Career and Employment Support Center to help students. The University ensures that its faculty members are available for career consultations to help students explore job opportunities related to their areas of study. It has also established a remedial education system to provide learning assistance. The university has long had a student counselling office, but in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it also launched a telephone counselling service for students in 2022. During the same year, the university tested a Campus-Mate System to give international students opportunities to socialize while also assisting them in adjusting to campus life.
TUS indeed has an impressive track record in supporting its students and will continue its efforts to help them in their academic, personal, and future professional lives.
About The Tokyo University of Science
Tokyo University of Science (TUS) is a well-known and respected university, and the largest science-specialized private research university in Japan, with four campuses in central Tokyo and its suburbs and in Hokkaido. Established in 1881, the university has continually contributed to Japan's development in science through inculcating the love for science in researchers, technicians, and educators.
With a mission of "Creating science and technology for the harmonious development of nature, human beings, and society," TUS has undertaken a wide range of research from basic to applied science. TUS has embraced a multidisciplinary approach to research and undertaken intensive study in some of today's most vital fields. TUS is a meritocracy where the best in science is recognized and nurtured. It is the only private university in Japan that has produced a Nobel Prize winner and the only private university in Asia to produce Nobel Prize winners within the natural sciences field.