Keio Selected as Part of the Program for Forming Japan's Peak Research Universities (J-PEAKS)

January 15, 2024

Keio University was officially accepted for its proposal for the "Program for Forming Japan's Peak Research Universities (J-PEAKS)" which had been announced by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).

J-PEAKS is a program that promotes developing an environment in which core universities, both regionally and in academic specialties, can further expand their research capabilities by operating under strategic management which focuses on those particular strengths and specialties, thereby increasing the international reach and social application of their research endeavors. Keio University will implement this project in collaboration with the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), King's College London, the University of Cologne, Yonsei University, and Northwestern University as partner institutions. Through this project, Keio University is expected to promote the formation of a network of research universities that will take the lead in developing Japan's capacity for research as a whole.

Keio University is the only private university to have a WPI (World Premier International) center and two full-fledged COI-NEXT (Program on Open Innovation Platform for Industry-Academia Co-creation) centers. Participating in this program will allow Keio to further develop this collection of distinctive facilities, cultivate a system to foster diverse research centers that combine knowledge and sense of public duty, and construct a framework to support all research activities from the problem-solving stage to their implementation. Keio will endeavor to use its role as a research university to invest in an academic ecosystem where the outcomes of its studies, especially those that focus on jitsugaku or "practical learning," can become the "common sense of the future."

Prior to this program, Keio University was also selected in April 2023 for another program announced by MEXT which can be translated in English as the "Program for Forming Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration and Joint Research through Cooperation among Peak Research Universities." Keio is developing an open innovation facility at Yagami Campus as well as a business incubation facility at the Shinanomachi Campus in connection with this project. Through these institutions, Keio will innovate in new industries, solving international and domestic issues or getting involved in promising startups by basing its decisions on research findings, strengthening the very foundation of the university and its functions.