In September 2014 Okayama University was chosen by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) to take part in the Top Global University Project. This project provides support for universities that engage in world-class education and research and act as drivers of internationalization, and can extend for a maximum of 10 years from academic year 2014. Okayama University’s PRIME Program: Producing All-round Achievers in a Global Community is encouraging the reform of education and research in the university that is rooted in its local community while driving Japan’s internationalization by producing forward-looking All-round Achievers capable of being successful on the global stage.
 Taking advantage of its strengths as a comprehensive university, Okayama University has introduced a wide range of interdisciplinary programs to encourage internationalization. The L-café social learning space, a venue for everyday cross-cultural experience and foreign language learning, offers opportunities for students from overseas to interact with Japanese students and take part in various community activities together. The Special Course for Global Human Resource Development, which supports overseas study by Japanese students, helps them improve their foreign-language abilities and offers classes in English on a variety of different subjects. The Discovery Program for Global Learners, in which international and Japanese students learn together with English as their common language, is a course for studying wide-ranging specialist knowledge and practice that integrates arts and sciences across different faculties and departments.

All-round Achievers are people with the good sense to make the right decisions in practical situations. To be aware of the issues facing contemporary society and engage with them independently and practically on the ground requires not just language abilities, a well-rounded education, and a high level of specialization, but also actual practical experience on the ground. A global practical education, in which students experience the global situation for themselves and learn how to identify issues and steps toward their resolution, must be one like the PRIME Program for producing All-round Achievers capable of being successful on the global stage. Okayama University offers several distinctive programs of global practical education at both general and specialist levels, including international internships, medical research internships, overseas short-term agricultural experience training, the International Internship Program to study Environment-Friendly MONOZUKURI, and the Cambodia Service-Learning Program.
 Especially since academic year 2017, in order to give the PRIME Program a more international footing, the university placed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations in 2015 as shared goals within the university, and activities have been conducted toward international cooperation. Okayama University has long been engaged in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in conjunction with the local community, and in December 2017 we were the only national university to receive the First Japan SDGs Award for our efforts toward achieving the SDGs.
 As the issues facing humanity are becoming ever more complex, based on Okayama University’s objective of “constructing a new paradigm for the sustainable evolution of humanity” we will train global human resources with the practical ability to identify and resolve social issues and build more integral partnerships with the local community and international society to create a sustainable society. By changing individuals, communities, and the world, our aim is for Okayama University to have a major global presence.

Okayama University President