Tokyo tech, medical universities to build global research hub

The Yomiuri Shimbun

21:00 JST, November 30, 2022

The Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) and Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU), which are aiming to merge by the end of fiscal 2024, plan to build a research hub in Tokyo to facilitate interaction with industry and the world’s researchers.

Tokyo Tech President Kazuya Masu and TMDU President Yujiro Tanaka told The Yomiuri Shimbun that they aim to make it one of the world’s top research centers dealing with global issues.

Tokyo Tech’s campus, located in front of JR Tamachi Station in Minato Ward, Tokyo, is being considered as a base for industry-university cooperation and global research.

A 36-story complex and other facilities are expected to be built on the campus by fiscal 2031. There are also plans to build a business incubation facility with more than 10,000 square meters of floor space.

Masu said the campus’ proximity to Haneda Airport and JR Tokyo Station will ensure that the research hub “becomes known around the world.”

Tanaka said: “We want to start working with society by creating a better environment for research, entrepreneurship and investment.”

With the aim of becoming recognized as a “research university of international prominence,” which would make it eligible for a government fund worth tens of billions of yen, Masu and Tanaka said they will apply for the status during the first round of the application period from December to the end of March next year.

The government has allocated ¥10 trillion for the investment fund.