Kyushu University
九州大学

Japan

Founded in 1911 as one of Japan’s seven Imperial Universities, Kyushu University has established itself as a leader in education and research not just in Japan, but also throughout Asia. It has a student population of 18,659, of which about 11% are international students, and it has 2,407 full-time faculty members. Kyushu University has a remarkable research output, and was ranked 86th among world universities in terms of Nature Index’s WFC metric in 2017.

Innovative approach to tackling global problems

The university is adopting a multidisciplinary approach to addressing energy challenges. As one example, it is fusing engineering with applied maths, economics and big data to open new paths for renewable energy and the integration of renewables with the power grid.

Kyushu University has attracted global attention since establishing the largest, best-funded hydrogen-related research facility in the world. Building on that lab’s success, the International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (I²CNER) was initiated to advance low-carbon technology, improve energy efficiency and develop CO2 mitigation schemes in collaboration with the University of Illinois and other partner universities in the US and Europe.

Establishing a platform for comprehensive energy research

To expand I²CNER’s global leadership, the Kyushu University Platform of Inter/Transdisciplinary Energy Research, or Q-PIT, was founded in October 2016. It brings together green-energy engineers with abstract mathematicians, political scientists and economists — to better assess the social impact of new technology breakthroughs. Initial projects under the Q-PIT strategy include capturing CO₂ emissions from coal gasification, studying water-splitting catalysts atom by atom to learn their secrets, and validating the techno-economic impacts of switchgrass biofuels. Technology transfer to companies in the Fukuoka area is helping to kick-start a new energy technology hub — a key step in returning research results back to society.

Wide range of courses in both Japanese and English

Kyushu University’s strengths lie in its particularly active and innovative science programmes. With the aim of educating new generations of global leaders, Kyushu University offers many graduate programmes in English that allow students that have no knowledge of Japanese to obtain degrees in a wide range of subjects.

1 April 2016 - 31 March 2017

Region: Global
Subject/journal group: All

The table to the right includes counts of all research outputs for Kyushu University published between 1 April 2016 - 31 March 2017 which are tracked by the Nature Index.

Hover over the donut graph to view the WFC output for each subject. Below, the same research outputs are grouped by subject. Click on the subject to drill-down into a list of articles organized by journal, and then by title.

Note: Articles may be assigned to more than one subject area.

AC	FC	WFC
278	90	88.52

Outputs by subject (WFC)

Subject	AC	FC	WFC
Chemistry	101	46.47	46.47
Earth & Environmental Sciences	9	2.14	2.14
Physical Sciences	121	22.80	21.31
Life Sciences	69	28.56	28.56

Highlight of the month

Biomimicry leads to stronger steel

By imitating the lattice-like structure of bones, an international team of scientists have developed steel that is more resistant to fatigue and less prone to cracking than normal steel, according to a study published in Science.

Researchers from Kyushu University in Japan, along with scientists from the United States and Germany, have made steel with thin, alternating nanoscale layers with different crystal structures that mimic the tiny, vertical fibre cylinders found in bone, greatly reducing the effects of stress from repeated loading and minimizing the spread of cracks.

The steel also contains microstructures of varying hardnesses, making it difficult for the cracks to form and propagate, as well as featuring areas that are more flexible than others, which absorb the energy of spreading cracks and could even reseal them.

The steel has the potential to make structures such as aircraft, bridges and even power plants safer and cheaper to produce.

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