Global & Local Initiatives

International Education Center

International Education Center promotes university-wide international education, guidance and counseling for international students and students who wish to study abroad. The center also deals with projects in cooperation with overseas universities and research institutions, etc. Our aim is cultivating the ability of all university students to solve social issues from a global perspective.

Research Support and Industry-Academic Collaboration Center

In October 2020, the Organization for Research Promotion and the Organization of Revitalization for Sanriku Region and Regional Development were reorganized and merged together, becoming the Research Support and Industry-Academic Collaboration Center, which is characterized by being controlled by the Executive Director for Research, Industry-University Collaboration and Regional Development; serving as a one-stop point of contact for everything from research support to industry-university collaboration and regional development; and functioning as an organizational structure that incorporates both mobility and stability.
Based on Iwate University¡¯s goals and strategies for research promotion and regional cooperation, the Center aims to support and promote Iwate University¡¯s characteristic research and reinforce the University¡¯s academic research infrastructure. It is also carrying out a variety of initiatives by disseminating the University¡¯s education and research outcomes, as well as its intellectual assets, as a way of ¡°giving back¡± to the local area, with the aim of contributing to regional development.

Research Center for Regional Disaster Management

Through the Research Center for Regional Disaster Management, Iwate University has encouraged disaster prevention training in the local community and has conducted programs to train disaster response leaders. However, after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology supported us in enhancing the center in an effort to encourage the recovery of the Iwate area. The center now extends over all humanities and sciences for natural disaster risk reduction at the university.
The center comprises three divisions : analyze natural disasters, study ways to prepare municipalities for disasters, and foster disaster response and recovery. We use our location within the disaster area to conduct research and implement projects that create communitybased disaster management systems, develop infrastructure, and train people in disaster recovery and reconstruction. We are earnestly working to strengthen local disaster preparedness.

Goals: We seek to create a community-based disaster management system and to promote recovery from natural disasters. These goals are predicated on crafting a multi-layered system of disaster prevention in accordance with local conditions and creating and maintaining disaster response and recovery.
Efforts: _ Investigation and analysis of natural disasters
_ Planning, designing, and forecasting disaster responses by municipalities
_ Disaster response education and personnel training
_ Support for regional disaster management and recovery

Sanriku Fisheries Research Center

After the Great East Japan Earthquake, the university established the Sanriku Fisheries Research Center in an attempt to restore the Sanriku coastal area. We worked closely with people in the fishing industry, neighboring cities and towns, and research institutions in the field. We will continue to work in this field, as fisheries are a key industry in the Sanriku region.
We set up two specific sectors for our projects : ¡°the research and development department,¡± and ¡°the human resource development department ,¡±with our aim being a value-added scientifically proven basis for conventional marine products and new types of products with an entire production flow designed from catch to distribution.We also promote the development of future professionals with advanced knowledge and practical skills for the industry.

Center for Hiraizumi Studies

The Center for Hiraizumi serves as a hub for interdisciplinary research on the Hiraizumi World Heritage site, a cultural site including gardens that represent Pure Land Buddhism. We encourage research that uses historical and archeological techniques, as well as physical and chemical analysis. We seek to create a field of Hiraizumi Studies that comprehensively examines aspects of Hiraizumi from an international and interdisciplinary perspective.
We also intend to furnish the community with the results of our research and to contribute to local development.