Osaka University

=175th
World University Rankings 2024
101–200th
Impact Rankings 2023
3rd
Japan University Rankings 2023
1-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan

About Osaka University

Osaka University was founded in 1931, when the Osaka Prefecture Medical School became Osaka Imperial University. This change was part of a national policy in Japan in which several imperal universities were established as centre of higher education and research. Originally the university had two schools – Medicine and Science – which increased to three in 1933 with the addition of Engineering, and five in 1949 with the addition of the School of Letters and the School of Economics when the university became Osaka University after the Second World War.

Today, Osaka University has 11 undergraduate schools, 16 graduate schools – including International Public Policy and Frontier Biosciences – five research institutes, two university hospitals and three national joint-use facilities, including the Research Center for Nuclear Physics and the Cybermedia Center. It is one of two national universities to have a School of Foreign Studies, and is the largest national university in Japan.

The university is spread across four campuses – Suita, Toyonaka, Minoh, and Nakanoshima – and is home to more than 15,000 undergraduates, 8,000 graduates and 2,000 international students, the majority of whom are graduates. They are taught by an academic staff of just under 3,200, with 3,645 part-time staff. Notable alumni include the Nobel Laureate in Physics Hideki Yukawa, Akira Yoshino, the inventor of the lithium-ion battery, and Sony founder Akio Morita.

Osaka is an industrial city in the Kansai region of Japan that has been called “the Manchester of the Orient”. It is the second-largest city in Japan after Tokyo and has a population of 19 million.

Explore rankings data for Osaka University

All ranked institutions have an overall score and 4 pillar scores. However for each pillar, only institutions ranked in the top 500 overall or the top 500 in this pillar have a publicly visible score

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Key statistics

  • 29%
    Proportion of ISR Publication
    (1)
  • 32 : 68
    Student Ratio of Females to Males
    (1)
  • 10%
    Percentage of International Students
    (1)
  • 10.4
    No. of students per staff
    (1)
  • 22,274
    Number of FTE Students
    (1)
  • ¥5,028
    Finance per Student (¥000s)
    (2)
Based on data collected for the (1) 2024 World University Rankings and (2) 2023 Japan University Rankings

Subjects taught at Osaka University

  • Arts & humanities

    • Archaeology
    • Architecture
    • History, Philosophy & Theology
    • Art, Performing Arts & Design
    • Languages, Literature & Linguistics
  • Physical sciences

    • Mathematics & Statistics
    • Geology, Environmental, Earth & Marine Sciences
    • Physics & Astronomy
    • Chemistry
  • Engineering & technology

    • General Engineering
    • Electrical & Electronic Engineering
    • Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
    • Chemical Engineering
    • Civil Engineering
  • Social sciences

    • Communication & Media Studies
    • Politics & International Studies (incl Development Studies)
    • Sociology
    • Geography
  • Education

    • Education
  • Business & economics

    • Economics & Econometrics
    • Business & Management
    • Accounting & Finance
  • Computer science

    • Computer Science
  • Life sciences

    • Biological Sciences
    • Sport Science
  • Clinical, pre-clinical & health

    • Other Health
    • Medicine & Dentistry
  • Law

    • Law
  • Psychology

    • Psychology