Ritsumeikan University has been awarded four stars overall in an independent rating by one of the world’s leading educational assessment bodies, QS Quacquarelli Symonds.

The award marks the first ever QS Stars assessment of a university in Japan.

Rated the maximum five stars in five of the eight assessment categories, including in the categories of ‘innovation’, ‘teaching’ and ‘internationalization’, the result provides concrete evidence of the success of long term strategies employed by the University to rise to the challenge of a rapidly changing global society.

Details of how the University, never content to stand still and always pursuing excellence, is challenging itself further can be found in the recently published ‘R2030 Ritsumeikan Academy Vision’.

Full details of the award, and the award ceremony itself, can be found below.

The Award Ceremony:

The QS Stars certificate was presented to Ritsumeikan University representatives, Professor Yutaka Okada and Professor Yoshihiko Nakatani, by the CEO of Singapore-based QS Asia, Mandy Mok in an award ceremony at the 14th QS Asia-Pacific Professional Leaders in Education Conference and Exhibition (QS-APPLE).

Professor Yutaka Okada, College of Life Sciences, is Deputy Director of the Division of International Research; and Professor Yoshihiko Nakatani, from the Ritsumeikan Global Innovation Research Organization (R-GIRO), is Deputy Director of the Headquarters for Industry-University-Government Collaboration.

The QS Asia-Pacific Professional Leaders in Education Conference and Exhibition (QS-APPLE) is QS Asia’s annual conference. Attracting educators from Asia and Oceania, as well as the rest of the world, the conference aims to enhance the profile of higher education in the Asia Pacific and encourage international exchange through sessions on trends in higher education, workshops on university rankings, exhibition booths, and receptions.

This year more than 500 people from over 200 universities participated.