Changes

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While physically located in the heart of Tokyo, right across the Imperial Palace, Sophia University is also close to the socio-economic and political core of Japanese society. From its early days, the University has been a center for internationalization and to this day continues to act as a bridge to the wider world. Many of its graduates find their way into fields such as the media (national broadcasters like NHK), global development (international organizations like the United Nations), or global business (multinational corporations).

Sophia University is continuously developing as a higher education institution. In recent years, it has shifted away from a classical discipline-based institution to one that aims to be more innovative and student-centered. An example is the Faculty of Liberal Arts (FLA), which offers English-taught undergraduate degrees. This faculty has increased interactions between Japanese and international students, and many of its professors have been at the university’s forefront in adopting innovative teaching methods.

Another English-taught degree program known as the Faculty of Science and Technology aims to educate future scientists and technologists to become productive members of the global community. Students at the Faculty of Science and Technology seek a deeper understanding of human development and harmonious coexistence with people and nature.

Overall, the university’s core values of respect for equality, diversity, and contribution to the larger social good are captured into its motto: “Men and Women, With Others, For Others.” These values permeate not only its academic curriculum but also guide students in their extracurricular activities. Students undertake many volunteer activities run inside and outside the university, but also beyond Japan, such as the support activities focused on refugees, or the areas damaged by the Great Tohoku Earthquake, to name a few. Extracurricular clubs that promote innovation, entrepreneurship, and creativity include Horizon (a student empowerment organization committed to inspiring youth to create innovative solutions for social change) and Sophia Start-up Club (Sophia University’s first entrepreneurship organization established in 2021). Other programs that generate awareness and fundamental elements of I&E include TEDxSophia and Sophia University Future Center.

Responding to the need to further develop as a “university in line with the world,” Sophia University has been taking bold steps in rethinking the old approach to teaching and learning. Through various initiatives, it has sought to reform “towards a qualitative change in university education to build a new future” for Japanese society and foster a “knowledge-based independence, collaboration, and creative model” which “cultivates independent thinking and creativity” (Report of the Central Equation Council, August 2012).

However, while Sophia University has focused on working in the areas of innovation in recent years, the institution lacks resources for promoting entrepreneurship. There continue to be limitations, such as not having offices, faculties, or organizations that are specifically focused on encouraging students to explore I&E. Sophia University hopes to improve on these areas in the near future through new programs such as SPSF.

Sophia University is active in funding and supporting research programs through the Sophia Research Support Organization. The Organization has been exploring the possibility of further expanding its research support system and providing enhanced support for faculty to commercialize their research. It aims to act as an incubator that would facilitate successful technology transfers, licensing, and innovation projects. In this way, Sophia University is working to advance development projects through collaboration between industry, government, and academia.

In 2021, Sophia University joined the Renewable Energy University League of Japan. The universities that join this community aim to transition their campuses to 100% renewable energy between 2030 and 2040. Sophia University is trying to encourage its students to also take action for renewable energy and decarbonization.

Recognizing that Japan’s industry-academia collaboration is poor compared to Western countries, Sophia University's Faculty of Science and Engineering created the “Sophia Science & Technology Liaison Office” in November of 2001 to transfer research breakthroughs more easily into society. Unfortunately, this organization is no longer in operation within the University, but its impacts have left a strong impression on the I&E community and students involved in its mission.

Although Sophia University’s history with innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) is short, the institution’s efforts such as opening new programs and opportunities for innovation to faculty and students have become more apparent in the past few years. Over time, a growing number of faculty members have become active in organizing events and activities where they encourage students to incorporate entrepreneurial skills and mindsets.

Sophia University has been promoting educational and research activities based on a spirit of charity and globalism through encounters and dialogues with people of diverse backgrounds in the hope to bring forth solutions to the many problems that torment our world today. Through its participation in the Inter-University Exchange Project called the “Collaborative Online International Learning,” Sophia University offers programs towards Human Security and Multicultural Coexistence which allow students in Japan to connect and learn together with other students at institutions in Japan and abroad.