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History

History

1877

The Faculty of Science originated from the Institute of Western Learning of the Tokugawa shogunate. The Tokyo-Kaisei School and the Tokyo-Igakko (Tokyo Medical School) were merged to form the University of Tokyo.

The College of Science was established comprising eight departments: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry (theoretical chemistry, applied chemistry), Biology (zoology, botany), Astrology, Engineering (mechanical engineering, civil engineering), Geology, and Metallurgy. The Koishikawa Botanical Garden became an affiliated facility of the College of Science, the University of Tokyo.

1886

The name of the University of Tokyo changed to Teikoku Daigaku (Imperial University) in accordance with the Imperial Ordinance No. 3.

The College of Science was comprised of seven departments: Mathematics, Astrology, Physics, Chemistry, Zoology, Botany, and Geology. The Misaki Marine Biological Station was established.

1897

Teikoku Daigaku (Imperial University) was renamed to Tokyo Teikoku Daigaku (Tokyo Imperial University) in accordance with the Imperial Ordinance No. 208.

The Misaki Marine Biological Station was moved to the Koajiro Castle site location.

1902

The Nikko Botanical Garden was established.

1907

The Department of Geology was divided into two Departments: Geology and Mineralogy.

1919

The Imperial Ordinance No. 13 was issued under which the College of Science became the Faculty of Science; the Department of Geography was established; the Department of Astrology was renamed the Department of Astronomy; and the Departments of Theoretical Physics and Experimental Physics were merged to form the Department of Physics.

1923

The Department of Seismology was established within the Faculty of Science.

Prof. Kakichi Mitsukuri

Prof. Kakichi Mitsukuri,
(1898-1904, First Director of the Misaki Marine Biological Station, an adjunct to the Faculty)

Marine Biological Station founded at Irifune,
Misaki Town (circa 1893)

1939

The Department of Anthropology was established.

1941

The Department of Seismology was expanded to create a separate Department of Geophysics, bringing the total number of departments to 11.

1947

The Faculty of Science was renamed to the Faculty of Science, the University of Tokyo.

1949

The National School Establishment Act was promulgated, under which the Faculty of Science at the University of Tokyo was re-organized, comprising five departments: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Earth Sciences.

1958

The Department of Biochemistry was established. The Geophysical Observatory was established.

1967

As part of the expansion and reorganization of the Department of Physics, courses in Physics, Astronomy, and Geophysics became the Departments of Physics, Astronomy, and Geophysics, respectively.

1970

The Information Science Laboratory was established.

1974

The High Energy Physics Laboratory was established.

1975

The Department of Information Science was established. (The Information Science Laboratory was abolished.)

1976

The Center for Spectrochemistry was established.

1977

The Laboratory of International Collaboration on Elementary Particle Physics was established with a term of seven years, converted from the High Energy Physics Laboratory.

1978

The Meson Science Laboratory was established with a term of ten years.

The Laboratory for Earthquake Chemistry was established.

1984

The International Center for Elementary Particle Physics (ICEPP) was established with a term of ten years.
(The Laboratory of International Collaboration on Elementary Particle Physics (LICEPP) was abolished due to the expiry of its term.)

1988

The Meson Science Center was established with a term of ten years.
(The Meson Science Laboratory was abolished due to the expiry of its term.)
The Institute of Astronomy was established.

The main entrance of the main building completed in 1936
(Misaki Marine Biological Station adjunct to the Faculty)

The old entrance of East Chemistry Building of the Faculty of Science

Chemistry classroom plates of the Faculty of Science

1990

The Department of Geophysics and the adjunct Geophysics Research Laboratory were reorganized to form the Department of Earth and Planetary Physics.

The Center for Spectrochemistry was reorganized as the Research Center for Spectrochemistry with a term of ten years.

1992

In order to emphasize postgraduate education in the sciences, seven graduate departments (Chemistry, Biochemistry, Zoology, Botany, Anthropology, Geology, and Mineralogy) were established in the School of Science.

The Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences was independently established for graduate courses in mathematics.

1993

Five additional graduate departments (Information Science, Physics, Astronomy, Earth and Planetary Physics, and Geography) were established, creating a total of 12 graduate departments in the School of Science.

1994

The new International Center for Elementary Particle Physics (ICEPP) at the University of Tokyo was established. (The old ICEPP was abolished due to the expiry of its term.)

1995

The graduate departments of Zoology, Botany, and Anthropology were integrated to form the Graduate Department of Biological Sciences.

1997

The Center for Nuclear Study was established as an adjunct to the Graduate School of Science.

(The Meson Science Center was abolished due to the expiry of its term.)

1998

The Misaki Marine Biological Station, the Botanical Gardens, the Geochemical Research Center, the Research Center for Spectrochemistry, and Institute of Astronomy, adjuncts to the Faculty of Science, were transferred to the Graduate School of Science to become its adjunct facilities.

The School of Science West Wing Building was completed.
Click here for the booklet prepared at that time.

1999

Research Center for the Early Universe was established.

2000

Four graduate departments (Earth and Planetary Physics, Geology, Mineralogy, and Geography) were reorganized into the Graduate Department of Earth and Planetary Science.

2001

The Postgraduate Department of Information Science was transferred to the Department of Computer Science, the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology.

The term of the Research Center for Spectrochemistry was extended.

The Undergraduate Program for Bioinformatics and Systems Biology was launched with a term of five years.

2004

The University of Tokyo was incorporated as a national university corporation.

The term of the International Center for Elementary Particle Physics, the University of Tokyo was extended.

2005

The Faculty of Science Center Building 1 Central Wing was completed.

The Center for Ultrafast Intense Laser Science was established.

The Actuary and Statistics Program was launched.

2006

The Department of Earth Sciences was reorganized into the Department of Earth and Planetary Environmental Science.

2007

The Department of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology was established.

2008

The Molecular Genetics Research Laboratory, an affiliated facility of the University of Tokyo, was transferred to the Graduate School of Science to become its adjunct facility.

2014

The Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry and the Department of Biological Sciences were integrated to form the new Department of Biological Sciences.

2016

The Global Science Graduate Course was launched.
The Universal Biology Institute and the UTokyo Organization for Planetary Science were established.

Aerial photograph of Misaki Marine Biological Station

Experiment of gas-to-solid condensation in circumstellar environments using a vacuum infrared oven

Northwestern side of the former Faculty of Science Building 1 before demolition

Science Gallery
(1st floor, Center Wing, School of Science Building 1)

2011

The Advanced Leading Graduate Course for Photon Science was launched.

2012

The Koishikawa Botanical Garden was designated as a Place of Scenic Beauty and Historic Site of Japan.

2013

The Institute for Photon Science and Technology was established.

2014

The Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry and the Department of Biological Sciences were integrated to form the new Department of Biological Sciences.
The Global Science Course was launched.

2016

The Global Science Graduate Course was launched.
The Universal Biology Institute and the UTokyo Organization for Planetary Science were established.

2017

The Program of Excellence in Photon Science was launched.

2018

The International Graduate Program of Excellence in Earth-Space Science was launched.
The Institute for Physics of Intelligence was established.

2019

The Forefront Physics and Mathematics Program to Drive Transformation (FoPM) was launched.

2022

The Center for Ultrafast Intense Laser Science was restructured to establish the Center for Attosecond Laser Science.

 

Notable Alumni

Syukuro Manabe (Nobel Prize in Physics 2021)

Syukuro Manabe

Prof. Syukuro Manabe was born in 1931 in the village of Shinritsu (now the city of Shikokuchuo), Uma County, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. After completing his education at the old Mishima Junior High School (now Ehime Prefectural Mishima High School), he graduated from the Department of Geophysics, Faculty of Science, the University of Tokyo in 1953. He then went on to the graduate school and received a Doctor of Science from the University of Tokyo in 1958. In the same year, he left for the United States to start his career as a research meteorologist at the US Weather Bureau. In 1963, he moved to a position of senior research meteorologist at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In 1968, he took a concurrent position as a lecturer with rank of professor at the Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Princeton University. In 1997, he was appointed as the Director of the Global Warming Research Program of the Frontier Research Center for Global Change, a joint project of the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) and the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center (JAMSTEC). In 2002, he returned to the Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at Princeton University, where he is currently a senior meteorologist.

Leo Esaki (Nobel Prize in Physics 1973)

Leo Esaki

© The Science and Technology Promotion Foundation of Ibaraki

Dr. Leo Esaki graduated from the Department of Physics, Faculty of Science in 1947 and earned a PhD in physics from the Graduate School of Science in 1959. Over many years, Dr. Esaki has realized outstanding achievements in the field of semiconductor physics. The following are the two highly significant accomplishments he has made.

Masatoshi Koshiba
(Nobel Prize in Physics 2002, Distinguished University Professor)

Masatoshi Koshiba

© Heisei Foundation for Basic Science

Prof. Masatoshi Koshiba was born in Toyohashi city, Aichi Prefecture in 1926, and was brought up in Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture. After completing his education at Daiichi High School, he graduated from the Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, the University of Tokyo. He went on to the graduate school, but went to the U.S. to continue his studies at the University of Rochester where he set a record as the student who earned a doctoral degree in the shortest period of time.

Yoichiro Nambu (Nobel Prize in Physics 2008)

Yoichiro Nambu

© University of Chicago

Prof. Yoichiro Nambu was born in Tokyo in 1921. He was taken at the age of two from Tokyo, after the city had been destroyed by the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, to his father's hometown in Fukui Prefecture, and he lived there to the age of 17. After completing his primary and secondary education at Fukui City Shimpo Elementary School (now Matsumoto Elementary School), Fukui Junior High School (now Fujishima High School), and Daiichi High School, he entered the University of Tokyo, where he received his B.S. in 1942.

Kunihiko Kodaira (Fields Medal 1954)

Kunihiko Kodaira

© Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences, The University of Tokyo

The late Prof. Kunihiko Kodaira developed the theory of complex manifolds. The breadth and depth of his research exerted a great impact on the fields of algebraic geometry, complex analysis and mathematical physics. He decided to pursue a career in research during the Second World War. In 1949, not long after the war, he was invited to the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton as the second Japanese mathematician in the post-war period to work in the United States (the first was Shizuo Kakutani). Ater that, he wrote 50 papers (1,400 pages in total) during his 19-year stay in the United States.

Kikunae Ikeda (Discoverer of "Umami")

Kikunae Ikeda

Photo from the book "Recollections of Dr. Kikunae Ikeda
(池田菊苗博士追憶録)"

Umami seasoning (component: monosodium L-glutamate), widely prevalent as the flavor enhancer "Ajinomoto" in many households in Japan, was discovered in 1907 by the late Prof. Kikunae Ikeda, who was a professor at the Department of Chemistry of Tokyo Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo). The bottle of the first sample of monosodium L-glutamate, extracted from dried kelp by Prof. Ikeda, has been handed down to successive professors in the Department of Chemistry as one of the historical materials of the Umami discovery.