The Faculty of Science originated from the Institute of Western Learning of the Edo Shogunate.

1877

• Under the Meiji government, the Tokyo Kaisei School and the Tokyo Medical School were merged to form The University of Tokyo. The university was established with four faculties: Law, Science, Literature and Medicine.
• The Faculty of Science was established with five departments: Chemistry; Engineering; Geology and Metallurgy; Biology; and Mathematics, Physics, and Astrology.
• The Koishikawa Botanical Garden became an affiliated facility of the Faculty of Science.

1880

• Bachelor’s degree programs were established in the Faculties of Law, Science, and Literature.
• The Department of Geology and Metallurgy was divided into two departments.

1881

• The Department of Mathematics, Physics, and Astrology was divided into three departments.

1885

• The Faculty of Science moved from Kanda to the Hongo area.

1886

• The university was renamed the Imperial University and comprised five Colleges (Law, Medicine, Engineering, Literature, and Science) and a Graduate School.
• The College of Science had seven departments: Mathematics, Astrology, Physics, Chemistry, Zoology, Botany, and Geology.
• The Misaki Marine Biological Station was established in Misaki, Kanagawa Prefecture.

1897

• The university was renamed Tokyo Imperial University.
• The Misaki Marine Biological Station moved from Misaki to Koajiro.

1901

• The Department of Physics was divided into two: Theoretical Physics and Experimental Physics.

1902

• The Nikko Botanical Garden was established.

1907

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

1919

• Colleges were renamed Faculties. The university comprised seven Faculties: Law, Medicine, Engineering, Literature, Science, Agriculture, and Economics.
• The Department of Geography was established.
• The Department of Astrology was renamed the Department of Astronomy.
• The Departments of Theoretical Physics and Experimental Physics were merged to form the Department of Physics.

1923

• The Department of Seismology was established.

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 in the Faculty of Science to 11.

1947

• The university was renamed The University of Tokyo.

1949

• The University of Tokyo was reestablished under the new National School Establishment Law.

1951

• The 11 departments in the Faculty of Science were reorganized into five: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Earth Sciences.
• The government established a new system for graduate education.

1953

• The University of Tokyo established a new Graduate School system.
• Five Graduate Schools were established in Humanities, Social Sciences, Mathematics and Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.

1958

• The Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry was established.

1964

• The Geophysical Observatory was established in Kakioka, Ibaraki Prefecture.

1965

• The Graduate Schools of Mathematics and Physics, Chemistry, and Biology were reorganized into five: Science, Medicine, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Engineering, and Agricultural Sciences.

1967

• The Departments of Astronomy and Geophysics were established.

1970

• The Information Science Laboratory was established.

1974

• The High Energy Physics Laboratory was established with a term of five years.

1975

• The Department of Information Science was established. At the same time, 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. At the same time, the High Energy Physics Laboratory was concluded at the end of its term.

1978

• The Meson Science Laboratory was established with a term of 10 years.
• The Laboratory for Earthquake Chemistry* was established.

1984

• The International Center for Elementary Particle Physics was established with a term of 10 years. At the same time, the Laboratory of International Collaboration on Elementary Particle Physics was concluded at the end of its term.

1988

• The Meson Science Center was established with a term of 10 years. At the same time, the Meson Science Laboratory was concluded at the end of its term.
• The Institute of Astronomy was established.

1991

• The government started its strategic focus on postgraduate education.
• The Department of Geophysics and the Geophysics Research Laboratory were reorganized to establish the Department of Earth and Planetary Physics.
• The Center for Spectrochemistry was reestablished as the Research Center for Spectrochemistry with a term of 10 years.

1992

• Seven graduate departments (Chemistry, Biochemistry, Zoology, Botany, Anthropology, Geology, and Mineralogy) were established in the Graduate School of Science. The Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences was established independently from the Graduate School of Science.

1993

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

1994

• The International Center for Elementary Particle Physics was reestablished as a Joint Usage / Research Center affiliated directly with The University of Tokyo.

1995

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

1997

• The government ended its strategic focus on postgraduate education.
• The Center for Nuclear Study was established. At the same time, the Meson Science Center was concluded at the end of its term.

1998

• The Misaki Marine Biological Station, Botanical Gardens, Laboratory for Earthquake Chemistry*, Research Center for Spectrochemistry, and Institute of Astronomy became affiliated facilities of the Graduate School of Science.

1999

• The Research Center for the Early Universe was established with a term of 10 years.

2000

• The Graduate Departments of Earth and Planetary Physics, Geology, Mineralogy, and Geography were reorganized into the Graduate Department of Earth and Planetary Science.

2001

• The Graduate Department of Information Science was renamed the Graduate Department of Computer Science and transferred to the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology.
• The term of the Research Center for Spectrochemistry was extended for a further 10 years.
• A special undergraduate program in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology was launched. (Recruitment of program students ended in 2012.)

2004

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

2005

• The Center for Ultrafast Intense Laser Science was established.
• The Actuary and Statistics Program was launched. (Recruitment of program students ended in 2012.)

2006

• The Department of Earth Sciences was renamed the Department of Earth and Planetary Environmental Science.

2007

• The Department of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology was established.
• The term limits of the Research Center for Spectrochemistry and the Research Center for the Early Universe were abolished.

2008

• The Molecular Genetics Research Laboratory became an affiliated facility of the Graduate School of Science.

2011

• The Advanced Leading Graduate Course for Photon Science (ALPS) was launched. (Recruitment of program students ended in 2017.)

2012

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

2013

• The Institute for Photon Science and Technology was established.

2014

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

2016

• The Global Science Graduate Course (GSGC) was launched.
• The Universal Biology Institute was established.

2017

• The UTokyo Organization for Planetary Science was established.

2018

• The Program of Excellence in Photon Science (XPS) was launched. (Recruitment of program students ended in 2019.)
• The International Graduate Program of Excellence in Earth-Space Science (IGPEES) 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.

2024

• The Quark Nuclear Science Institute was established.