Currently, the time that we stay at home is getting longer and longer under the global pandemic. In addition, modern society is facing many physical and mental problems such as the inactivity of children and elderly people who need care. In order to solve these problems, the importance of exercise (sports) has become a common understanding around the world.
Waseda University has been a leader in the growth of this field since it became the first university in Japan to establish a department with the term “sports” included. The Faculty of Sport Sciences (which consists of Undergraduate and Graduate Schools, and the Research Center) has international educators and researchers with expertise in the natural sciences and humanities. At the same time, it has produced many top athletes and is committed to supporting athletes with expert instructors such as the physical coach of the Japanese women’s national soccer team and team doctors from Beijing and London. Building on this foundation, in 2009 we developed the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Global COE Program “Sports Science for Creating an Active Life.”
The Center for Health and Sports Sciences, an education and research center supported by the Super Global University Initiative, aims to further revitalize education and research by focusing on themes that have achieved outstanding international results in the field of sports science at Waseda University. With the participation of faculty members invited from overseas, we plan to develop education, research, and practice in the most advanced health and sports sciences. In order to achieve this, we will develop new systems such as an English-language degree system, short-term invitations to international faculty through a joint appointment system, and overseas training for graduate students. In addition, as a major pillar of our education and research activities, we are working to build a society where people can live healthy and happy lives even as they age.
We will further strengthen the international partnerships we have with top-level universities in the field of sport sciences (including German Sport University Cologne, Loughborough University in the United Kingdom, Hungarian University of Physical Education (UPE), University of Alberta and University of Calgary in Canada) and accept exceptional international students as well as dispatch Waseda students abroad. We have established English-based master’s programs and doctoral programs in English as part of our unique education and research project. We will continue recruiting the best teaching staff and researchers from all over the world, especially female staff who can serve as role models. Our long-term goal is to become an international hub for education and research in the field of health and sport sciences, attracting the finest human resources from around the world and using sports as a way to help solve the various physical and mental well-being issues that affect people of all ages.