History of Graduate School of Scienceand School of Science

The School of Science in Osaka University was established with the School of Medicine, at the same time that the Osaka Imperial University was founded as the sixth Imperial University in Japan in 1931. At that time, there were new ideas and thoughts spreading in Osaka, a commercial capital in Japan that played a pivotal role in industry. It was thought that industrial technologies copied from Western Europe should be converted to new industry with creative technologies produced from original, fundamental studies. Understanding that a base for educational research on basic science was needed in Osaka for the coming future, local people in Osaka including economic and financial specialists strongly requested that the School of Science should be established. It is said that local people covered all the expenses for the first three years including the funds for establishing the science department without receiving any aid from the government. This demonstrates the pride and spirit of the people of Osaka, who established "Kaitoku-do" and "Teki-jyuku," both of which were famous educational institutes in Japan during the Edo era (1603-1868).

Regarding one of its characteristic points, the School of Science in Osaka University has been paying a lot of attention to industries, even when it was based on the investigation of fundamental scientific principles. In order to meet the needs of requests from society at any time, the School of Science was not only concerned with fundamental research studies but also concerned with practical applied research studies. This traditional principle has continued and has been passed on to the next generation.

The Graduate School of Science began accepting graduate students from universities under the old educational systems in 1933 and at the same time its education and research instructions started. The Departments of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry all began accepting graduates students at the same time of their establishment, while the Department of Biology began doing so in 1952. In 1953, the Graduate School of Science was reestablished with new systems and was composed of 8 departments: 1 Department of Mathematics, 3 Departments of Physics, 2 Departments of Chemistry and 2 Departments of Biology. Students in the master's course entered the Graduate School of Science in 1953, while students in the doctorate course joined it in 1955. The Department of MacromolecularScience was established in 1959. Three Departments of Physics were integrated into one Department of Physics in 1964 and the Department Earth and Space Science was established in 1995.

As emphasis was being put on Graduate Schools between 1995 and 1996, the new Graduate School of Science was established, composed of 6 Departments: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, MacromolecularScience, as well as Earth and Space Science, all of which still continue in the Graduate School of Science. Affiliated institutes of the Graduate School of Science, the Research Center for Structural Thermodynamics and the Laboratory of Nuclear Studies have been conducting educational research together with the Graduate School of Science.