Nara Institute of Science and Technology

Nara Institute of Science and Technology

奈良先端科学技術大学院大学
Type	Public (National)
Established	October, 1991
Endowment	US$-- billion (JP¥-- billion)
President	Naokazu Yokoya (Japanese: 横矢 直和)
Administrative staff	374
Postgraduates	1,043
Location	Ikoma (Kansai Science City) , Nara , Japan
Campus	Suburban, 139,967 m2
Mascot	Nasura[1]
Website	www.naist.jp

Nara Institute of Science and Technology (奈良先端科学技術大学院大学, Nara Sentan Kagaku Gijutsu Daigakuin Daigaku), abbreviated as NAIST, is a Japanese national university located in Ikoma, Nara of Kansai Science City. It was founded in 1991 with a focus on research and consists solely of graduate schools in three integrated areas: Biological Sciences, Information Sciences, and Material Sciences. NAIST is one of the most prestigious research institutions in Japan.

In the "Evaluation of Achievements Related to the 2nd Medium-term Goals and Plans" (2010-2015) conducted by the Japanese government for national universities, NAIST was evaluated as exceedingly superior especially concerning research levels. (One of 5 institutions from the 86 national universities).^[2] In 2010, NAIST ranked first overall among the 86 Japanese national universities by the Japanese government in its first-ever six-year (2005-2010)assessment of national university standards and achievements.^[3]

The university has a total of about 1,000 Master's and Doctoral students in its three graduate schools (2010),^[4] among which more than 20% are international students (2017).^[5] There are about 200 faculty members and 170 staff (2010).^[6]

In 2018, NAIST underwent an organizational transformation to continue research in these areas while promoting interdisciplinary research and education across traditional fields.^[7]