Organizations

The Research Center for Applied Perceptual Science aims to establish a new research area, perceptual science, which transcends the boundaries between disciplines such as humanities, sciences, and arts in order to construct better relationships between humans and environments. The Center provides a place where distinguished researchers with two or more different fields of expertise can gather and swiftly reflect their ideas in research.

The Physiological Anthropology Research Center is engaged in applied research into the human emotional and biological characteristics and physiological adaptability necessary when designing safe and comfortable products and living environments.

The Environmental Design Global is established under the School of Design as an Internal Research and Education Centre in January 2017. The hub aims to work with international partners in interdisciplinary research to bring about an innovative breakthrough in the area of environmental design. The hub currently housed 27 researchers of varied expertise such as humanities, social science, design, landscape and architecture.

We at the Faculty of Design, Kyushu University takes action to help achieve the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals, which are global goals from 2016 to 2030 listed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was adopted at the UN Summit held in 2015) through the power of design as design experts. That is why we established the SDGs Design Unit in April 2018. We position this unit as a “social platform” for collaboration with citizens, NPOs, industry, overseas universities, and international organizations to explore solutions together and aim to resolve societal issues through design. We conduct a broad range of education, research, production, and social collaboration in relation to design, including not only university students but also people from elementary school students to adults. We take place various lectures, workshops, presentations, joint projects and symposiums.

Diversity and inclusion is a way to think about society that respects and embraces the differences between people, including diverse abilities, ethnicities, gender identities, nationalities, religions, sexual orientations, socioeconomic status, and so on. The Design Initiative for Diversity & Inclusion is a leading Japanese research and educational institute in this field. The Initiative crafts and implements systems to develop individual and group potential and to produce new alternative values to economic growth, while providing concrete services to meet diverse needs. The Social Art Lab is now one section of the Design Initiative.

The Center for Design Fundamentals Research was established in April 2022.
Design Fundamentals refer to the accumulation of thoughts that establish design as a discipline through fundamental consideration of what design is, its truth, value (ethics), and aesthetics. To realize this goal, we have established four pillars of research. The first is the practice of stimulating critiques that question design from its roots, the second is the development and practice of basic and common design education, the third is the clarification of design methodology and attempts to systematize it, and the fourth is the promotion of cultural diversity in design. Research Center for Design Fundamentals aims to envision the future of design through these research projects.

The Center for Designed Futures of Kyushu University was established on January 1, 2017, after the reorganization of Kansei Design Center, with the aim of creating a research base for international design studies. With aspirations to have a positive impact on building a better society for the future, it links design studies with various research fields both inside and outside the university and, through collaboration with industry and government, promotes the speedy social application of design-related research findings.

GIC Advanced Project Division works with the Faculty of Design—the core of design research at Kyushu University—to promote the field of design both inside the institution and beyond.

Dr. Robert T. Huang, a prominent Kyushu University alumnus who has achieved significant success in the United States, made a substantial donation in December 2012 to commemorate the centennial anniversary of Kyushu University and reorganize and reshape its Venture Business Laboratory. The lab is now the Robert T. Huang Entrepreneurship Center (QREP) and is an education and research center solely dedicated to educating students about entrepreneurship.