The Tokyo Institute of Technology and the Tokyo Medical and Dental University said Friday they will merge into a new national university by the end of fiscal 2024, aiming to increase their global competitiveness in research.
The two universities, both considered top-tier in Japan within their respective fields, intend to apply for a government grant for the integration. The grant is part of the country's new ¥10 trillion ($68 billion) funding program to help universities generate internationally competitive research achievements.
The agreement has paved the way for the first consolidation between Japanese national universities designated as being globally competitive.
"Our merger will fuse various academic fields to develop world-class education and research," Kazuya Masu, president of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, said at a news conference.
The two universities will set up a panel to prepare for the integration and are considering inviting students and alumni to think of a name for the new institution.
Creating a new university from two well-established higher education institutions is uncommon in Japan, as most cases in recent years have seen a parent corporation being created under which the two schools are managed.
For fiscal 2021, the government granted the Tokyo Institute of Technology ¥21.8 billion as an operating subsidy and the Tokyo Medical and Dental University ¥13.8 billion.
With the merger, the new institution will be equal in subsidy scale to that of Hokkaido University and the University of Tsukuba, which are among the top 10 recipients of such funding with ¥36.6 billion and ¥36.1 billion allotted in fiscal 2021, respectively.
The operating subsidy accounts for roughly a half of a national university's revenue, according to government data.