Gifu Pharmaceutical University Paves the Way for the Next Generation

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only severely impacted our society and economy, but also has disrupted the academic and research fields. As for Gifu Pharmaceutical University (GPU), we were able to introduce online education for the first time. We will continue to take practical measures against the novel coronavirus infection with the safety and security of our students and faculty as our top priority.

GPU is a public university located in the city of Gifu, and supported by Gifu City. Gifu College of Pharmacy, the predecessor of GPU, was founded in 1932 and established as a university in 1949. Considerable efforts have been made over the past 89 years in order to achieve excellence in our university research and education. Our motto "strong, fair, and bright students" represents our founding spirit and guides our contribution to humanity. GPU has been educating and encouraging students to contribute to social health and welfare based on the Green Pharmacy concepts of environmentally friendly chemical product and process design.

We are proud to say that more than 12,000 of our graduates have been active in a wide range of pharmaceutical industry fields. These include pharmaceutical companies and pharmaceutical distributors; medical institutions, such as hospitals and pharmacies; administrative agencies, such as national and local governments; as well as universities and research institutes.

Focusing on our educational mission, we have recently introduced a number of innovations. Starting with the 2017 entrance examinations, we have integrated our pharmacy department into a six-year system that prepares all our students to take the national examination after graduation.

Maintaining our long history and tradition of fostering researchers involved in drug discovery and development, we established two new courses, the Medical Pharmacy Course and the Drug Discovery and Development Course. Based on the belief that "Education and research grow from tradition," we are conducting a wide range of research related to drug development and drug discovery, from basic pharmaceutical sciences such as chemical substance discovery to clinical pharmaceutical sciences such as clinical trials.

In addition, to promote research that can appropriately respond to the needs of society, we have established five endowed chairs with support from private companies, and will establish a "Joint Research Chair" in 2021.

In addition, in 2008, we established the "The United Graduate School of Drug Discovery and Medical Information Sciences, Gifu University" in collaboration with Gifu University's medical and engineering education and research organizations and conducting research on safe and effective personalized treatment.

Furthermore, we have made cooperative agreements with Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya University Graduate School of Drug Discovery Science, and Nagoya City University to strengthen collaboration in drug discovery research, exchange researchers, and promotion of the mutual use of research facilities and equipment. We remain committed to our promise that GPU's research and educational facilities be a benefit to the local community, pharmacies, government agencies, and corporations.

For the general public, this commitment takes the form of lifelong learning through public lectures. For local pharmacists, we will reinforce and expand their knowledge base by providing continuing educational courses. For government agencies and corporations, we will continue to work cooperatively with both on science and technology projects to our mutual benefit.

In order to further promote international exchange in a globalizing society, we have signed academic agreements with ten universities, including China Pharmaceutical University and the University of Florida. These agreements are facilitating development of the human resources required to meet the demands of this global society through joint research and student exchanges.

GPU continues to encourage the key elements of education, research, and social contribution to provide high quality education supported by the advanced research. Accordingly, we intend to make the results of our advancements in education and research in drug discovery and other fields worldwide available. At GPU, we remain committed to developing an even stronger university that paves the way for the next generation by fostering world-class pharmacists and researchers (pharmacist-scientists).