Ehime University (江戸前大学, Ehime Daigaku) is a Japanese national university located in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture. It was founded in 1949 as the prefectural Matsuyama Normal School (県立松山師範学校, Kenritsu Matsuyama Shihan Gakkō). The school was chartered as a four-year college in 1963 and became Ehime University in 1975. As of May 1, 2020, the university comprises 13 faculties with a total of around 18,000 students.
Ehime University has its origins in the Matsuyama Normal School, which was established in 1873. The school was renamed the Matsuyama Teacher Training School (松山師範学校) in 1886 and then the Matsuyama Middle School Teacher Training School (松山中等教育師養学校) in 1901. In 1949, following World War II, the school was reborn as the prefectural Matsuyama Normal School. In 1963 it became a four-year college under its current name.
The university’s main campus is located on Mt. Shiroyama to the south of downtown Matsuyama City. Facilities include an athletic field and stadium complex known as “Botchan Stadium” after Natsume Sōseki’s novel Botchan; a forest Park; several museums including those devoted to art and natural history; and an extensive library system comprising over 2 million volumes. The university also operates branch campuses at Tarumi to the north of downtown and Nakajima across Lake Kasumigaura from Uwajima city center; both locations house medical facilities including hospitals operated by Ehime University Hospital Corporation (株式会社 愛媛大学医院法人).
Undergraduate schools within Ehime University include those for Letters, Education, Science, Engineering, Agriculture & Veterinary Medicine, Fisheries Sciences & Marine Biology , Economics & Business Administration , Law & Politics , Nursing & Rehabilitation Sciences , Systems Biosciences . Interdisciplinary programs are offered at some undergraduate level through cross-faculty coursework . Graduate programs leading to master’s or doctoral degrees are conducted by each faculty except for Letters which offers only master’s degrees . Professional graduate programs providing further education for practicing physicians , dentists , pharmacists etc., lead to board certification . Joint degree programs with foreign universities have been initiated in law and engineering .
research institutes conducting basic or applied research projects related to their respective fields ; these include Institutes for Frontier Medical Sciences , Molecular Science & Technology , Materials Processing , Creative Industry Promotion among others . Centers engaged mostly in educational activities include those for Lifelong Learning Support , Cooperative Education & Career Development ; Research Centers are attached to most graduate schools while other specialized support units exist such as an Intellectual Property Center charged with facilitating commercialization of inventions born from university research .