Chiba University (千葉大学, Chiba Daigaku) and it is also abbreviated as Chibadai (千葉大) is a national university in the city of Chiba, Japan. It offers Doctoral degrees in education as part of a coalition with Tokyo Gakugei University, Saitama University, and Yokohama National University. The university was formed in 1949 from existing educational institutions in Chiba Prefecture, and absorbed over a period of years Chiba Medical University (1923-1960), a preparatory department of the Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Chiba Normal School (1872-1951), Tokyo Polytechnic High School (1914-1951), Chiba Horticultural High School, and others. Chiba University was reincorporated in 2010 under the National University Corporation Act.Chiba University has been ranked 75th on the Asia University Rankings 2013 Top 100 by "The Times Higher Education".

Currently, Chiba University consists of nine faculties, the university library, the university hospital and other educational and research facilities. With 11,179 students in the undergraduate program, it has long been one of the largest universities in Japan. As for the graduate school, there are about 2,354 students in ten master's programs and 1,220 in nine doctoral programs.

Chiba University is proud of its productive faculties and varied courses, the particulars of which will be introduced in the following sections. The University's four campuses, Nishi-Chiba, Inohana, Matsudo, and Kashiwanoha are ideally located in Chiba Prefecture, an area noted for its industrial, intellectual and international achievements. In recent decades Chiba has undergone rapid development which in many ways rivals the neighboring Tokyo Metropolis. Many national projects have been based in Chiba Prefecture, and now Chiba has one of the main international transport centers (New Tokyo International Airport Narita) and one of the largest business centers in Japan (Makuhari New Metropolitan Area and Nippon Convention Center). Many new academic and industrial complexes for the advanced sciences (The Kazusa DNA Research Institute) are located in Chiba Prefecture. The developments in Chiba today are representative of tomorrow's Japan. Matters occurring in the most progressive parts of Japan, or even in the world, will provide rich materials for research in various aspects of the human, social, industrial and natural sciences.

Chiba University has achieved a high degree of participation in international cooperative research projects. Chiba University presently has a large body of international research scholars and students studying on its various campuses. As of 2009, there are approximately 477 international researcher and 957 international students. Starting October, 1996, Chiba University launched a one-year scholarship program (Japan Program at Chiba: J-PAC) designed to provide international students with the opportunity to take courses in English

The Faculty of Letters aims to foster globally minded students who, with the ability to process information and analyze a wide variety of media, cultivate a keen interest in human beings, societies and cultures. Each student is expected to develop his/her own research topic of interest, and to develop the problem solving abilities required to contribute as a member of the global community.

The Faculty of Letters offers a wide range of courses in the fields of national and international languages, literature, history, psychology, anthropology, and in the relatively new fields of cross-cultural studies, information science and theoretical linguistics. Progressing from fundamentals to specialties, students are given the opportunity to broaden their knowledge and skills and to use them to contribute to society. 

Studying scientific, logical and critical ways of thinking helps students develop original ideas and makes them creative and productive in their academic studies and in their future careers. The Faculty’s philosophy is to encourage students to be humane leaders in this globalizing world.

The Faculty of Education dates back to the year 1872, the year of the establishment of the modern educational system in Japan, and has the longest history in this university. Its main aim is to train its students to undertake leading positions in a wide range of educational institutions. The Faculty of Education seeks persons who take a wide-ranging interest in various educational problems concerning school and home, can engage in positive communication with others, and are willing to develop new possibilities in themselves as well as others, in a rapidly changing modern society. It also seeks applicants who can maintain a positive attitude to self-study, while teaching and training others as future teachers.

The Faculty of Law and Economics is unique among Chiba University faculties in that it conducts research and education in social sciences. The Faculty consists of Departments of Law, Economics and Policy Studies. Students enrolled in one department may take courses offered in other departments to develop comprehensive and interdisciplinary understandings of various social phenomena at hand.

The Faculty of Science comprises five departments and in active in both education and research. It offers a diversity of programs ranging from introductory courses for absolute beginners, via multi-disciplinary subjects, to pioneering sciences and their applications for more advanced learners. The Faculty helps students become all-round scientists, experts and/or assets to the industry and communities.

The history of Chiba University School of Medicine can be traced back as early as 1874, when its predecessor was founded as a private hospital by donations from the local community. In 1876 it became a prefectural institution with medical teaching facilities and was named the Chiba Public Hospital. In 1923 it became the Chiba Medical College, and was incorporated into the School of Medicine at Chiba University in 1949. Alumni from this school have contributed greatly to the progress of medicine in Japan.

The Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences was founded as the Department of Pharmacy in the Medical School of the First Senior High School in 1890, and is the oldest pharmaceutical faculty among Japanese national universities. Since then, the Faculty has greatly contributed to the development of pharmaceutical sciences in Japan through education and research works. The Faculty consists of two departments: Department of Pharmacy (6 year education program) and Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences (4 year education program). The graduates from the Department of Pharmacy are qualified to take the national examination for the pharmacist’s license.

The School of Nursing has dedicated to assuring humanistic and quality nursing care for individuals, families and communities. Since its establishment in 1975, the School has produced a large number of nurse leaders and scholars and is acknowledged to be the leading nursing school for the advancement of nursing discipline in Japan. The School of Nursing offers a program leading to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing. The School also offers an RN-BSN option for registered nurses with an associate’s degree or diploma in nursing. The BSN program aims to prepare nurse leaders of the future. The program builds on knowledge foundation in biological, behavioral and social sciences and humanities. Upon successful completion of the required courses, graduates are qualified to take the national licensure examinations for nurses, public health nurses, and/or midwives.

The Faculty of Engineering consists of ten departments: Departments of Architecture, Urban Environment Systems, Design, Mechanical Engineering, Medical System Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanoscience, Applied Chemistry and Biotechnology, Image Science, and Informatics and Imaging Systems. Most of the academic staff in the Faculty are also fully responsible for research and education within the two-year Master’s and the three-year Doctoral Programs in the Graduate School of Engineering.

Graduate School of Horticulture, located on top of a scenic hill in Matsudo City, has had major academic and international contributions in horticulture and landscape science since it was founded in 1909. It is the only faculty / graduate school known by the name of horticulture among Japanese universities.

The Graduate School of Horticulture offers education and research encompassing all aspects of “Horticulture, Food and Landscape” with interdisciplinary and international perspectives. With this aim, The Graduate School of Horticulture's teaching and research programs consists not only of natural sciences but also of social sciences and humanities, such as: cultivation, plant breeding, biotechnology of bio-resources, landscape design and engineering, human health and welfare, environmental science for sustainable cities and nature conservation, food system studies, and environmental and development economics.

The research fields of the Graduate School of Horticulture are as follows:

Bioresource Science: - Horticultural Plant Production and Breeding - Environmental Science for Bioproduction - Applied Biological Chemistry

Environmental Science and Landscape Architecture: - Landscape Architecture - Landscape Science - Environment and Human Health Sciences

Food and Resource Economics - Food System Analysis - Resource and Environmental Economics

Chiba University main gate