About Graduate Schools
In graduate school, students are required to complete at least 30 credits in the master’s program and 20 credits in the doctoral program through a combination of coursework, exercises, and research. As students progress to higher levels, coursework decreases, and research—conducted in laboratories for their master’s or doctoral theses—becomes the main focus.
Students engage deeply in their studies and research, receiving individualized guidance from academic advisors or participating in collaborative research projects.
Beyond academic life, it is also common for labs to organize recreational activities such as hiking in the spring and fall, swimming in the summer, and skiing in the winter. These events help foster strong bonds among students, regardless of seniority, and are one of the distinctive aspects of graduate school life.
Students from the Faculty of Engineering typically advance to one of the following four graduate schools.
Graduate School of Engineering
The Graduate School of Engineering offers a two-year master’s program and a three-year doctoral program as the standard duration of study. Students who demonstrate exceptional achievements may shorten their period of study.
There are 18 departments in the Graduate School of Engineering. Among them are the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Management and the Department of Nuclear Professional School, established in 2005; the Department of Bioengineering and the Department of Technology Management for Innovation, established in 2006; and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Systems and the Department of Systems Innovation, established in 2008. Since 2005, the school has also offered a collaborative Medical Engineering Program in partnership with the Graduate School of Medicine.
Admission to the graduate school is open to students from universities across Japan. All applicants, regardless of whether they graduated from the University of Tokyo or another institution, are required to take the same entrance examination.
Faculty members involved in education and research at the graduate school include not only those from the Faculty of Engineering but also professors from related graduate schools and research institutes, such as the Institute of Industrial Science (Komaba), the Institute for Solid State Physics (Kashiwa), the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (Komaba), and the Earthquake Research Institute. Additionally, researchers from affiliated organizations outside the university—such as the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the National Institute of Informatics—also serve as instructors and research supervisors.
The school has academic exchange agreements for credit recognition with Tokyo Institute of Technology, Saitama University, and the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.
Internationally, it has student exchange agreements with 45 institutions in countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Norway, China, South Korea, Thailand, Brazil, New Zealand, Russia, Turkey, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Hungary, Italy, Australia, Sri Lanka, Finland, Canada, Singapore, Denmark, Vietnam, and more.
A large number of international students are enrolled in the master’s, doctoral, research student, and special research student programs. These students come from all over the world, particularly from China, South Korea, India, Thailand, and Taiwan. Through shared academic, research, and extracurricular activities, these students contribute not only to the advancement of research but also to international exchange and cultural understanding between their home countries and Japan.
Graduate School of Engineering:https://www.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Graduate School of Information
Science and Technology
To advance both the foundation and frontiers of 21st-century information science and technology, the University of Tokyo established the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology in April 2001.
This graduate school comprises six departments: Computer Science, Mathematical Informatics, Information Physics and Computing, Information and Communication Engineering, Mechano-Informatics, and Creative Informatics.
In addition, two industry-collaboration programs—Strategic IT Alliance and Bio-Information Processing—have been set up to strengthen ties with industry.
As information has become the central axis of both society and knowledge in the 21st century, research and education in this field must expand in depth and breadth. As society becomes increasingly dependent on information technology, there is a growing need to develop fundamental knowledge and methodologies that transcend conventional academic boundaries and lead innovation in industry.
The graduate school was formed by reorganizing existing information science programs, which had previously been split between the Graduate School of Science and the Graduate School of Engineering. The goal was to achieve more effective integration and to enable flexible, large-scale development of advanced research and education in information science and technology.
Through close collaboration with industry, the school not only aims to generate cutting-edge research but also to cultivate individuals capable of global leadership.
Graduate School of Information
Science and Technology:https://www.i.u-tokyo.ac.jp/
Graduate School of Frontier Sciences
The Graduate School of Frontier Sciences is an independent graduate school without an undergraduate division. Its primary campus is located in Kashiwa, forming the university’s third major academic hub alongside Hongo and Komaba.
Based on the philosophy of “academic integration,” the school consists of three divisions, each aimed at pioneering new academic fields. These are:
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Division of Transdisciplinary Sciences, which generates new fields of science from engineering and natural science foundations
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Division of Life Sciences, which approaches life at all levels, from molecules to organisms, in both structural and functional dimensions
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Division of Environmental Studies, which analyzes environmental issues from natural, cultural, and social perspectives to support future policy and technological development
The Division of Transdisciplinary Sciences includes departments such as Advanced Materials Science, Advanced Energy, and Complexity Science and Engineering.
The Division of Life Sciences includes Advanced Life Sciences and Medical Genome Sciences.
The Division of Environmental Studies consists of departments such as Natural Environmental Studies, Ocean Technology and Environment, Environmental Systems, Human and Engineered Environmental Studies, Socio-Cultural Environmental Studies, and International Cooperation.
In addition, the Department of Computational Biology and Medical Sciences explores life phenomena from an information science perspective and develops foundational technologies for next-generation life sciences.
Many faculty members are affiliated with the Faculty of Engineering, and numerous students from the engineering faculty enroll in this graduate school.
The University of Tokyo III/GSII
Established in 2000, the Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies (III) and the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies (GSII) are designed as a flexible network connecting various academic fields across the entire university.
While the III functions as the research organization, the GSII serves as its educational counterpart—together forming a uniquely dynamic and advanced institution for information-related research and education.
Today, every aspect of human civilization—including consciousness, behavior, life, society, culture, technology, art, industry, politics, law, and the environment—is undergoing a radical transformation driven by “information.”
Amid rapid change in the institutional landscape of academia itself, there is a growing need to “restructure knowledge” using information as a common language.
To meet this need, the III/GSII leads innovative research and education at the intersection of diverse academic fields, connecting and reweaving knowledge through information.
Its mission is to contribute to the structuring of knowledge and ensure the public accessibility of intellectual resources.