Graduate School

At University of Tsukuba, the majors in graduate school have been reborn as degree programs in April 2020.

A degree program is an educational program systematically organized toward a specified learning outcome, corresponding to a vision of human resource development. The levels include bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees.

Human resources development, admission, curriculum, and diploma policies for each degree program are can be found in graduate standards.

Medical and health care degrees (Master’s Programs)

Master's Program in Medical Sciences

Medical sciences and related fields of science and technology, have made remarkable progress lately. The related areas founding the basis of medicine are rapidly growing, expanding and diverging. Thus, integration of medicine-related sciences and technologies is strongly required.
It now is an important social need to cultivate professionals who are well educated in the medicine-oriented sciences. Our master’s degree program in medical sciences was established to provide opportunities for those students who had received other undergraduate education than medicine to obtain knowledge of medicine and medical sciences, and to develop the ability of its application. Graduates of this program are expected to contribute to the progress of research in the fields of basic medical sciences, and clinical medicine It is also the aim of this program to train professionals who can serve as experts in various medicine-related fields, such as preventive medicine, occupational medicine, nursing, medical welfare, medical engineering and medical administration. Many of the students currently enrolled in our program have obtained their undergraduate degree in an areas outside medicine, including pharmacy, biology, and chemistry. Such diversity has helped to create a unique academic environment in which students to can conduct frontline research through discussion and cooperation amongst their peers. We aim to significantly increase the number of students from overseas to further diversify our program.

Master's Program in Public Health

To work as a health care specialist for WHO or other United Nations institutions, a person must have a master’s degree in public health. The Master of Public Health Program prepares students for careers in public health research and education, public health policy and management, and safety control. Courses offered include epidemiology, biostatistics, health policy and management, environmental health, mental health, and social and behavioral sciences. With wide ranging faculty, a distinctive feature of the University of Tsukuba’s public health program is that students study with experts not only of public health but also of basic and clinical medicine and thus develop a comprehensive view.

Master's Program in Nursing Science

The Master's Program in Nursing Science is designed to train researchers who have an interdisciplinary and international viewpoint, and are able to approach nursing science with ethical integrity and based firmly in scientific evidence. In addition, the program is designed to train advanced nursing specialists and/or nursing educators with advanced knowledge and competencies, and practical expertise, technique, and skills.

International Joint Degree Master's Program in Agro-Biomedical Science in Food and Health

Today, there is a growing demand for human resources who can solve global problems related to food and health. Food and health are inseparable issues for our survival, as symbolized by the concept of “food and medicine have the same origin”, "food is medicine " or “eat well to be well”. So, integration of agricultural and medical sciences is a sound approach and creating an innovation through such sciences in the society is our responsibility. As part of the project to strengthen the functions of national universities, the University of Tsukuba has established an international and cross-disciplinary joint graduate degree program that integrates agricultural and medical sciences to foster highly skilled professionals who can solve global problems of food and health.

Medical and health care degrees (Doctoral Programs)

Doctoral Program in Medical Sciences

The Doctoral Program in Medical Sciences trains experts who can plan leading-edge research tasks in medical science and carry out such research plans independently on the basis of a wide-ranging interest and view in this field and high levels of communicative ability, international character, and ethical knowledge. The research themes in the program include basic life science to discover novel life phenomena and study their mechanisms, and research into the pathogenesis of intractable diseases, including cancer, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular diseases, dementia, neuropsychiatric diseases, sleep disorders, allergy, and autoimmune diseases. The aim of this program is to find better ways of preventing, diagnosing, and curing such diseases.

Doctoral Program in Nursing Science

The Doctoral Program in Nursing Science is designed to cultivate high-level nursing educators, nursing researchers, and/or advanced nursing professionals who can bridge practice and theory, with the ability to make the advancements in nursing science and praxis required for the next generation, and systematize education and research methodologies fundamental to the development of nursing practice and technology.

Interdisciplinary degree; Master's and doctoral programs

Master's/Doctoral Program in Neuroscience

The Neuroscience degree program started in April 2020 as a graduate school program of the international standard "Neuroscience". Today's neuroscience is more than just describing and understanding the structure and function of the brain. The research interests include elucidation of the mechanism of change of mind, development of diagnosis and treatment of diseases, and understanding of the principles of complex human relationships and the way society should be. Neuroscience research is now being carried out by integrating methodologies from various research fields. There are great expectations from society for neuroscience to solve future problems, and overseas universities and research institutes have already prepared neuroscience expert training courses and are producing a large number of human resources.

Doctoral Program in Human Care Science

Doctoral Program in Public Health

Doctoral Program of Human Care Science and Doctoral Program of Public Health at the Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences were launched in the 2020 academic year. The two doctoral programs are based on the Department of Human Care Sciences, which was established as an interdisciplinary science major in 2001.The major integrates disciplines related to human support and care, including education, psychology, physical education, health science, medicine, and nursing, and has conducted interdisciplinary education and research for 20 years, fostering human resources with research skills to solve diverse human problems. In 2017, in collaboration with the National Institute of Public Health of Japan, we launched the only doctoral (public health) program in a national university corporation, and have been fostering human resources with advanced cross-disciplinary expertise and research skills in public health. To date, more than 220 students have completed the program, many of whom are active as researchers and highly-skilled professionals at universities and research institutions.

Doctoral Program in Sports Medicine

The Doctoral Program in Sports Medicine aims at cultivating international researchers, highly skilled professionals, and university institute members who can train the above-mentioned professionals. Graduates will be able to contribute to the field of sports medicine based on the following perspectives.

  • ・To develop effective training programs for competitive athlete performance, disability prevention, and rehabilitation from a scientific perspective.
  • ・To promote health and prevent non-communicable diseases through exercise training or physical activity promotion utilizing a scientific point of view.

School of Integrative and Global Majors (SIGMA)

Doctoral Program in Human Biology

Human biology looks at the human being as a single unit of life on earth and in space. It seeks to understand the homeostasis and mechanisms of the human body in its place on the temporal axes of the global environment and biological evolution.

In the Ph.D. Program in Human Biology, students can
(1) Understand the essential principles of human biology
(2) Focus on DNA analysis to master the science and control of epigenetic molecules
(3) Develop strength of judgment and the ability to make breakthroughs and carry research through to completion, and to use these strengths to solve social issues

Ph.D. Program in Humanics

The Ph.D. Program in Humanics cultivates leaders equipped with doctoral-level knowledge and skills in the fields of both biomedical sciences and physical sciences/engineering/informatics, together with the scientific expertise to achieve integration of these fields and the capacity to apply them in wider society. The program aims thereby to address challenges to human life and health and enables the sustainable prosperity of all humankind. We will welcome students who have studied either biomedical sciences or physical sciences/engineering/informatics, and who are willing to study the other discipline and fuse them together. People who have worked as a physician or an engineer are also very welcome.

Doctoral Program in Empowerment Informatics*

Future societies are expected to demand engineering systems capable of improving quality of life in terms of safety, convenience, a sense of fulfillment, etc. To this end, this program establishes “Empowerment Informatics” as a new branch of informatics that supplements and extends human functions and enables technology to work in harmony with people.

Master's/Doctoral Program in Life Science Innovation (Disease Mechanism)

Master's/Doctoral Program in Life Science Innovation (Drug Discovery)

The Master's/Doctoral Program in Life Science Innovation academic program of University of Tsukuba (TLSI) offers talented students from around the world the opportunity to enhance their unique experiences in becoming catalysts for innovation in the society by introducing new ways of thinking. TLSI will provide great learning opportunities here and abroad, encouraging students’ interaction with leading world experts in its six specific fields of specialization – Disease Mechanism, Drug Discovery, Food Innovation, Environmental Management, Bioinfomatics, and Biomolecular Engineering.

Transition to degree program system

As of April 2020, the university has integrated eight graduate schools and 85 programs into three graduate schools and six degree programs. The degree programs are the umbrella organizations for 56 specific degree programs. The purpose of this renovation is to provide research supervision primarily by the full-time institute members of the relevant degree programs, covering a wide range of disciplines.