Program Introduction
Hokkaido University was founded in 1876 as Sapporo Agricultural College, the first higher educational institution for agricultural sciences in Japan. Of all the faculties and graduate schools, the School of Agriculture is the oldest in the university’s history of more than 140 years. It was first established to meet the needs to open the island of Hokkaido as a new frontier. Since then, it has been the leading university in agricultural sciences and has produced many eminent persons.
The Graduate School of Agriculture encompasses academic fields that integrate the humanities and sciences, and is engaged in the interdisciplinary and integrated research on the foundations of human society. The development of human resources capable as acting as global-scale experts on problem-solving for food bio-security, resource management, bio-mass energy supply and environmental conservation, together with the sustainable development of agriculture, forestry and fishery industries at local scales, is our ultimate goal.
The Global Education Program for AgriScience for Frontiers started in April 2018. This special program is an evolved form of the Special Postgraduate Program in Bio-systems Sustainability (2007-2012), which was a successor program of Special Postgraduate Program in Agricultural Chemistry (1997-2006) and in Biosphere Sustainability Science (2013-2017). Our program has now more than 20-year history.
The program provides a unique combination of such study fields as food, health and environment to meet urgent needs in research and development of preservation and sustainable utilization of our limited resources on earth to ensure our quality of life in the future. Due to the nature of the program, we offer education and research guidance in English and welcome international students from all over the world.
Features of the Program
- All the lectures, research work, and thesis work will be conducted in English. Students will be expected to learn Japanese language gradually during their stay.
- Students will be expected to write a thesis based on research conducted during the course and submit this thesis to examiners in the special program in Biosphere Sustainability Science, Graduate School of Agriculture. A thesis has to be submitted to the examiners with their approval and an oral defense is also required.
- Duration: Master’s course- 2 years, Doctoral course- 3 years. Extension of the duration is not permitted without special circumstances.
- Study area: Applicants for any field related to the subjects for the program (LABORATORIES) will be accepted.
- Number of students to be admitted: The special postgraduate program is approved by
MEXT (the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and technology, Japan) as one of the International Priority Graduate Programs (Advanced Graduate Courses for International Students), and can recommend 5 students as candidates for the Scholarship by the Japanese Government (MEXT).
Apart from the above 5 Scholarship students under the special program recommendation, students supported by other Japanese Government Scholarship (University recommendation, Embassy Recommendation etc.) will be selected. Additional students on other sort of financial supports (including self-supported students) are also welcome.
Formation of the Graduate School of Agriculture
The Graduate School of Agriculture has four divisions; Division of Bio-systems Sustainability; Agrobiology; Applied Bioscience; and Environmental Resources. The students in the special Program belong to one of these divisions. The special program is not a division but a program based on these divisions.
・Organization Chart of the Graduate School of Agriculture
