Graduate Schools In Japan for Biology/Chemistry/Engineering

[omareduardo]

Hello everyone,
I'm a sophomore at MIT studying Chemical-Biological Engineering and I'm currently on the process of thinking about graduate school options. I would like to know what graduate schools in Japan have a good reputation for their programs in pure sciences and engineering. Also how competitive international admission is to these programs?

Thanks a lot for your help,
フェルナンデス

[omareduardo]

no one has a response?

well, for those of you interested in the subject I've only heard good things about Tokyo University and Kyoto Univerisity, so far.
I'll be meeting with an advisor from MIT to talk more about Universities in Japan and applications sometime later this week or next week and I'll let you know what they say!

フェルアンデス

[dat5h]

Hey there! I'm so ecstatic to hear someone ask a question about this. (big dork right here ) Actually I will be starting graduate school at 東京大学 in October. I think you should have a look at the MEM International Graduate Program. I applied to the program and have been nominated to receive the MEXT scholarship towards a Master's Degree (you need to go for the Master's before a PhD). If you have anymore questions about the application process or what not don't hesitate to discuss it here. I will be glad to help because I have send countless emails back and force to my adviser there and the admissions office.

Again, the program is the MEM International Graduate Program. MEM stands for "Mechanical, Electrical, and Materials" Engineering, but it's not just limited to those areas. Check it out:

http://www.mem.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/

[omareduardo]

Thanks a lot! I'm looking into the program now!
Congratulations on getting admitted into the program! I'll stay in contact as questions arise!

-Omar

[7daytrial]

Congrats!

How was the admission process?

Any minimum requirements?

Is there an oral/written examination?

Are all courses in English?

I'm looking to study in Japan and I've looked around, but it seems pretty hard to get in.

[dat5h]

I appreciate it, lets see if I can answer all of your questions.

How was the admission process?

The admissions process ... there's a lot of essays to write for the application, but they are very similar to the NSF GRFP application essays so I was used to it. Also, I would suggest you look at possible advisors as soon as possible and try to start communication with them to help make a decision. The perspective adviser will hopefully write you a letter of recommendation (required for the application) which I think is pretty amazing. Also, I did a lot of research on alternative scholarships, and sadly ... Americans can't apply for any of them until they have already been attending the school for about a year, but doing such research on your own may convince your perspective adviser that you are willing to go all the way. Students from other Asian countries have a better chance at getting alternative scholarships because there are a ton. Also, the admissions office is extremely professional and will reply to your emails withing 24 hours unless it is the weekend in Japan or a national holiday (incredible!).

Any minimum requirements?

I don't know about minimum requirements other than graduating with a BS or BA before you would start at the University of Tokyo. It probably looks good to have past research experience, but other experience is probably a plus. Perhaps teaching experience? This is something that you could email the admissions office about. I could be wrong, but asking them insightful questions will get your name to them. Graduate schools like to offer admission to people that will NOT decline an acceptance. Rejection hurts graduate schools.

Is there an oral/written examination?

Incredibly, your accepted application is considered equivalant to taking their qualification examination. So you get away without having to take it. If you can prove your abilities and desire to do research with them, you do not need to take the exam. Technically, I don't think any Japanese is required either; though, I bet it helps.

Are all courses in English?

Excellent question. I have spoken with my adviser several times and have concluded that sadly, this is not yet an attainable goal. For the first semester or two, this can be done, but there just aren't enough courses (in my department at least) for me to get away with this. That means I will eventually take classes in Japanese. However, I was told that some professors are nice enough to allow you to do homework and perhaps tests in English. This is probably a good thing though, because you will familiarize yourself with the Jargon of your field in Japanese, which will give you an edge after grad school.

I hope this helped. If you have any other questions for me, feel free to ask. Don't forget to read their "Prospectus" page because it details the entire application process. Also, don't be afraid to ask the admissions office questions, they are very nice people.

Cheers,
デレック

[7daytrial]

Thanks for the info!

You mentioned that only "some" professors will give you tests in english?

The tuition is not bad compared to other Japan Universities. How about housing/dorm?

[dat5h]

You mentioned that only "some" professors will give you tests in english?

Well, I said that because not all professors will have exceptional English. I have been told by my current adviser that Japan is the only country that you can be a successful researcher without knowing English. That might be why only certain professors are possible advisers according to MEM.

The tuition is not bad compared to other Japan Universities. How about housing/dorm?

Housing applications are actually filled out by the MEM staff, which is very nice of them. Also, I heard that most that housing is not gauranteed, but there are plenty of other housing options if you don't get into the dorms. You would, however, want to get in the dorms because they are incredibly inexpensive and have amazing rooms!
Check out the housing page:
http://gwp01.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/kouryu/stu ... EngIst.htm

Hope this helps,
デレック

[7daytrial]

Those 'are' inexpensive dorms.

Thanks for the info!

[dat5h]

工学を勉強する人々に、頑張って下さい！

デレック

[omareduardo]

Thanks a lot for all this information! It really makes me happy to be able to hear from someone who was already admitted to such a good institution as　東大。

ありがとうございました！
フェルナンデス

[dat5h]

As an update to anyone who might be interested, I just found out that I did not get placed in a dormitory. Do not worry, though, because I had a great deal of help from my laboratory who found me a ridiculously inexpensive apartment only 30 minutes from my lab by train. So if that is a fear of any science minded people headed to Japan, fear not.

As another update... I'm headed in 2 weeks and am freakin' out. But I digress

[Bob1]

omareduardo

Finding scholarship support is the hard part compared with the US. Even Japanese citizens must normally pay their own tuition and receive nothing for living expenses.

I head the Office of International Relations at the Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo (IMSUT for short). Medically related cross-disciplinary research is highly encouraged at our institute, so we have people with all sorts of backgrounds, including mathematics, agriculture, engineering, chemistry and social sciences, in addition to biology and medicine. As part of the University of Tokyo, admissions is a bit on the elite side, but if you're attending MIT and also studying Japanese, it sounds as if you can cut the mustard.

We do not have our own graduate school, because the graduate schools are administered by the University of Tokyo proper. The Medical Genome Science program is particularly closely associated with our institute, but each faculty member may be associated with multiple graduate schools within the University of Tokyo. Therefore, if the research of a specific laboratory excites you, the best approach is to contact the professor of interest, express you interest in his/her research, and ask which graduate school you should apply to.