Graduate Program on Environmental Sciences (GPES) — Masters Course

Programme overview

A two-year, entirely English-taught research Masters Course in environmental sciences run on the University of Tokyo's Komaba I campus by the Graduate Program on Environmental Sciences (GPES), part of Multidisciplinary Sciences in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and one of the two Graduate Programs in English at Komaba (GPEAK). GPES is the graduate extension of the PEAK undergraduate International Program on Environmental Sciences and is deliberately broad: students choose a specialisation across six published research areas — Environmental Principles; Management and Policy; Measurement and Evaluation; Materials Systems and Dynamics; Energy and Resources; and Health and Security / Urban Planning Technology — spanning natural and agricultural sciences, industrial technologies, and social sciences including economics and politics. The course is research-led: applicants must contact a potential supervising professor and obtain their approval before applying, and enrolled students take compulsory Special Masters Research Work alongside lecture courses. Thirteen M.S. places are offered, with two identical selection schedules each year: Schedule 1 (November application, September enrollment) and Schedule 2 (June–July application, April enrollment).

GPES belongs to Multidisciplinary Sciences within the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and is taught entirely in English at Komaba. Teaching and supervision are organised around six research areas, each with its own faculty list and lecture courses. Every student works under an academic advisor chosen before application from the published faculty list, and the advisor's approval is a precondition of applying. "Students not only work with researchers in the Department of Multi-Disciplinary Sciences, but under the cooperation of the University of Tokyo's various graduate schools and research institutes, are also able to research across a wide variety of fields while being affiliated with their respective laboratories." Teaching draws on both dedicated GPES faculty and the wider university: "Some of the classes will be taught by professors appointed specifically for this program, and who received their degrees overseas. In addition, as both programs are interdisciplinary and broad-based in scope, classes will also be offered by other faculty members from a wide range of departments across the University." Academic administration for GPES students is handled by the PEAK/GPEAK Section at counter no. 2 on the first floor of the Administration Building.

Important facts