Special Selection for International Applicants, Graduate School of Science (listed by the University of Tokyo as the Graduate School of Science "Graduate Program for International Students")

Programme overview

The Special Selection for International Applicants is the Graduate School of Science's English-language admission route for internationally educated applicants, run across all five of its graduate departments — Physics, Astronomy, Earth and Planetary Science, Chemistry and Biological Sciences. It is not a separate taught programme with its own curriculum: successful applicants join the regular two-year master's programme of one department, under a supervisor they must contact and secure consent from before applying, and the whole selection is conducted in English (the parallel general entrance examination is conducted in Japanese only). Selection is by evaluation of the online application, submitted documents and test scores — TOEFL is required (IELTS is not accepted) and GRE requirements differ by department — and some departments add an online oral or written examination. For the 2027 cycle there are four application periods: a July–August 2026 window for candidates who have already passed the Japanese Embassy preliminary selection for a MEXT scholarship, an October 2026 window for April 2027 or October 2027 entry (the only window from which the Graduate School of Science's University Recommended MEXT Scholarship can be applied for), and a December 2026 window for October 2027 entry. The University of Tokyo lists this route on its Graduate Degree Programs Offered in English page as the Graduate School of Science's "Graduate Program for International Students". Applicants may apply to this selection and to the Global Science Graduate Course (GSGC) for the same enrolment term, but must pay the application fee for each.

Applicants are admitted to one of the five graduate departments of the Graduate School of Science and to a specific supervisor's laboratory, whose consent must be obtained before applying. There is no separate international curriculum: students follow the regular two-year master's programme of their department, in which coursework is closely tied to laboratory research. "A master's degree will be conferred to those who have completed a two-year period of residence, studied the compulsory subjects, earned the required number of credits specified by each department, and passed the thesis review and final examinations under the requisite guidance of an academic supervisor." As a general rule the master's programme requires 30 or more credits, but "The number of necessary credits shall be determined by each department." Teaching, supervision and the selection itself are in English.

Important facts