Policies

The conceptual goal

We pursue the following two goals through various activities.

1. Focusing on global environmental issues, we aim to contribute to policy making and to have better society in the way that we produce high quality scientific research outcomes. 

2. We aim to train students and young researchers to be able to lead the world where they can act as a great leader, no matter which field they will choose in the future. 

Educational policy

Our lab takes the consistent education system which postulates that students are going on to doctoral course. Our educational goal is to train them to be able to conduct researches independently after obtaining doctoral degree. To achieve this goal, we provide the trainings to students in stages, so that they can prepare for master’s and doctoral course researches step-by-step. This education system helps student to be able to acquire the data analysis skills and the logical thinking, even if they go to companies or government after getting master’s degree. 

Target achievement for doctoral students 

Given the situation where academic posts are really competitive in contemporary Japan (2018), perhaps world widely, the researchers who obtained doctoral degree are expected to hold the following abilities. “Having 1 to 2 papers published annually in journals of the corresponded field constantly” is the minimum fundamental. To achieve this target in our research field, the followings are the summarized requirements.

• Ability to collect the adequate knowledge of previous researches in the corresponded field, and summarize them systematically

• Ability to catch up with the latest research trends in the corresponded field

• Ability to conduct researches practically

• Ability to master the modeling tools or develop them

• Ability to have the knowledge of data analysis and master analyzing tools

• Ability to materialize the research results into papers

• Ability to have the counterarguments against the opinions which dissent from your research results or your findings.

Not only to survive as a researcher, also to be one of the most succeeded international researchers in the first 5 years after obtaining doctoral degree, the following abilities are encouraged to master with the parallel efforts to obtain the above-mentioned abilities.

• Ability to discuss on your research and advocate your assertions

• Ability to explain and earn understandings on what you are doing from people who are outside of your research field

• Ability to make smooth communications in English

• Ability to publish your paper on international top journals such as Nature and Science

I learned in a book that, in any fields, the effort putting your 10,000 hours in the first 3 years of your career is the critical turning point to determine your future possibilities as an independent. It means that you need to put approximately 12 hours per day in your research in case of taking weekends off. This is the minimum requirement and your devotion is expected. This requirement has tree meanings.

• The learning curves are something like the shape of logarithmic function which would mean that we can get larger understandings during an early phase of getting into new fields. This early phase is valuable and inputting more into yourself during this phase should lead the significant progress of various abilities. 

• After obtaining doctoral degree, the non-scientific, sometimes administrative, tasks can be added to your duties. It may limit the time you can devote for carrying out researches and the fundamental abilities which you gained during doctoral course can be the key basis to survive as a researcher. The new responsibilities may interfere to enjoy research purely. The days of doctoral student can be the first and the last chance to enjoy conducting your research.

• Excuses should be cleared of and the limit of your abilities and passions should be recognized by yourself. Knowing your limit, you may realize early on that you are not qualified to be the globally advanced researcher in your field. This is not the negative finding. Life is long and there are many choices for you.

Considering the current situations of researchers and academic fields, fulfilling certain conditions such as abilities and passions to conduct research is the requirement to proceed to doctoral course. In case your capacity of on-going research and your passions to research do not reach to the certain level, our lab would not accept you as a doctoral student. Oppositely, if we find you are qualified, you may be individually invited to continue to doctoral course. Nevertheless, this is your life and the choice is yours. 

Target achievement for B4 and master’s students

B4 and master’s course are considered as the periods to prepare for doctoral course. During these periods, you need to build the availability to conduct your original research. In process of writing your graduation thesis or master degree thesis, we train you to obtain the following abilities. 

• Logical thinking

• Skill to write logically

• Data processing skill on science, date analysis skill, and skill to elicit the results

• Understanding of simulation model and practice of experiments

It is highly encouraged to write an English paper before finishing master’s course. Your master’s degree thesis cannot usually get attentions and will be just stored in University’s library obscurely. However, if it is published as a paper complied by an international journal in English, it has a visibility to anyone in the worlds which can be the actual outcomes of creating new scientific knowledge. It would be recommended to make your studies achieve to that level. 

Besides research, we would like you to learn the following matters during your stay in our lab.

• Please learn how to act in groups or organizations. We would like you to grow in experience and to be knowledgeable.

• Since IT technology is currently making dynamic advance, we would like you to try the most latest IT tools.

Laboratory as an organization

In our society, there are many organizations exiting and a laboratory of University is one of them. An organization should be carried out by the people who belong there. It depends on the people how the organization grow and mature; greatly or poorly. Therefore, we would like you to act in consideration of the following matters. 

• Please be sure the role you can perform in our lab. And please play a constructive role actively to achieve our lab’s goal.

• Please be sure, as your grade advanced, your role will be changed.

• Please be sure your role would depend on which research group you belong to.

• You may be good at leading our research. Or you may be good at making nice communications. Please be sure your role would depend on your character. 

Each organization may have its history and our lab has its own too. The history can contain the things and knowledge from our forerunner or culture. We need to take them over and pass them to the next generations. Therefore, we would like you to practice as follows.

• Learn the good ideas and useful ways from our forerunner and adapt them into our activities. 

• Pass on our original know-how to the net generations. 

How to set your research theme

Your research theme is basically decided by staff members of our lab. Your wish and suitability should be considered, and we also consider the recent research trends. We will decide the outline of your research theme first. In the process, the final goal and the method will be decided to fit the progress of your research. Please be noted that there may be a big change in process of conducting your research. In case you conduct the research for your graduation thesis in our lab, your research for master degree thesis may follow it. But it is not necessarily the case and the theme can be changed. Same goes for the case of proceeding to doctoral course from master’s course. 

Case 1:  Joining our lab from B4  

Case 2:  Joining our lab from M1

Year of M2

Same as case 1

Case 3: Doctoral Course 

No definite schedule for the doctoral course.

Three international papers equivalent within tree years are required. It is also encouraged to submit to Japanese journals willingly.