Informal Guide >
[Admission Process],
[Course Description],
[Living Cost, Scholarship],
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Admission Process
The Physics Major Course of the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Science
runs two separate admission procedures, one for international students and
the other for domestic students. This page is about the admission process
for international students. (See the
official page for a fine print definition of who is counted
as an international / a domestic student.)
Pre-selection by prospective advisers and
Selection by the Physics Major Course
At the Physics Major Course, we ask graduate students here to choose
a thesis adviser already in the admission process. There is no choice
to decide whom to take as an adviser after entering the graduate school.
So, the first task in the admission process here is to visit web pages
of individual faculty members appointed at the Physics Major Course and
gather information. The official page of the Physics Major Course provides
a list of
those faculty members and the links to their web pages.
The official decision on which student to be admitted is made by the
Physics Major Course as a whole, where we set a common standard on
academic qualification, and also decide whom to be awarded scholarships.
Students need to submit a set of application materials including
GRE physics score, TOEFL score, essays (personal and scientific),
grades at the university, reference letters etc. etc., as indicated in the
official page.
Prior to this application to the Physics Major Course, however,
the applicants are supposed to contact prospective advisers and go
through a pre-selection process specified by them. Some
faculty members find passion on their experimental projects and/or
team spirit more important, while other faculty members
think that solid understanding of quantum mechanics and/or mathematics
more important. So, what is required in the pre-selection process will
vary from one faculty member to another. It is only after securing
an intention to be an adviser from one of our faculty members that
the applicant can go to the official application process of the
Physics Major Course.
Application Procedure and Scholarship Options
The application procedure at the Physics Major Course is closely linked
to scholarship options. So, here is a summary table.
| Courses |
enrollment |
number of places |
pre-selection |
applicat'n period |
selection notified |
scholarship |
| regular (Apr.) |
April next year |
can be many (*2) |
|
October |
late Dec. |
(*4) (*5) |
| Gov. scholarship (emb) (*1a) |
Apr./Oct. next yr |
(**1a) |
(*1a) |
July-August |
late Sept. |
140k JPY/mo |
| Gov. scholarship (unv) (*1a) |
Oct. next yr |
(**1a)
| (*1a) |
October |
late Dec. |
140k JPY/mo |
| GSGC (*1b) |
Oct. next year |
5 at Phys.Maj.Course |
see below |
Dec.-early Jan. next yr |
March next yr |
180k JPY/mo (*5) |
| regular (Oct.) |
Oct. next year |
can be many (*2) |
see below |
Dec.-early Jan. next yr |
March next yr |
(*4) (*5) |
The official page shows the precise date of the application
period; the dates written in the table above should be considered only
as an approximation.
Applicants need to submit the various documents (GRE score etc.)
to the Graduate School of Science during this period. Applicants also
need to clear the pre-selection process until then.
A quick summary: in the order of higher chance of admission,
regular course > GSGC, Gov. scholarship.
(*1a): Gov. scholarship (also known as MEXT fellowship,
Monbu-kagaku-sho fellowship and similar aliases) is a scholarship provided by
the Japanese government. One way to apply for this (emb) is
through an embassy or consulate of the Japanese government at cities
in the country/region of nationality of the individual applicants.
The selection process by those embassies/consulates can
be regarded as a pre-pre-selection before the pre-selection process by the
individual faculty members of the U. Tokyo Physics Major Course.
The other (unv) is to submit application documents to individual
Universities (such as the U. Tokyo) directly. The Ministry of Education runs
a post-selection after the Graduate School of Science chooses students
for the Government scholarships. Either way, the applicants need to pass
the three-stage selection process to get a Governement Scholarship
(so long as the U. Tokyo Graduate School of Science is concerned).
For more information, visit
the official page
(application process) by the Government, and
the official page provided by the Graduate school of Science,
the University of Tokyo.
(*1a) (emb) in main land China: apply to the Ministry of Education of
Chinese government, not to Japanese Government embasy/consulates in China;
those who enroll directly into master course are not eligible.
(emb) in Taiwan: apply to 日本台湾交流協会.
(**1a): Every year, a little more than 100 graduate students come to
the University of Tokyo, from natural science to humanity, under
the Government scholarship.
(*1b): GSGC stands for "global science graduate course."
It is a course set-up within the University of Tokyo. Visit the
GSGC official page
for more information.
(*1b): only those who intend to complete the full 5-year course are eligible.
(*1a, 1b): There is no essential difference in daily academic training,
whether you are under the Government scholarship, in the GSGC or in the
regular course. If you are under the Government scholarship, then the tax
payers of Japan wish you to get acquainted with Japanese culture and society
and to strengthen cultural tie between your home country and Japan
in the long run. (The Government scholarship encourages the
fellowship recepients to learn Japanese language; it even provides
a Japanese language half-year preparation school. For students joining
a laboratory where English is commonly used, however, it is not
a practical need in daily life to master Japanese language. Although one
might get an impression from random online resources that the language
prep-school is mandatory, that is due to the fact that the Government
scholarship program is not just for graduate students, but also for
a broad spectrum of cultural exchange programs. It is possible to opt
out the language prep-school. )
If you are in the GSGC, then the University of Tokyo appreciates that
you bring in diversity to the campus of the University of Tokyo. Apart from
that, there is not much difference, probably.
(*2): The Physics Major Course welcomes 100--120 new graduate students
every year through the two admission procedures; one is for international
students and the other for domestic students. There is no policy to set
an upper limit or a minimum quota for international students and/or
domestic students.
(*4,*5): If you enter the University of Tokyo graduate school in the
regular course, there is no guarantee for a scholarship at the time
you receive a notice of admission. There are a few chances after that, however,
to get a scholarship upon competition as described in the following.
(*4): Leading Graduate school Programs are run by the Japanese
Government. The Japanese government lists up a limited number of graduate
school departments that maintain high standard, and provide generous support
to them.
The Physics Major Course has been given this status from the beginning of
this program. Graduate students of the Physics Major Course can apply
for a Leading Graduate school Program (LGP) fellowship.
If an LGP fellow maintains reasonable level of performance, then the
scholarship of about 150k--200k JPY/mo is provided until the end of the
5th academic year after enrollment. There will be quanlifying exam
at the end of the master course.
(*5): JSPS fellowship is for graduate students in the 3rd--5th
academic year (= in the doctor course). JSPS (Japan Society for Promotion
of Science), which is an agency of the Ministry of Education, provides
scholarship of about 200k JPY/mo. Graduate students write application
documents in April, 1 year / 1.5 year after enrolling into the graduate course
in April/October.
(*4, *5): During the last few years, about a third of the graduate students
in the 2nd academic year are covered by the LGP fellowship at the
Physics Major Course of the University of Tokyo, averaged over all
the subfields in physics. About 60% of the graduate students in the 3rd
academic year are covered either by the LGP fellowship
or the JSPS fellowship.
This coverage rate, however, can be maintained in the future only if
the Physics Major Course continues to be counted within the limited number
of high-achievement departments eligible for the generous government
support (LGP). We are determined to maintain this status by high performance
in research and education.
For more information on scholarships, see
Living Costs, Dormitory, Scholarships.
Pre-selection
The pre-election process is run by individual faculty members appointed
at the Physics Major Course of the University of Tokyo Graduate School of
Science. Some of them may run a pre-selection process jointly.
A joint pre-selection scheme for the GSGC + regular (Oct.) course
by (particle theory faculty members) Hamaguchi, Hellerman, Hori, Ibe, Matsumoto, Melia, Moroi, Murayama, Tachikawa and Watari.
Any other joint pre-selection schemes in the Physics Major Course?