Disclaimer: machine translated by DeepL which may contain errors.
The 2025 Advisory Council of the Graduate School of Science and Faculty of Science was held
Shin-ichi Ohkoshi (Dean of the Graduate School of Science and the Faculty of Science* / Professor, Department of Chemistry)
* At the time of writing
Scenes from the Advisory Council Meeting
On Monday, February 9, 2026, the Graduate School of Science andFaculty of Science Advisory Council meeting, held on Monday, February 9, 2026, took a different approach from previous years. Participants gathered at Kaito-kan to tour the Japanese garden, a nationally designated cultural property (Scenic Spot), before visiting Building No. 2 of the Faculty of Science and the Tsuchimatsu Laboratory in the Department of Biological Sciences, where Professor Takashi Tsuchimatsu gave a presentation on cutting-edge research.After lunch, we moved to the conference room on the second floor of Faculty of Science Building No. 1, where we received advice from Advisory Committee Chair Shigeo Koyasu and members Yasuhiro Ie, Maki Kawai, Kimio Hanawa, and Hiroo Fukuda.After I reported on the Graduate School of Science’s initiatives over the past year, we held a discussion based on the following consultation items prepared in advance:
(1) We explained the plan to establish two new faculties—the Faculty of Deep Tech and the Faculty of Computing—as part of the application for the International University of Excellence in Research (a proposal to transfer undergraduate enrollment quotas from the Faculty of Science’s Department of Information Science [30 students] and Department of Mathematics [6 students] to these two new faculties)—and received advice and feedback.(2) Regarding internationalization, in addition to the Global Science Course (GSC)—an English-language program for third- and fourth-year undergraduates in the Department of Chemistry—and the Global Science Graduate Course for International Excellence (GSGC) for graduate students,we discussed English-language education in the second half of the undergraduate program through the Global Standard Science Education (GSSE) program, as well as the development and future expansion of the jointly supervised dual-degree Ph.D. program.(3) Regarding graduate school admissions, based on the long-term plan to increase the proportion of international graduate students to 40% in the future, we exchanged views on the structure of admissions for Japanese and international students, as well as on integrated master’s-to-doctoral admissions.(4) Regarding various overseas internship programs, we noted that the University of Tokyo Research Internship Program (UTRIP), in particular, received nearly 3,000 applications for 15 available spots, demonstrating the high level of interest among international students in The University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Science. We also discussed how to leverage this popularity to further the development of the Graduate School of Science and the School of Science.(5) Regarding the stagnant growth in the number of female undergraduate students—a trend that has persisted for 20 years—we reaffirmed this fact and held discussions on how to increase the number of female students.(6) With regard to future university management, which will require external funding and endowments, we discussed how the Graduate School of Science—which focuses primarily on the natural sciences and basic scientific research—can adapt while maintaining the high standards of scientific research. At the same time, we discussed the appropriate governance structure for the Corporate Sponsored Research Program and the Social Cooperation Program.(7) In light of the expansion of operations beyond education and research into a wide range of areas, we discussed how to address the shortage of resources—including faculty and administrative staff—across various sectors, with a particular focus on the effective use of AI in education and administrative management.
We received valuable opinions and ideas on each of these issues, which we intend to utilize in the future operations of the Graduate School of Science and the School of Science.
Appendix: List of Advisory Council Members (titles omitted)
Yasuhiro Ie Chancellor, Chubu University, Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees
Sachiko Okumura Professor, Faculty of Science, Japan Women’s University
Maki Kawai President, National Institutes of Natural Sciences
Shigeo Koyasu President, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology
Kimio Hanawa Specially Appointed Senior Researcher, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
Hiroo Fukuda President and Chancellor, Akita Prefectural University