Special Grant Program for International Students (October 2025)

Special Grant Program for International Students / Research Assistant Program of Graduate School of Environmental Science (October 2025)

This program will select students who can likely contribute internationally in their research field, from those applying to doctoral courses at the Graduate School of Environmental Science.
Participating in research as a Research Assistant (RA) is very meaningful to develop your research ability. Each Research Assistant must serve to achieve the objective of a research subject directed by a Graduate School of Environmental Science faculty member. The research subjects are listed below.

Period

Maximum 3 years, with the annual extension subject to evaluation of achievements by a faculty committee.

Qualifications of application (Eligibility):

Students (mainly from developing countries) who seek admission to the doctor courses of the Graduate School of Environmental Science.
〈Notes〉
If the students of this Special Grant Program are also selected as recipients of the doctoral fellowships, they must choose one of them and decline the others.

Payment Exemption / RA Allowance:

Payment Exemption: Total amount of school fees is entirely covered by Hokkaido University (i.e., entrance exam fee of 30,000 yen, admission fee of 282,000 yen, and the annual tuition fee of 535,800 yen for each of three years). RA Allowance (depending on the actual working time): Total 3 million yen (1 million yen annually for three years)
The applicant should meet travel expenses for the entrance exam.

Application Deadline

16 June (Monday)  2025

Application for the program:

Applicants are required to submit the documents listed below via email. The documents should not be written in a language other than English.

1. Curriculum vitae with the applicant’s photograph
2. Academic transcripts
3. Graduation certificate
4. A list of publications and presentations in scientific meetings
5. A research proposal
6. Direction and comments of potential supervisor and at least one co-supervisor, including proofs of communication between you and the potential supervisors
7. Master’s thesis or other documents in proof of your research ability

Reference and address to apply

Academic Affairs Section
Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University
E-mail: kyomu (at) ees.hokudai.ac.jp

List of possible research subjects (October 2025)

Title:  Multi-Sensor Geospatial Data for Enhanced Environmental Monitoring and Disaster Impact Assessment
Associate Professor: Ram Avtar

The increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters globally-such as typhoons, landslides, and forest fires-are significantly disrupting terrestrial ecosystems. Effective monitoring and timely assessment of these disturbances are critical for mitigating their impacts and supporting ecosystem resilience. Advancements in multi-sensor remote sensing technologies offer powerful tools for tracking changes in forest cover, detecting deforestation and degradation, and evaluating post-disaster ecosystem recovery. Integration with ground-based observations and advanced machine learning algorithms, these geospatial data sources can provide precise and actionable insights for environmental management. This study aims to use multi-sensor geospatial and in-situ data, to develop a comprehensive framework for monitoring terrestrial ecosystems. Special emphasis is placed on contributing to the development of early warning systems to manage disaster impacts. The ideal candidate should possess strong expertise in geospatial technologies, remote sensing, and environmental data analysis, with the ability to contribute meaningfully to cutting-edge research in ecosystem monitoring and disaster risk reduction.

Special Grant Program for International Students (October 2024)

Special Grant Program for International Students / Research Assistant Program of Graduate School of Environmental Science (October 2024)

This program will select students who can likely contribute internationally in their research field, from those applying to doctoral courses at the Graduate School of Environmental Science.
Participating in research as a Research Assistant (RA) is very meaningful to develop your research ability. Each Research Assistant must serve to achieve the objective of a research subject directed by a Graduate School of Environmental Science faculty member. The research subjects are listed below.

Period

Maximum 3 years, with the annual extension subject to evaluation of achievements by a faculty committee.

Qualifications of application (Eligibility):

Students (mainly from developing countries) who seek admission to the doctor courses of the Graduate School of Environmental Science.
〈Notes〉
If the students of this Special Grant Program are also selected as recipients of the doctoral fellowships, they must choose one of them and decline the others.

Payment Exemption / RA Allowance:

Payment Exemption: Total amount of school fees is entirely covered by Hokkaido University (i.e., entrance exam fee of 30,000 yen, admission fee of 282,000 yen, and the annual tuition fee of 535,800 yen for each of three years). RA Allowance (depending on the actual working time): Total 3 million yen (1 million yen annually for three years)
The applicant should meet travel expenses for the entrance exam.

Application Deadline

17 June (Monday) 2024

Application for the program:

Applicants are required to submit the documents listed below via email. The documents should not be written in a language other than English.

1. Curriculum vitae with the applicant’s photograph
2. Academic transcripts
3. Graduation certificate
4. A list of publications and presentations in scientific meetings
5. A research proposal
6. Direction and comments of potential supervisor and at least one co-supervisor, including proofs of communication between you and the potential supervisors
7. Master’s thesis or other documents in proof of your research ability

Reference and address to apply

Academic Affairs Section
Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University
E-mail: kyomu (at) ees.hokudai.ac.jp

List of possible research subjects (Ocotober 2024)

Title: Biologically active compounds from cyanobacteria
Professor: Tatsufumi Okino

Cyanobacteria are rich sources of secondary metabolites. We aim at isolation, structure elucidation, biological activity evaluation, and biosynthesis of cyanobacterial metabolites. We are especially interested in secondary metabolites that could be synthesized by silent genes and are seeking a new method to express silent genes of biosynthetic enzymes.

Title: Development of Protein-conjugated Nanomaterials
Professor: Akira Onoda

Protein immobilization onto nanomaterials involves challenges for the application in immunoassay, other diagnostic tools, and others. Developing knowledge and methodologies for specific and oriented immobilization of proteins is critically important for the generation of protein-conjugated nanomaterials enabling high-performance immunoassay. The purpose of this research is to develop novel methodology for protein-conjugated nanomaterials. A successful candidate is expected have a Masters Degree in Chemistry or Biotechnology at the time of joining and he/she is required to have the knowledge and experience of organic synthesis, nanomaterials synthesis, and preparation of protein-conjugated nanomaterials.

Title: Comprehensive characterization of heterogeneous catalyst surface during liquid-phase reactions using in-situ/operando FTIR measurement 
Professor: Kiyotaka Nakajima

To reveal structure-activity relationship quantitatively using advanced spectroscopic techniques is of great importance for understanding catalytic reaction at the molecular level and gaining the idea to improve the activity of heterogeneous catalyst. This program focuses on understanding reaction phenomena at the molecular level in the liquid-phase reaction with heterogeneous catalyst. The behavior of catalytically active site during liquid-phase reaction, including the interaction of active site with substrate, intermediate, and solvent molecule(s), is comprehensively evaluated using in-situ/operando FTIR measurement.

Title: Heterogeneous catalysts for the valorization of biomass-derived carbohydrates
Professor: Kiyotaka Nakajima

Building a sustainable society requires a different paradigm using renewable carbon resources such as non-edible biomass and CO2 to produce fuels and platform chemicals in future chemical industries. Our vision is to design catalytic reactions using new heterogeneous catalysts and lignocellulose-derived hydrocarbons, in which scalable production of platform chemicals can be accomplished while minimizing environmental load and energy consumption in work-up processes. This program aims at developing new conversion technologies that convert biomass-derived carbohydrates to terephthalate or terephthalic acid with heterogeneous catalysts.

Special Grant Program for International Students (April 2024)

Special Grant Program for International Students / Research Assistant Program of Graduate School of Environmental Science (April 2024)

This program will select students who can likely contribute internationally in their research field, from those applying to doctoral courses at the Graduate School of Environmental Science.
Participating in research as a Research Assistant (RA) is very meaningful to develop your research ability. Each Research Assistant must serve to achieve the objective of a research subject directed by a Graduate School of Environmental Science faculty member. The research subjects are listed below.

Period

Maximum 3 years, with the annual extension subject to evaluation of achievements by a faculty committee.

Qualifications of application (Eligibility):

Students (mainly from developing countries) who seek admission to the doctor courses of the Graduate School of Environmental Science.
〈Notes〉
If the students of this Special Grant Program are also selected as recipients of the “DX Doctoral Fellowship”, “Hokkaido University Ambitious Doctoral Fellowship,” or similar doctoral fellowships, they must choose one of them and decline the others.

Payment Exemption / RA Allowance:

Payment Exemption: Total amount of school fees is entirely covered by Hokkaido University (i.e., entrance exam fee of 30,000 yen, admission fee of 282,000 yen, and the annual tuition fee of 535,800 yen for each of three years). RA Allowance (depending on the actual working time): Total 3 million yen (1 million yen annually for three years)
The applicant should meet travel expenses for the entrance exam.

Application Deadline

15 December (Friday) 2023

Application for the program:

Applicants are required to submit the documents listed below via email. The documents should not be written in a language other than English.

1. Curriculum vitae with the applicant’s photograph
2. Academic transcripts
3. Graduation certificate
4. A list of publications and presentations in scientific meetings
5. A research proposal
6. Direction and comments of potential supervisor and at least one co-supervisor, including proofs of communication between you and the potential supervisors
7. Master’s thesis or other documents in proof of your research ability

Reference and address to apply

Academic Affairs Section
Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University
E-mail: kyomu (at) ees.hokudai.ac.jp

List of possible research subjects (April 2024)

Title: Development of Photoresponsive Porous Materials toward Environmental Remediation
Professor: Shin-ichiro Noro

Removal of contaminants from air and water is essential for human survival and its availability is vital for building a sustainable society. Adsorptive removal of contaminants by porous materials is one of the promising methods. Porous materials may be available for versatile applications if external stimuli can change adsorption properties. This research aims to develop photoresponsive porous materials that change porous properties by a light stimulus toward environmental remediation. A successful candidate is expected to have a Master’s Degree in Environmental Science at the time of joining, and he/she is required to have knowledge of synthetic chemistry, porous materials, and fundamentals of adsorption/desorption.

Title: Secondary metabolites from symbionts of shipworms
Professor: Tatsufumi Okino

Symbionts of shipworms attract attentions as a promising source of new bioactive compounds. This program deals with chemical diversity of shipworm symbionts. Secondary metabolites will be isolated from cultured symbionts. Bioactivity and biosynthesis of these compounds will be also investigated. This program aims to understand function of bioactive compounds in shipworm symbionts.

Title: Molecular mechanisms underlying responses to mineral nutrient stresses in plants
Associate Professor: Kyoko Miwa

Sustainable agricultural production is one big challenge for sustainable society in the world. For this purpose, it is crucial to improve plant productivities in unfertile soils with low input. Development of crop cultivars tolerant to environmental stresses is one of the most effective strategies. This study aims to identify the key genes required for tolerance to mineral nutrient stresses and reveal the molecular mechanisms by molecular genetics with a model plant. Successful candidates are required to have knowledge on genetics and basic experimental skills for molecular biology.

Title: Controlled self-organization of small molecules directed for smart nanomaterials 
Professor: Katsuaki Konishi

Self-organization is a general phenomenon ubiquitously found in nature, and has attracted attention as a key-technology in the bottom-up design of environmentally benign smart materials from well-defined molecular precursors. This project utilizes atomically precise molecules as fundamental components, and explores novel functional self-organized assemblies for the development of smart materials that show unique optical, adsorption and catalysis properties. A successful candidate is expected to have a Master’s Degree in Environmental Science at the time of joining and he/she is expected to have sufficient knowledge of synthetic organic/inorganic chemistry, optical spectroscopy and microscopic techniques.

Special Grant Program for International Students (October 2023)

Special Grant Program for International Students / Research Assistant Program of Graduate School of Environmental Science (October 2023)

This program will select students who can likely contribute internationally in their research field, from those applying to doctoral courses at the Graduate School of Environmental Science.
Participating in research as a Research Assistant (RA) is very meaningful to develop your research ability. Each Research Assistant must serve to achieve the objective of a research subject directed by a Graduate School of Environmental Science faculty member. The research subjects are listed below.

Period

Maximum 3 years, with the annual extension subject to evaluation of achievements by a faculty committee.

Qualifications of application (Eligibility):

Students (mainly from developing countries) who seek admission to the doctor courses of the Graduate School of Environmental Science.
〈Notes〉
If the students of this Special Grant Program are also selected as recipients of the “DX Doctoral Fellowship”, “Hokkaido University Ambitious Doctoral Fellowship,” or similar doctoral fellowships, they must choose one of them and decline the others.

Payment Exemption / RA Allowance:

Payment Exemption: Total amount of school fees is entirely covered by Hokkaido University (i.e., entrance exam fee of 30,000 yen, admission fee of 282,000 yen, and the annual tuition fee of 535,800 yen for each of three years). RA Allowance (depending on the actual working time): Total 3 million yen (1 million yen annually for three years)
The applicant should meet travel expenses for the entrance exam .

Application Deadline

19 June (Monday) 2023

Application for the program:

Applicants are required to submit the documents listed below via email. The documents should not be written in a language other than English.

1. Curriculum vitae with the applicant’s photograph
2. Academic transcripts
3. Graduation certificate
4. A list of publications and presentations in scientific meetings
5. A research proposal
6. Direction and comments of potential supervisor and at least one co-supervisor, including proofs of communication between you and the potential supervisors
7. Master’s thesis or other documents in proof of your research ability

Reference and address to apply

Academic Affairs Section
Graduate School of Environmental Science
Hokkaido University
E-mail: kyomu (at) ees.hokudai.ac.jp

List of possible research subjects (October 2023)

Title: Removal of Anionic Contaminants in Water Using Porous Materials
Professor: Shin-ichiro Noro

Pure water is essential for human survival and its availability is vital for building a sustainable society. Effective use of groundwater is key to ensuring pure water, but groundwater contamination by anions (nitrate, perchlorate, and so on) has recently become apparent in many parts of the world. The purpose of this research is to develop porous materials showing efficient removal of anionic contaminants in water and understand a removal mechanism. A successful candidate is expected to have a Master’s Degree in Environmental Science at the time of joining and he/she is required to have knowledge of synthetic chemistry, porous materials, and fundamentals of adsorption/desorption.

Title: Developing stable heterojunction semiconductors for electron and energy harvesting
Professor: Vasudevan Pillai Biju

Energy-efficient device technologies are necessary for sustainable socio-economical development. Heterojunction semiconductors for solar energy harvesting, light emitting devices, optical detectors, quantum computing, and information storage and processing have been continuously sought to design such next-generation devices. The challenging aspect of this research is the stability of donor-acceptor heterojunctions. This research aims to develop stable electron and energy donor-acceptor heterojunction semiconductors. A successful candidate is expected to have a Master’s Degree in Chemistry when joining. Also, the candidate is required to know inorganic chemistry, materials science, surface chemistry, and fluorescence spectroscopy.

Special Grant Program for International Students (April 2023)

Special Grant Program for International Students / Research Assistant Program of Graduate School of Environmental Science (April 2023)

This program will select students, who can likely contribute internationally in their research field, from those students applying to doctoral courses of Graduate School of Environmental Science.

It is very meaningful to participate in research as a Research Assistant (RA) for the development of your research ability. Each Research Assistant must serve to achieve the objective of a research subject directed by a faculty member of the Graduate School of Environmental Science. The research subjects are listed below.

Period

Maximum 3 years since the first year although the achievement of the objective must be evaluated each year by the committee of the faculty.

Qualifications of application (Eligibility):

Students (mainly from developing countries) who are going to seek admission to the doctor courses of Graduate School of Environmental Science.

〈Notes〉

If the students of this Special Grant Program are also selected as recipients for “DX Doctoral Fellowship”, “Hokkaido University Ambitious Doctoral Fellowship”, or similar doctoral fellowships, they shall choose one of them and decline the others.

Payment Exemption / RA Allowance:

Payment Exemption: Total amount of school fees are entirely covered by Hokkaido University (i.e., entrance exam fee of 30,000 yen, admission fee of 282,000 yen, and annual tuition fee of 535,800 yen for each of three years). RA Allowance (depending on the actual working time): Total: 3 million yen (1 million yen for each of three years)
Travel expenses of entrance exam should be paid by applicant.

Application Period

Until December 12 Monday, 2022

Application for the program:

Applicants are required to submit the documents listed below. The documents should not be written in a language other than English.

1. Curriculum vitae with the applicant’s photograph
2. Academic transcript
3. Graduation certificate
4. List of publications and presentations in scientific meetings
5. Research proposal
6. Direction and comments of potential supervisor and at least one co-supervisor, including proofs of communication between you and the potential supervisors
7. Master’s thesis or other documents in proof of your research ability

Reference and address to apply

Kyoumu-Tantou
Graduate School of Environmental Science
Hokkaido University
Kita 10, Nishi 5, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0810 Japan
E-mail: kyomu (at) ees.hokudai.ac.jp

List of possible research subjects (2023)

Title: Recovering High Value Bioproducts for Sustainable Fishery by Chemical and Biotechnological Applications

Professor: Akira Onoda

Addressing sustainability involves challenges in productive and efficient use of bioproducts from marine raw materials and processing byproducts. Developing knowledge and methodologies for understanding and transforming marine fishing byproducts is critically important for the generation of bioproducts of interest for high value or high technology applications. The purpose of this research is to develop novel value-added marine bioproducts and their applications as a collaboration project with Universidad de La Serena in Chile. A successful candidate is expected have a Masters Degree in Chemistry or Biotechnology at the time of joining and he/she is required to have the knowledge of Synthetic Polymer Chemistry, Biomaterials, and Materials Science.

Title: Heterogeneous catalysts for the valorization of biomass-derived carbohydrates

Professor: Kiyotaka Nakajima

Building a sustainable society requires a different paradigm using renewable carbon resources such as non-edible biomass and CO2 to produce fuels and platform chemicals in future chemical industries. Our vision is to design catalytic reactions using new heterogeneous catalysts and lignocellulose-derived hydrocarbons, in which scalable production of platform chemicals can be accomplished while minimizing environmental load and energy consumption in work-up processes. This program aims at developing new technologies that convert biomass-derived carbohydrates to platform molecules used for the production of commodity chemicals.

Special Grant Program for International Students (October 2022)

Special Grant Program for International Students / Research Assistant Program of Graduate School of Environmental Science (October 2022)

This program will select students, who can likely contribute internationally in their research field, from those students applying to doctoral courses of Graduate School of Environmental Science.

It is very meaningful to participate in research as a Research Assistant (RA) for the development of your research ability. Each Research Assistant must serve to achieve the objective of a research subject directed by a faculty member of the Graduate School of Environmental Science. The research subjects are listed below.

Period

Maximum 3 years since the first year although the achievement of the objective must be evaluated each year by the committee of the faculty.

Qualifications of application (Eligibility):

Students (mainly from developing countries) who are going to seek admission to the doctor courses of Graduate School of Environmental Science.

〈Notes〉

If the students of this Special Grant Program are also selected as recipients for “DX Doctoral Fellowship”, “Hokkaido University Ambitious Doctoral Fellowship”, or similar doctoral fellowships, they shall choose one of them and decline the others.

Payment Exemption / RA Allowance:

Payment Exemption: Total amount of school fees are entirely covered by Hokkaido University (i.e., entrance exam fee of 30,000 yen, admission fee of 282,000 yen, and annual tuition fee of 535,800 yen for each of three years). RA Allowance (depending on the actual working time): Total: 3 million yen (1 million yen for each of three years)
Travel expenses of entrance exam should be paid by applicant.

Application Period

Until June 13 Monday, 2022

Application for the program:

Applicants are required to submit the documents listed below. The documents should not be written in a language other than English.

1. Curriculum vitae with the applicant's photograph
2. Academic transcript
3. Graduation certificate
4. List of publications and presentations in scientific meetings
5. Research proposal
6. Direction and comments of potential supervisor and at least one co-supervisor, including proofs of communication between you and the potential supervisors
7. Master's thesis or other documents in proof of your research ability

Reference and address to apply

Kyoumu-Tantou
Graduate School of Environmental Science
Hokkaido University
Kita 10, Nishi 5, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0810 Japan
E-mail: kyomu (at) ees.hokudai.ac.jp

List of possible research subjects (2022)

Title: Paleoclimate study of tropical hydroclimate over the past three million years

Professor: Masanobu Yamamoto
This program deals with the long-term tropical climate variability over the past three million years, controlled by the Milankovitch cycle of insolation, global ice volume, greenhouse gas concentration, sea level, land-sea configuration, and deep-ocean circulation. The paleoclimate records will be generated by analyzing biomarkers, their isotopes, and foraminifera isotopes for sediment samples obtained by ocean drilling. This program aims to understand the forcing and feedback mechanisms of tropical hydroclimate.

Special Grant Program for International Students (April 2022)

Special Grant Program for International Students / Research Assistant Program of Graduate School of Environmental Science (April 2022)

This program will select students, who can likely contribute internationally in their research field, from those students applying to doctoral courses of Graduate School of Environmental Science.

It is very meaningful to participate in research as a Research Assistant (RA) for the development of your research ability. Each Research Assistant must serve to achieve the objective of a research subject directed by a faculty member of the Graduate School of Environmental Science. The research subjects are listed below.

Period

Maximum 3 years since the first year although the achievement of the objective must be evaluated each year by the committee of the faculty.

Qualifications of application (Eligibility):

Students (mainly from developing countries) who are going to seek admission to the doctor courses of Graduate School of Environmental Science.

Payment Exemption / RA Allowance:

Payment Exemption: Total amount of school fees are entirely covered by Hokkaido University (i.e., entrance exam fee of 30,000 yen, admission fee of 282,000 yen, and annual tuition fee of 535,800 yen for each of three years). RA Allowance (depending on the actual working time): Total: 3 million yen (1 million yen for each of three years)
Travel expenses of entrance exam should be paid by applicant.

Application Period

Until December 13 Monday, 2021

Application for the program:

Applicants are required to submit the documents listed below. The documents should not be written in a language other than English.

1. Curriculum vitae with the applicant's photograph
2. Academic transcript
3. Graduation certificate
4. List of publications and presentations in scientific meetings
5. Research proposal
6. Direction and comments of potential supervisor and at least one co-supervisor, including proofs of communication between you and the potential supervisors
7. Master's thesis or other documents in proof of your research ability

Reference and address to apply

Kyoumu-Tantou
Graduate School of Environmental Science
Hokkaido University
Kita 10, Nishi 5, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0810 Japan
E-mail: kyomu (at) ees.hokudai.ac.jp

List of possible research subjects (2022)

Title: Applications of InSAR and PolInSAR techniques to monitor forests biophysical parameters

Associate Professor: Ram Avtar

Forest cover almost one third of the earth’s surface and are recognized to have an impact on the global climate. Deforestation and forest degradation is one of the major causes of increase of greenhouse gases. Forests biophysical parameters (viz. height, structure, density and biomass) are essential for sustainable management. However, in-situ measurement of biophysical parameters are time and labour extensive. Therefore, the goal of the proposed research is to use advanced InSAR and PolInSAR techniques to monitor forests biophysical parameters. Successful candidate is required to have knowledge of geospatial data and tools to engage in relevant research.

 

Title: Impact of freshwater discharge along the Eurasian and North American continental margins on the ocean circulation in the North Pacific: present and past

Professor: Humio Mitsudera

This program deals with the meridional overturning in the North Pacific Ocean, which is controlled by Dense Shelf Water (DSW) formation in the Sea of Okhotsk. DSW entrains a lot of materials, such as dissolved oxygen, CO2 and iron, and carries them to the North Pacific through the intermediate layer of the ocean. The overturning intensity due to the DSW formation is determined by salinity along the northern coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. One of controlling factors is surface salinity anomaly originating in the North Pacific Ocean, which propagates into the Sea of Okhotsk via the Kuril Straits. Here, we propose to investigate the effects of freshwater discharges from the Eurasian and North American continents on the overturning circulation in the North Pacific. The riverine freshwater causes salinity anomaly along the continental margins, reaches the region of the DSW formation, and controls the overturning circulation efficiently. We pay attention not only to the effects of the freshwater discharge in the present days but also to those in the Last Glacier Maximum, during which rapid ice sheet discharge occurred around the Gulf of Alaska preceding the Heinrich events.

 

Title: Development of Photonic Superlattices of Semiconductor Quantum
Dots

Professor: Vasudevan Pillai Biju

Novel semiconductor materials are necessary for next-generation energy
efficient optoelectronic and photovoltaic applications. Such materials
should be environment friendly and cost-effective. Also, characteristics
such as efficient absorption of light, low exciton binding energy,
minimal nonradiative carrier recombination, and defect-free structures
are some of the pre-requisites of high quality semiconductors for
optical and photovoltaic applications. Superlattices of such quantum
dots offer many-fold opportunities to develop energy efficient photonic
and photovoltaic devices. The purpose of this research is to develop
novel non-toxic and low bandgap semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) and
preparation of their superlattices for efficient utilization and
harvesting of energy. A successful candidate is expected have a Masters
Degree in Chemistry at the time of joining and he/she is required to
have the knowledge of wet chemical reactions, and fundamentals of
electronic spectroscopy.

 

Special Grant Program for International Students (October 2021)

Special Grant Program for International Students / Research Assistant Program of Graduate School of Environmental Science (October 2021)

This program will select students, who can likely contribute internationally in their research field, from those students applying to doctoral courses of Graduate School of Environmental Science.

It is very meaningful to participate in research as a Research Assistant (RA) for the development of your research ability. Each Research Assistant must serve to achieve the objective of a research subject directed by a faculty member of the Graduate School of Environmental Science. The research subjects are listed below.

Period

Maximum 3 years since the first year although the achievement of the objective must be evaluated each year by the committee of the faculty.

Qualifications of application (Eligibility):

Students (mainly from developing countries) who are going to seek admission to the doctor courses of Graduate School of Environmental Science.

Payment Exemption / RA Allowance:

Payment Exemption: Total amount of school fees are entirely covered by Hokkaido University (i.e., entrance exam fee of 30,000 yen, admission fee of 282,000 yen, and annual tuition fee of 535,800 yen for each of three years). RA Allowance (depending on the actual working time): Total: 3 million yen (1 million yen for each of three years)
Travel expenses of entrance exam should be paid by applicant.

Application Period

Until June 21 Monday, 2021

Application for the program:

Applicants are required to submit the documents listed below. The documents should not be written in a language other than English.

1. Curriculum vitae with the applicant's photograph
2. Academic transcript
3. Graduation certificate
4. List of publications and presentations in scientific meetings
5. Research proposal
6. Direction and comments of potential supervisor and at least one co-supervisor, including proofs of communication between you and the potential supervisors
7. Master's thesis or other documents in proof of your research ability

Reference and address to apply

Kyoumu-Tantou
Graduate School of Environmental Science
Hokkaido University
Kita 10, Nishi 5, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0810 Japan
E-mail: kyomu (at) ees.hokudai.ac.jp

List of possible research subjects (2021)

Title: Monitoring forest cover change due to typhoon/landslides using Geospatial data

Assistant Professor: Ram Avtar

Globally, the number of disasters are increasing dramatically. The main cause of this increase is the high frequency of extreme weather events. Typhoon and landslides are one of the catastrophic hazards affecting forest ecosystem. The impact of these hazards can be minimized using various management approaches. Geospatial data have a potential to monitor and assess forest damage and recovery after these hazards. The aim of this study is to apply geospatial and ground-based information to monitor forest cover changes. Successful candidate is required to have knowledge of geospatial data and tools to engage in relevant research.

 

Special Grant Program for International Students (October 2019)

Special Grant Program for International Students / Research Assistant Program of Graduate School of Environmental Science (October 2019)

This program will select students, who can likely contribute internationally in their research field, from those students applying to doctoral courses of Graduate School of Environmental Science.

It is very meaningful to participate in research as a Research Assistant (RA) for the development of your research ability. Each Research Assistant must serve to achieve the objective of a research subject directed by a faculty member of the Graduate School of Environmental Science. The research subjects are listed below.

Period

Maximum 3 years since the first year although the achievement of the objective must be evaluated each year by the committee of the faculty.

Qualifications of application (Eligibility):

Students (mainly from developing countries) who are going to seek admission to the doctor courses of Graduate School of Environmental Science.

Payment Exemption / RA Allowance:

Payment Exemption: Total amount of school fees are entirely covered by Hokkaido University (i.e., entrance exam fee of 30,000 yen, admission fee of 282,000 yen, and annual tuition fee of 535,800 yen for each of three years). RA Allowance (depending on the actual working time): Total: 3 million yen (1 million yen for each of three years)
Travel expenses of entrance exam should be paid by applicant.

Application Period

Until June 21 Friday, 2019

Application for the program:

Applicants are required to submit the documents listed below. The documents should not be written in a language other than English.

1. Curriculum vitae with the applicant's photograph
2. Academic transcript
3. Graduation certificate
4. List of publications and presentations in scientific meetings
5. Research proposal
6. Direction and comments of potential supervisor and at least one co-supervisor, including proofs of communication between you and the potential supervisors
7. Master's thesis or other documents in proof of your research ability

Reference and address to apply

Kyoumu-Tantou
Graduate School of Environmental Science
Hokkaido University
Kita 10, Nishi 5, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0810 Japan
E-mail: kyomu (at) ees.hokudai.ac.jp

List of possible research subjects (2019)

Title: Biologically active compounds from cyanobacteria

Professor: Tatsufumi Okino

 

Cyanobacteria are rich source of secondary metabolites. We aim at isolation, structure elucidation, biological activity evaluation and biosynthesis of cyanobacterial metabolites. Especially we are interested in secondary metabolites which could be synthesized by silent genes. We are seeking for a new method to express silent genes of biosynthetic enzymes.

 

Title: Development of novel synthetic methodology toward total synthesis of natural product

Associate Professor: Taiki Umezawa

 

Natural products including halogen atoms are often found in land and marine organisms, and have unique biological activities. Supply of these natural products is required toward further biological studies for human health and environmental material because of trace amount from the natural sources. To synthesize the halogen-containing compounds, effective synthetic methodologies, especially for halohydrin functionality, are limited. Prior to the synthesis of the natural product, the development of new method for the halohydrin functionality has been planned.

 

Title: Preparation of heterojunction nanomaterials and their applications to light amplification and chemical reactions

Professor: Biju Vasudevan Pillai

 

Environmental pollution and global warming by greenhouse gases and other chemicals released by certain industries and automobiles are serious problems facing humanity. These problems are directly related to our ever-increasing energy needs. Therefore, the construction of systems that efficiently produce green and clean energy is an important challenge in science and technology today. Aim of this project is to develop novel metal-semiconductor hybrid nanomaterials for the control of photogenerated charge carriers and excitons and carrying out energy efficient chemical reactions. Such nanomaterials are expected to become primary components of solar energy harvesting and conversion systems. Successful candidates should have sound knowledge on materials chemistry, physical chemistry and electronic spectroscopy.

 

Title: Preparation of defect-free semiconductor nanomaterials with efficient and stable photoluminescence

Professor: Biju Vasudevan Pillai

 

Environmental pollution and global warming by greenhouse gases and other chemicals released by certain industries and automobiles are serious problems facing humanity. These problems are directly related to our ever-increasing energy needs. Therefore, the construction of energy efficient devices such as LEDs and solar cells is an important challenge in basic science and industry. Aim of this project is to develop novel luminescent semiconductor nanomaterials and modify their surfaces with molecular systems, which is for minimizing atomic and electronic defects. Such luminescent nanomaterials are expected to become parts of future LEDs and solar cells. Successful candidates should have sound knowledge on organic and inorganic chemical reactions and electronic spectroscopy.

 

Title: Fundamental study on photocatalytic environmental decontamination

Professor: Bunsho Ohtani

 

Photocatalytic reactions driven by photoirradiated semiconducting materials such as titanium(IV) oxide can be applied to solar-energy conversion and decomposition of environmental contaminants in air and/or water. For the latter, practical application has been successfully performed from the standpoint of engineering. This study aims at clarifying the fundamental aspects of photocatalytic decontamination reaction from the standpoint of their thermodynamics and kinetics.

 

Special Grant Program for International Students (April 2019)

Special Grant Program for International Students / Research Assistant Program of Graduate School of Environmental Science (April 2019)

This program will select students, who can likely contribute internationally in their research field, from those students applying to doctoral courses of Graduate School of Environmental Science.

It is very meaningful to participate in research as a Research Assistant (RA) for the development of your research ability. Each Research Assistant must serve to achieve the objective of a research subject directed by a faculty member of the Graduate School of Environmental Science. The research subjects are listed below.

Period

Maximum 3 years since the first year although the achievement of the objective must be evaluated each year by the committee of the faculty.

Qualifications of application (Eligibility):

Students (mainly from developing countries) who are going to seek admission to the doctor courses of Graduate School of Environmental Science.

Payment Exemption / RA Allowance:

Payment Exemption: Total amount of school fees are entirely covered by Hokkaido University (i.e., entrance exam fee of 30,000 yen, admission fee of 282,000 yen, and annual tuition fee of 535,800 yen for each of three years). RA Allowance (depending on the actual working time): Total: 3 million yen (1 million yen for each of three years)
Travel expenses of entrance exam should be paid by applicant.

Application Period

Until December 12 Wednesday, 2018

Application for the program:

Applicants are required to submit the documents listed below. The documents should not be written in a language other than English.

1. Curriculum vitae with the applicant's photograph
2. Academic transcript
3. Graduation certificate
4. List of publications and presentations in scientific meetings
5. Research proposal
6. Direction and comments of potential supervisor and at least one co-supervisor, including proofs of communication between you and the potential supervisors
7. Master's thesis or other documents in proof of your research ability

Reference and address to apply

Kyoumu-Tantou
Graduate School of Environmental Science
Hokkaido University
Kita 10, Nishi 5, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0810 Japan
E-mail: kyomu (at) ees.hokudai.ac.jp

List of possible research subjects (2019)

Title: Study on coastal ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction (Eco-DRR)

Associate Professor: Masahiko Fujii

 

Ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction (Eco-DRR) is a concept to alleviate disasters to human societies by maintaining ecosystems and the ecosystem services. This study aims to issue scientific guidelines for applying the Eco-DRR to local societies in coastal regions, especially enhancing functions of coastal ecosystems, such as coral reefs, seaweeds and mangroves. Successful candidates are highly expected to have basic skills in numerical modeling and/or operating satellite data.

 

Title: Study on water exchanges and material circulations through river-lagoon-ocean systems

Professor: Humio Mitsudera

 

Rivers provide ocean with many materials such as nutrients, sediment, pollutants and freshwater which influence ocean circulations, environment and aquaculture. Human also have significant impacts on the land-ocean linkage systems. This study aims to model and analyze water exchanges, mixing processes and material circulations through river-lagoon-ocean systems such as those in Hokkaido. Successful candidates are highly expected to have basic knowledge on physical oceanography, and basic skills in numerical modeling and data analyses.

 

Special Grant Program for International Students (October 2018)

Special Grant Program for International Students / Research Assistant Program of Graduate School of Environmental Science (October 2018)

This program will select students, who can likely contribute internationally in their research field, from those students applying to doctoral courses of Graduate School of Environmental Science.

It is very meaningful to participate in research as a Research Assistant (RA) for the development of your research ability. Each Research Assistant must serve to achieve the objective of a research subject directed by a faculty member of the Graduate School of Environmental Science. The research subjects are listed below.

Special Grant Program for International Students (April 2018)

Special Grant Program for International Students / Research Assistant Program of Graduate School of Environmental Science (April 2018)

This program will select students, who can likely contribute internationally in their research field, from those students applying to doctoral courses of Graduate School of Environmental Science.

It is very meaningful to participate in research as a Research Assistant (RA) for the development of your research ability. Each Research Assistant must serve to achieve the objective of a research subject directed by a faculty member of the Graduate School of Environmental Science. The research subjects are listed below.

Special Grant Program for International Students (October 2017)

Special Grant Program for International Students / Research Assistant Program of Graduate School of Environmental Science (October 2017)

This program will select students, who can likely contribute internationally in their research field, from those students applying to doctoral courses of Graduate School of Environmental Science.

It is very meaningful to participate in research as a Research Assistant (RA) for the development of your research ability. Each Research Assistant must serve to achieve the objective of a research subject directed by a faculty member of the Graduate School of Environmental Science. The research subjects are listed below.

Special Grant Program for International Students (April 2017)

Special Grant Program for International Students / Research Assistant Program of Graduate School of Environmental Science (April 2017)

This program will select students, who can likely contribute internationally in their research field, from those students applying to doctoral courses of Graduate School of Environmental Science.

It is very meaningful to participate in research as a Research Assistant (RA) for the development of your research ability. Each Research Assistant must serve to achieve the objective of a research subject directed by a faculty member of the Graduate School of Environmental Science. The research subjects are listed below.