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.