Special Grant Program for International Students (April 2021)

Special Grant Program for International Students / Research Assistant Program of Graduate School of Environmental Science (April 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 December 21 Monday, 2020

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: Response of tree populations to climatic conditions in forest ecosystems of Asia-Pacific region

Professor: Shin-ichiro Aiba

Clarifying the responses of forest and tree populations to climatic conditions is crucial to predict and mitigate the impact of global climate change on terrestrial ecosystems. For this purpose, this study analyzes the long-term monitoring data of forest plots in diverse environments in Asia-Pacific region. As climatic factors, we focus on temperature, rainfall and snowfall gradients, which are likely to change in a future warmer Earth. Successful applicants are required to have knowledge and skills of plant ecology of forest ecosystems.

 

Title: Land-atmosphere interaction in sub-seasonal to seasonal timescales

Associate Professor: Tomonori SATO

 

Atmospheric circulation is sensitive to the underlying land surface conditions, such as those reflecting natural variabilities (e.g., soil, snow, and ecosystem) and anthropogenic activities (e.g., land use and land cover changes). This project proposes to investigate the interaction between land and atmosphere, aiming to improve weather and climate predictions in sub-seasonal to seasonal timescales. The successful candidate will use global climate data and conduct climate model simulations. Hence, the background knowledge on atmospheric sciences and programming language is needed.

 

Title: Multi-sensor remote sensing techniques for sustainable plantation management

Assistant Professor: Ram Avtar

 

Geospatial data on plantation health acquired from multi-sensor remote sensing techniques provides valuable information for sustainable plantation management especially in the tropical region. Southeast Asia has a high rate of tropical forests conversion to various types of plantation such as oil palm, rubber and industrial forest where unsustainable practices possess adverse effects on the environment. Therefore, it is crucial to monitor the plantation area closely with the help of multi-sensor remote sensing and geospatial technologies. The study aims to investigate the role of multi-sensor remote sensing data and advanced InSAR and PolSAR techniques to monitor biophysical parameters of oil palm and industrial forest plantations. These techniques shall be able to provide information about plant's biophysical parameters such as height, density, biomass, age, and canopy cover etc. Successful candidates are required to have knowledge also experiences of multi-sensor remote sensing data processing and application in the plantation areas.