IFES-GCOE Global COE Program "Establishment of Center for Integrated Field Environmental Science"
Graduate School of Environmental Science & Division of Environmental Resources, Graduate School of Agriculture
Hokkaido University

Overseas Research & Student Exchange Promotion Office

Aims

Overseas Research & Student Exchange Promotion Office (ORSE-PO) was organized in order to establish a network of long-term field observational bases for the research of environmentally vulnerable regions. By opening of Liaison offices at Yakutsk (Russia), Ulanbaatar (Mongolia), and Plangkaraya and Bogor (Indonesia), which are intensive research regions of our GCOE program, field observational research and exchange of students and scientists are enhanced.

Field researches will focus on region-specific processes which are important not only for each region but also potentially important for global environment. Region-specific process has not been received attention in global perspectives because it has been believed to be negligible. However, in actual, it has not yet been understood well. The findings from field observational researches will be reassessed in corporation with the Integrated Modeling Task Force Team. Through interdisciplinary educational and research programs above, ORSE-PO contributes capacity building for solving regional and global environmental issues, and contributes for establishing long-term observational network managed successively over generations.

Main activities of ORSE-PO

Field Observational Bases of intensive research regions

Siberia (Russia, Yakutsk)
Research target: Water and material cyclings of permafrost dominated regions.
Liaison office: Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Science (Web Page)

Mongolia
Research target: Degradation of land and ecosystem service resulted from combined impacts of global and social change.
Liaison office: Institute of Geography, Mongolian Academy of Sciences

Indonesia
Research target: Degradation of peat land due to human activities, and its influences on the material cycles.
Liaison office: Palangkaraya University, Bogor University (Web Page)

Liaison Office

Important tasks of Liaison offices are public relations, contact point for international students, assistance for overseas observational research and educational program, relating to GCOE activities. Web page will be created in local language, present GCOE program, broaden its research results internationally, and provide information concerning entrance examination to HU. Liaison office also provides the guidance of summer school, symposium, information on scholarship and research assistant for those who desire to enter HU.

Field Science Summer School, Laboratory School

Schools on field sciences and laboratory analysis are to develop talent to consider the local environmental issues interdisciplinary. The school includes lectures, field observation and sample analysis in the laboratory. The students and post-doc scientists project the school courses and provide lecture.

Plan for summer school, laboratory school and symposium (Changed in March 2009)

2008:Isotopic laboratory analysis at HU
2009:Summer school on field environmental sciences (Russia, Yakutsk), School on laboratory analysis
2010:Summer school on field environmental sciences (Mongolia), Isotopic laboratory analysis
2011:Summer school on field environmental sciences (Indonesia), Laboratory analysis
2012:International Symposium (Yakutsk, Mongolia, Indonesia), Isotopic laboratory analysis
* School includes lectures and exercises for a week (1 credit)
* Five students from HU and 10 from local students
* Students who specialize in the contents of school, can be lecturer and/or teaching assistant
* Lecturers are invited from Japan, local scientist and other countries

Global COE Program "Establishment of Center for Integrated Field Environmental Science" at Hokkaido University