Our goal is to be an all-round biological graduate school full of innovative ideas and vitality

The Graduate School of Agriculture is placed above the four university faculties consisting of 12 departments.  It has the first and the final stage of doctoral degree programs.  This graduate school has unique graduate level departments not seen anywhere else in the world, such as the Departments of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Fermentation Science and Technology and Landscape Architecture.  All the departments are united, as the all-round biological and agricultural graduate school that fosters researchers and highly skilled technologists in the agriculture related fields, in the common philosophy in tackling the issues related to societal changes and the global food and environmental issues.  Having inherited the long tradition of this school, we provide opportunities to investigate, examine and elucidate many issues/topics ranging from frontier and applied research in Biology and Life Sciences, to fields related to resources and environment, food related issues, and so forth.  We have an excellent group of teaching staff and foster young researchers with ability to find new ideas on the green rich Setagaya and Atsugi campuses.  Since its foundation, this graduate school has trained 1,301 successful doctorate candidates (828 research doctors and 473 course work doctors).  Many young researchers, who completed our programs, are now working successfully as advanced level technologists in the industries and research institutes at universities, etc.

In response to needs of the modern society, the Department of Environmental Symbiotic Studies, based on the Nodai Research Institute, has made its final stage of doctorate degree program to be open widely for adults, and enabled them to receive guidance and instruction in preparing doctoral dissertation while still working.

We have introduced the “Affiliate Graduate School System” by working jointly with private or independent administrative research institutes to have a part of education and research conducted at those external institutions.  Currently we have agreements with seven such research institutes for academic exchanges.

We train professionals who are able to see the fundamental nature with “Pragmatic Scholar” that integrates biological production, food science and technology, and industrial business management.

The Okhotsk Region is one of the major food production bases in Japan, and a treasure of new resource development with its wildlife and ecosystems, plentiful aquatic resources, and the animals and plants that adapted to the cold environment.  The Okhotsk Region is a field for education and research in developing such resources.  Studies of biological resources (in lithosphere and hydrosphere), biotechnology, and application and use of biological resources are conducted by taking advantage of these productivity and natural environment in the region.  We integrate these technological fields and the field of business management and economy related to the bio-industry into a pragmatic discipline.  We aim to train professionals with an ability to integrate those two fields into their perspective in pursuit of advanced academic scope, and can contribute to the world and local community with an international vision.  It has been 11 years since the foundation of this graduate school and 42 doctorate candidates successfully gained their degrees.

We also conduct research projects related to creation of earth-friendly bio-industry by extensive and effective use of biotechnology in order to overcome the environmental crises currently facing the Earth.  To support such projects and expansion and diversification of research realms of bio-industrial studies, we actively use the affiliate graduate school scheme to work jointly with national, public and private research institutes.  As a place for practicing pragmatic studies, we also have a mission to become an epicenter of technological innovation in global issues related to cold region agriculture, and collaborate with other regions in Hokkaido and northern countries.