79 Life Sciences Degree Programs in Japan

NCUK International Foundation Year will give you specialist English language, study, and cultural skills that are an essential part of your degree course. This unique combination will help you to get into the University of your choice and get on with your future career.

This division provides education programs focusing on protein sciences and has four main lecture contents that are grappled with in Proteo-Science Center: infections molecular science, photo-life science, molecular life science, and protein function science.

The Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences was established at the same time as the merger of Keio University and Kyoritsu College of Pharmacy in 2008. The research and educational activities of the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences are not limited to the areas of fundamental pharmaceutical sciences, but also extends to applied pharmaceutical disciplines, such as drug delivery and drug targeting, clinical pharmaceutics, clinical pathophysiology, clinical drug evaluation, drug informatics, evidence-based medicine, and regulatory sciences. This school is open for graduates from departments/schools of pharmaceutical sciences (4-year program) and those who have received education in equivalent level at other departments/schools.

The Graduate School of Health Sciences (master's and doctoral programs) aims to train leaders and researchers with a high degree of research capacity in the field of health sciences. The Graduate School of Health Sciences consists of two educational research fields, Human Health Development and International Island Health, which conduct unique educational research regarding health and longevity on Okinawa, physical, psychosocial, and cultural factors that influence health, the development of health resources, and advanced healthcare technology, and island health in the Asia-Pacific region. We also promote the globalization of graduate education by encouraging graduate students to present their research at academic conferences such as the Asia Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health. Those who complete the doctoral course potentially work as researchers and leaders in universities, hospitals, laboratories, and international organizations.

Agricultural science involves a wide range of areas—from food (specifically the production, usage, and distribution of agricultural, forestry, and fishery resources) to the life sciences and environmental problems. As such, this diverse science contributes greatly to solving the problems currently threatening society, including global warming, worldwide food shortages, and the rise in lifestyle diseases. Kindai University’s Faculty of Agriculture offers the most comprehensive and all-encompassing agricultural program of any private university in western Japan. We are composed of six departments that study and research a wide range of areas concerning the utilization of agricultural, forestry, and fishery resources and also have programs that strive to improve upon the most advanced techniques for food production, nutrition enhancement, biotechnology, and other related areas of study. By becoming a part of the Support Program for Contemporary Educational Needs (Modern Good Practice) in 2006 and the Global COE (Centers of Excellence) Program in 2008—both of which are under the auspices of Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology—the Faculty of Agriculture has put itself at the forefront of agricultural research in Japan.

The master’s program consists of five courses: “Biology”, “Biochemistry & Molecular Biology”, “Applied Biosciences”, “Agriculture & Horticulture”, and “Agricultural & Environmental Engineering”.

Research is progressing at the Graduate School of Integrated Basic Sciences thanks to the establishment of its High-Tech Research Center, which integrates and concentrates research on advanced materials and, while promoting interdisciplinary information exchange, searches for new directions in fields related to materials science. Materials science plays a big role in the world of basic science, and much is expected from it in terms of solutions to energy and environmental problems. For this reason, Nihon University’s Graduate School of Integrated Basic Sciences promotes highly original and unique research based on materials science. Thus high hopes are placed on the development and results of Nihon University’s new distinctive research style which strategically puts personnel and funds into such projects, For example, there is the development of new high-performance materials that function under extreme conditions, development and evaluation of new energy materials like fuel cells and solar cells, development of new biomaterials using materials science methods, and shedding light on global environmental change by looking at the Earth as a material circulation system and using analytical methods from materials science. It is extremely important for both graduate and undergraduate students in the natural sciences to become familiar with cutting-edge research equipment, and at our Center students have the opportunity to participate in real research projects to get a feel for the latest research methods and the current flow of research.

Students delve deeply into the intricacies of physical and mental health, studying from a broad range of disciplines that includes basic medical sciences, clinical medicine, mental health, nutritional science, physical education, and sports science based on their own interests and goals for the future. With a rich education in medical care and an advanced level of practical skills, students are molded into generalists in the sports and health sciences field, capable of exhibiting their skills in a wide range of areas in society.

In addition to acquiring expertise, specialized skills, and techniques in various sciences such as humanities, anthropology, society, regional studies, and information, students gain an accurate understanding of regional issues and various issues of globalized modern society through combined specialized fields of learning.

The aims of the various programs provided by the Graduate School of Medicine are as follows: The goal of the Human Sciences Master's Program is to contribute to society by cultivating diverse and talented individuals and creating a new network of human sciences that links the mind and body. The fundamental principle of the Health Sciences Master's Program is to foster highly specialized healthcare professionals who have strong ethics and a rich sense of humanity, an international perspective, and the ability to solve clinical problems based on sophisticated scientific evidence. According to this principle, the program aims to contribute to maintaining health, disease/disability prevention, treatment, and care, in addition to improving the quality of life from a spiritual, physical, and social point of view.

OUNHS established a Health Sciences Master’s major and a Health Sciences PhD course in our Graduate School in 2009 to promote advanced research in non-nurse medical and healthcare professionals. These courses are very unique in universities and colleges of nursing in Japan. They were established for medical doctors, registered dietitians, radiation technologists, pharmacists, medical technologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and health and exercise trainers. The six specialty areas of the Master’s major are Health Physiology; Environmental Health Science; Physical Fitness and Sports Science; Radiological Health Science; Health Informatics and Biostatistics; and Mental Health. Education in the Master’s course is characterized by both day and night instruction, small class sizes, and mentor-group instruction. Two mentors with expertise in the course specialty area supervise student research from an interdisciplinary perspective. Students also receive statistical support and use statistical software such as SPSS, SAS, MATLAB and S-PLUS to process and interpret experimental and survey data.

With the advent of a population explosion in developing countries and increasing global environmental problems, there is a growing concern for the world food supply in the near future. In particular, the considerably low food self-sufficiency ratio of Japan requires the establishment of a stable food supply system.

Health and food are important topics and are of the greatest concern for humans to live a healthy life, but these topics change with the times. The diet of Japanese people has become richer and Japan now has one of the highest life expectancies in the world. However, meals have become more convenient, and this has brought with it an unmistakable increase in various problems related to diet, such as the imbalance in the intake of nutrients, excessive consumption of certain nutrients, and food safety. To solve these problems, it is necessary to have people with a broad range of specialist knowledge and ability. In the Food Science & Nutrition Program, we aim to nurture talented students who acquire the latest, high level of specialist knowledge in the fields of nutrition and food science, and deepen their knowledge by carrying out their own research, so that they can make a contribution to society by working as specialists and advising people how to maintain their health through eating healthily. Food and health are subjects that we should study for the whole of our life. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of people who have already been active in society, and have come back to university to deepen their knowledge and skills. After completing their graduate studies, they are playing an active part in society as researchers, specialists, or teachers. How about becoming a part of this circle of your seniors?

Students will gain a thorough knowledge of food science and technical skills with the goal of maintaining and continuing to develop a healthy society. We train food science specialists to be active in a wide range of fields related to food. Students will study the science of safety and functionality of food, a familiar part of our daily lives, from two different approaches.

The Course of Food Science and Nutrition is an integrative discipline, in which the principles of biological and physical science are used to study the nature of foods and the consumption and utilization aspects of food and its constituents. Students enrolled in this program are encouraged to study subjects from the molecular level to health and environmental issues relating to food. Through the programs offered in the Food Science and Nutrition course, students are expected to understand the roles of nutrients in supporting vital functions or life functions, the principles underlying the processing and preparing of food, and toxicology. They are also to gain the laboratory disciplines and application skills in biotechnology, toxicology, microbiology, biochemistry, and nutritional sciences. Such knowledge and skills prepare them to work in the food industry in research and development of food products and processes, to serve in government regulatory agencies as food specialists and health advisors, and to find positions in academic institutions as teachers and researchers. Graduates find employment in food and health-related industries and in governmental agencies and laboratories. Those who are certified as junior and senior high school teachers find positions in schools as a teacher of home economics. Some graduates enter the Ph.D. course of food science, nutritional science, and biological sciences.