Earth & Space Sciences

This course deals with advanced sedimentology from a temporal and spatial perspective. Development of sedimentary basins, and their sedimentary infill is treated with emphasis on depositional processes/environments and resultant stratigraphic architecture.

This course examines concepts as diverse as the origin of the Solar System through to the evolution of life. It will touch on the big geological processes that have shaped our planet, covering topics including plate tectonics, volcanology, earthquakes and climate change. 

This course entails completing an interdisciplinary group project on a topic of relevance to the scientific or wider community. 

This course examines current observational capabilities, present how satellite data can contribute to understanding the functions and interactions of Earth’s sub-systems (e.g., atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, and hydrosphere), and provide the application examples of environmental change at regional to global scales, such as forest disturbance, water quality, carbon emission, air/water/soil pollution, natural disasters, agricultural production. These are highly related to some crucial sustainability issues, so this course will, directly and indirectly, address multiple sustainable development goals (SDGs), including SDG 2 (Zero hunger), SDG6 (Clean water and sanitation), SDG 10 (Reduced inequalities), SDG11 (Sustainable cities and community), SDG13 (Climate action), SDG 14 (Life below water) and SDG15 (Life on land), in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development set by the United Nations in 2015.

This course provides research training for exchange students. Students work on a research project under the guidance of assigned faculty members. Through a full-time commitment, students improve their research skills by participating in the different phases of research, including development of research plans, proposals, data analysis, and presentation of research results. A pass/no pass grade is assigned based a progress report, self-evaluation, midterm report, presentation, and final report.

This course provides individual research training for students in the Junior Year Engineering Program through the experience of belonging to a specific laboratory at Tohoku University. Students are assigned to a laboratory with the consent of the faculty member in charge. They participate in various group activities, including seminars, for the purposes of training in research methods and developing teamwork skills. The specific topic studied depends on the instructor in charge of the laboratory to which each student is assigned. The methods of assessment vary with the student's project and laboratory instructor. Students submit an abstract concerning the results of their individual research each semester and present the results near the end of the program.

This course  leads students through the scientific quest for the origin of life on Earth and the prospect for finding life on other planets, both in our solar system and on habitable worlds elsewhere in the Galaxy. The course covers diverse topics in biology, geology, astronomy and chemistry, which together comprise the field of astrobiology. The course studies the origins and evolution of planets and life on Earth, and uses this as a framework for how to search for life in our Solar System and beyond, including exploring how science interfaces with society. Due to the wide range of science topics covered, the course is applicable to any Science faculty student. A key component of the course is to examine the scientific method, how scientific theories are developed and refuted, and discuss the burden of proof for extraordinary claims.

This special lab course nurtures international students' creative competency by offering them opportunities for learning in communities of research practice. The student's supervisor arranges the research topic. Students give three oral presentations during the study period. In the presentations, students integrate ideas and analyses on laboratory results into creative and academically coherent work. FrontierLab program coordinators and supervisors attend and evaluate the final oral presentation.

This course deals with processes of glacial erosion, glacial sedimentation, and glacial morphology. Lectures concern glacial systems, glacier movements, hydrology, erosion, sediment transport and deposition, glaciotectonic deformations and glacial landforms. The course ends with a 5-day field trip to present glaciers in southern Iceland and formerly glaciated areas in western Iceland, where students get to observe glacial processes and products. Participation in fieldtrip is required for getting course credits.