Earth & Space Sciences

This course emphasizes hands-on laboratory experience and teaches students research background, relevant theories, and basic laboratory techniques relevant to their field of study. Students formulate a research plan, implement it by conducting experiment-based research, and convey the results in scholarly presentations. Students submit a written research report at the end of the course.

This course provides research training for students through the experience of belonging to a specific laboratory at the University of Tokyo. Students carry out an original research project under the guidance of assigned faculty members. Through a full-time commitment, students will be able to improve their research skills by applying the basic principles and knowledge from the literature related to the research questions, and by developing the skills to collect, interpret, and critique data in order to resolve a research question or evaluate a design for a research project. At the conclusion of the program, students submit their final work (paper, presentation, report etc.) as instructed by their lab supervisors

In this course students acquire a broad knowledge base and develop analytical and critical thinking skills. Students actively participate in seminars, read assigned texts and research papers, and analyze research data. Students also discuss results obtained in their own experiments with peers and senior laboratory members.

In this course the principles of geochemistry are introduced, including the distribution of the elements on Earth, various phase diagrams, thermodynamics and water solutions. Also covered is nuclear fusion, the origin of the solar system, distribution of trace elements, stable and radiogenic isotopes, and how these are used in geoscience research.

Glaciers in the world are responding fast to climate change, they are therefore important indicators for assessing changes, but have also impact on the climate system through for example albedo feedback and sea level rise. In this course glaciers are studied, their distribution in the world, how glacier ice is formed from snow, how they move and respond to climate change. Focus is on Icelandic glaciers, their energy and mass balance, interaction of geothermal activity and glaciers in Iceland and reoccurring floods, jökulhlaups, from the main ice cap. During the course students learn terminology and concepts that equip them to understand and contribute to discussions of climate change and the role of glaciers in the climate system.  Background in high school physics and math is useful, as numerical  problems concerning temperature, energy budget, mass balance and flow of glaciers are solved in groups. Glacier measurement techniques are introduced, and at the end of the course ablation stakes are installed in Sólheimajökull on the south coast of Iceland in a two-day field excursion. Participation in the field trip is mandatory.

This course emphasizes hands-on laboratory experience and teaches students research background, relevant theories, and basic laboratory techniques relevant to their field of study. Students formulate a research plan, implement it by conducting experiment-based research, and convey the results in scholarly presentations. Students submit a written research report at the end of the course.

The Individual Research Training Senior (IRT Senior) Course is an advanced course of the Individual Research Training B (IRT B) course in the Tohoku University Junior Year Program in English (JYPE) in the spring semester. Though short-term international exchange students are not degree candidates at Tohoku University, a similar experience is offered by special arrangement. Students are required to submit: an abstract concerning the results of their IRT Senior project, a paper (A4, 20-30 pages) on their research at the end of the exchange term, and an oral presentation on the results of their IRT Senior project near the end of the　term.

What makes planet Earth so remarkable? Our planet is shaped by many interacting environmental systems operating from atomic through to global scales. Understanding the science of these systems is central to developing an advanced knowledge of the physical environment. This course explores fundamental Earth surface systems (e.g. tectonics, atmosphere & oceans, landscape development, climate change), focusing on core concepts, processes, their significance within a broader environmental context and their relevance to the human species.

This course discusses major categories and sources of air pollution, dangers of some air and water pollutants, dangers of stratospheric ozone depletion and radon in indoor air, types and effects of water pollution, thermal pollution and thermal shocks, damages of air pollution, control and monitoring of pollution, acid rain and deposition, air pollution control, status of water quality in developed and developing countries, groundwater problems, and human waste disposal.