Agro-Biological Resource Sciences

About

The Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Program in Life and Environmental Sciences has a modular organization, which allows students to study a wide variety of subjects in their early years, before specializing in one particular field in later years.

The first year offers a broad general education with students taking foundational courses in biology, chemistry, physics, and math, along with courses in Japanese, English (for non-native speakers), cultural studies, sports, and arts. We strongly encourage students to continue their Japanese language studies throughout their degree.

In the second and third years, students can choose from a range of specialized subjects offered by the College of Agro-Biological Resource Sciences, while broadening their understanding by selecting courses offered by the other Colleges in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences. Core transferrable skills courses provide training in how to prepare conference posters, give oral presentations, and prepare a manuscript for submission to a scientific journal. In the final year, students undertake a research project supervised by one of our professors.

Introduction of Courses

Admission Information

We welcome applicants with a strong interest in agriculture, bioresource management, and related fields.  

Undergraduate applications for the English program are opened about one year before enrollment.  Screening takes place in two stages; a document screening first, and then an interview by teleconferencing.

The quality of applicants for our program is consistently very high, and admissions to our program are competitive. We expect applicants to have a strong academic record, a demonstrable interest in agrobiological resource sciences, and sufficient ability to support themselves throughout their studies.

You are required to submit a personal statement (study plan), which clearly outlines your interest in agrobiological resource sciences.  Please outline any experience/internships you may have done, as well as your area of interest (e.g. agriculture, sustainability, food science, agribusiness, etc) and future plans after graduation.  Although we understand that you may not be completely sure about what you want to do with your life, and that your plans may change over the next four years, we expect applicants to have given some thought to their ultimate goals. 

Your financial plan will also form a key component of your application; please take care to follow the guidance carefully.  Please be as clear as possible about your sources of support, and your projected expenses.  If your parents have agreed to finance your studies, please tell us a little about their ability to support you (e.g. what are their jobs?  Are they secure jobs?).    

Most applicants who have English as a second language will be required to submit an English proficiency test.  If you are unsure whether you require a test, please contact Admissions as soon as possible (contact details available in the application guidelines). 

The second stage will comprise a short interview via videoconferencing (e.g. Zoom).  The interview lasts about 20 minutes, and will discuss your motivations for applying to our College, as well as specific points of your application materials and study plan.  At the end of the interview, you’ll be given the opportunity to ask questions to the panel.  

Transfer Admissions

Applicants for transfer admissions will submit the necessary forms, including their transcript.  There is no first screening for transfer applications, and all transfer applicants will be interviewed.  To receive a degree from Tsukuba, you will be required to fulfill our degree requirements.  Essentially, credits can be split into four main sections

• Core subjects for major
• Elective subjects
• Major Subjects
• Graduation research credits

Core subjects are basic sciences, such as introductory biology, chemistry, math, and physics courses.  These are normally taken in the first semester of college, along with Japanese language requirements, and other core components.  Some credits run over multiple years, such as scientific writing.

Major subjects are in-depth courses relating to your field of study.  These tackle specific areas, such as plant breeding, food science, biotechnology etc.

Elective subjects are taught by other Schools within our university (e.g. Social science, Humanities).  The aim of these courses is to broaden your education and perspective on life.

Graduation research is completed in the final year of your program and comprises of a year-long lab-based research project.

You must complete all these requirements to be able to receive a degree, and depending on your background and the subjects you have completed, we can recommend you for either 2nd year or 3rd year entry. 

3rd year entry – in principle you must be able to complete within two years of enrollment.  This will require you to have a strong science background, allowing us to transfer a significant number of credits into the “core subjects” and “major subjects” sections, as well as completing “elective subjects” from your transfer credits.  The minimum time required for degree completion is 2 years.

2nd year entry – if it is unlikely you could complete within two years, you will be enrolled as a 2nd year student.  In this scenario, you must complete a minimum of three years at Tsukuba.  If you have a background which lacks significant biology, then it is most likely you would be required to enter as a second year.  In some cases, we can provide research opportunities throughout your degree, to help enrich your time at the university.

Course Catalogue

Our degree offers a broad education in fundamental and applied aspects of the bioresource sciences.  On this page, you can find a list of courses available in English. 

Finance

Planning your finances for university studies can be difficult. Your main expenses will be tuition, accommodation rent, food and living expenses, travel, and personal expenses. This page will provide information regarding financial information for students entering the English program in Agro-biological Resource Sciences.

Tuition fees

Partial and full tuition waivers are available for high performing students with financial difficulties.

Scholarships

The University’s Tsukuba Scholarship is open to all students and provides 60,000 yen per month living allowance.  For first grade students, the scholarship period is September to March.  Thereafter, the scholarship period would be from April to March.

There are a variety of other scholarships available to international students, and the university can help students apply.  Please note that many scholarships require students to hold a student visa, so students who have a Japanese passport may not be eligible for some scholarships.

A list of scholarships can be found on the university’s main webpage.

Admissions Center

For details of admission, please visit the following web page of University of Tsukuba.