7 Best Social Sciences Doctoral Degree Programs in Japan for 2024

This program accepts students who have obtained a master’s degree or the equivalent in various fields. The program encompasses the Department of Global Ecology, the Department of Technology and Ecology, and the Department of Natural Resources of the Hall of Global Environmental Research, as well as the Grove of Universal Learning. Students’ specialized study themes are selected from the vast range of themes related to global environmental studies, based on prior study and approaches in the humanities and social sciences as well as natural science, agriculture and engineering. After receiving a doctoral degree, students may work at universities or environment-related government/private-sector research organizations.

The Ph.D. Programme on Innovation, Economics, and Governance for Development (IEGD) is a multidisciplinary course offered by UNU-MERIT and its School of Governance. The programme focuses on research skills and methods, training fellows to become both scholars and practitioners in the fields of governance and the economics of technology. The programme provides advanced training in the knowledge and skills most relevant to the economics of technology and innovation, and to governance, social protection, and migration. Built around a core of courses on innovation and development, the programme also features modules on the economics of technological change, complex social systems, governance and policy evaluation, social protection, and migration. During their first year, fellows complete an intensive programme of required and elective courses, taught by leading scholars of UNU-MERIT and our partner universities. These courses are taught in English, in Maastricht, and spread across two semesters, starting in September each year. The course work is followed by three years of dissertation research and writing, ending with a completed Ph.D. thesis. At the end of the programme, the doctoral degree is awarded by Maastricht University upon successful defense of the thesis. Our students pursue a wide variety of dissertation topics, fitting into any of the institute’s eight research themes: 1. Economics of Knowledge and Innovation 2. Structural Change and Economic Development 3. Economic Complexity and Innovation 4. Governance and institutions 5. Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Sustainability Transitions 6. Migration and Development 7. Social Protection 8. Population, Development and Labour Economics

The Graduate School of Humanities aims to help students explore traditional Japanese culture in a comprehensive and systematic way. By investigating the tangible and intangible aspects of the national culture, students can become highly qualified experts in their chosen field and effective interdisciplinary researchers.

This major was established in April 2005 to form a hub for gender research education. It was the first major in a Doctoral Program offered in Japan that established and emphasized gender research from an interdisciplinary perspective.

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.

Upon successful completion of the study program students receive an international private Doctor of Philosophy in Management (Ph.D.) in Communication Studies degree awarded by the school's headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, based on the recommendation of the faculty of the local campuses where credits were earned.

Upon successful completion of the study program students receive an international private Doctor of Philosophy in Management (Ph.D.) in Global Studies degree awarded by the school's headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, based on the recommendation of the faculty of the local campuses where credits were earned.