If you are interested in pursuing graduate research in our laboratory, please read this page and contact us by email first. Contact details are available on the lab leader’s profile page. You are welcome to contact us even if you have not yet decided on a specific research topic.
We consider whether we can accept you into our laboratory based on a research proposal prepared specifically for our laboratory, interviews, and other relevant information. The research proposal described on this page is separate from the research plan required for the graduate entrance examination.
Submitting a research proposal or participating in an interview does not guarantee acceptance into our laboratory. A positive decision by our laboratory also does not mean that you have passed the graduate entrance examination. To enroll, you must complete the University’s prescribed application and entrance examination procedures and pass the examination.
1. Degree Program
To pursue graduate research in our laboratory, please apply for and take the entrance examination for the appropriate Master’s or Doctoral Program in Computer Science, Degree Programs in Systems and Information Engineering, Graduate School of Science and Technology, University of Tsukuba.
- If you are seeking a master’s degree: Master’s Program
- If you are seeking a doctoral degree: Doctoral Program
For an overview, please visit the official Computer Science program website. For eligibility requirements, examination schedules, application documents, and any procedures required before applying, please consult the latest application guidelines for your intended program and admission category through the graduate admissions information provided by the Degree Programs in Systems and Information Engineering.
2. Contact Us by Email First
Please include the following information in the body of your initial email. Do not attach any files to your initial email, including a CV.
- Your name
- Your current institution and status or position
- Your intended program (Master’s or Doctoral Program)
- When you intend to take the entrance examination
- When you intend to enroll
- Your research interests or a brief description of your proposed research topic
- Whether you have already prepared a CV
- Confirmation that you have read this page
If you have not yet decided on a research topic, please describe your current research or the research areas and questions you would like to explore in graduate school. You do not need to prepare a research proposal before contacting us for the first time.
After reviewing your email, we will explain the next steps and how to submit any required documents. Please submit your CV, research proposal, and other materials according to those instructions. If necessary, we may arrange a meeting to discuss your research interests and graduate study plans before you prepare a research proposal.
Discussions, document preparation, and required procedures may take time. Please contact us well in advance of the entrance examination application deadline. Emails and research proposals may be written in Japanese or English.
3. Research Proposal
If we ask you to submit a research proposal, please prepare it according to the content and format requirements below.
This proposal is a document requested specifically by our laboratory to help us consider whether we can accept you. It must be submitted separately from the research plan required for the graduate entrance examination. Submitting this proposal to our laboratory does not fulfill the requirement to submit a research plan for the entrance examination. Please submit all entrance examination application documents, including the required research plan, separately in accordance with the official application guidelines.
In addition to considering whether we can accept you, we will use the proposal to develop and refine your research topic and provide initial research supervision after you enroll and join our laboratory.
Under University rules, prescribed preliminary checks may be required before we can accept you into our laboratory. In such cases, we may ask you to submit a specific research proposal at an early stage. Please first set out the research you have considered yourself, rather than waiting for our laboratory to suggest a topic.
Required Content
There is no prescribed template. Please organize the following information into a single, clearly written document.
Include the following basic information at the beginning of the document:
- Your name
- Your nationality
- Your current institution and status or position
- Your most recent educational qualification, including one you expect to complete:
- University name
- Faculty, department, or equivalent
- Month and year of graduation or expected graduation
- Your intended program
- Your intended enrollment date
Your research proposal should include:
- Research title
- Background and the problem or issue motivating the research
- Research objectives and what you aim to clarify or establish
- Research methods
- Data, systems, software, equipment, and other resources you plan to use
- A research schedule covering your period of study
- Potential difficulties if the research does not proceed as planned, and alternative approaches
- Preparations you have made so far to carry out the research
- Preparations and activities you plan to complete before enrollment
- Data, equipment, software, technical support, supervision, and other resources you expect to need, to the extent that you can identify them, including anything you hope the laboratory or others will provide
- Your career plans after completing the program
- Job searches, internships, and other career development activities you plan to undertake during your studies, and how you intend to balance them with your research
For the research schedule, alternative approaches, preparations before enrollment, career plans, and related matters, please describe the specific plans you have in mind at the time of submission.
You do not need to use a separate heading for every item or devote the same amount of space to each one. Organize the document so that the necessary information is clear and appropriate to your proposed research.
Format
- Language: Japanese or English
- Paper size: A4
- Length: No more than three pages in total
- Body text: At least 11-point font
- File format: PDF
The three-page limit includes all basic information, main text, figures, tables, and references. Limit references to the key sources needed to understand your proposal.
You do not need to fill all three pages. Please write concisely, specifically, and clearly. If required information is missing or the document does not follow these instructions, we may not have enough information to give your request full consideration.
4. A Contact Who Can Comment on Your Research Activities (Optional)
If possible, please include information about someone who can comment on your current or recent research activities, such as a current or former academic supervisor, in the email accompanying your research proposal.
- Their name
- Their affiliation
- Their relationship to you
- Their contact details
Providing this information is optional. A letter of recommendation is not required. Please obtain the person’s permission before providing their contact details.
If necessary, we may contact them to ask about your research activities as part of our consideration of whether we can accept you. Include this information in the body of your submission email, not in the three-page research proposal.
5. Consideration of Acceptance and Interviews
After reviewing your research proposal and other materials, we may ask you to attend an in-person or online interview if we consider acceptance into our laboratory a possibility. Depending on your circumstances and proposed research, we may also request additional documents, completion of University-prescribed procedures, or other necessary checks.
We will consider the submitted materials and interviews together with the fit between your proposed research and our laboratory’s research areas, the feasibility of the research, your current preparation, and your plans for preparation before enrollment. Based on these factors, we may conclude that we are unable to accept you into our laboratory.
During interviews, we will discuss your research and graduate study plans. We will also consider whether we can communicate sufficiently to support your research.
6. Research Supervision and Language
Day-to-day communication and research discussions in our laboratory are conducted mainly in Japanese.
The Computer Science program, to which our laboratory belongs, also offers a route to completing a degree entirely in English. We will discuss the languages to be used for research supervision and communication during interviews or other discussions.
If you make substantial changes to your research after enrollment, additional checks or procedures may be required under University rules or other applicable requirements.
7. Use and Handling of Submitted Materials and Information
Research proposals and other submitted materials and information will be used only for the following purposes:
- Considering whether we can accept you into our laboratory
- University-prescribed procedures relating to laboratory acceptance, graduate entrance examinations, and enrollment
- Developing and refining your research topic after you enroll and join our laboratory
- Initial research supervision
We will appropriately delete or dispose of submitted materials and information when they no longer need to be retained.
If you are not accepted into our laboratory, do not take the entrance examination, do not pass the examination, withdraw, or otherwise do not proceed with enrollment, we will delete or dispose of your materials and information when they are no longer needed for the purposes above.
If you enroll and join our laboratory, we may use and retain your research proposal and related materials for as long as needed to develop and refine your research topic and provide initial research supervision. We will delete or dispose of them when these purposes have been fulfilled and retention is no longer necessary.
Contact details for anyone who can comment on your research activities will be used only as necessary to consider your acceptance into our laboratory and will be deleted or disposed of when no longer needed.
8. Relationship to the Graduate Entrance Examination
Our laboratory’s decision on whether we can accept you is separate from the result of the graduate entrance examination. Even if our laboratory determines that we can accept you, you must complete the University’s prescribed application and entrance examination procedures and pass the examination.
9. Contact
After reviewing the information above, please contact me by email using the contact information on the Lab Leader’s Profile page.
Last updated: October 12, 2026