5-year Doctoral Program
Guide to entrance exams
(for undergraduate degree holders)


Applicants wishing to enroll in the Polar Science Program are advised to carefully review the program outline, offered subjects, and education and research conducted by the faculty members of the program, as presented in the application guidelines and the web pages. In addition, before submitting an application, make sure to consult with the faculty member whom you are interested in working with regarding the research you wish to pursue after admission.

Application acceptance period

From June 29 (Thursday) to July 5 (Wednesday), 2023

Exam dates

Written exams on August 21 (Monday) and a personal interview on August 22 (Tuesday), 2023

Required application documents

Application form, examination fee (30,000 yen), academic transcripts, certificate of (expected) graduation, statement of purpose, English proficiency test score, etc.

Selection process

Selection for admission is based on assessment of submitted documents, a personal interview, and written exams. The written exams are held on the first day and the interview is conducted on the second day. The exams are conducted in Japanese.

(1) Document screening and personal interview assessment

The application process consists of a statement of purpose (Form 2), a thesis, a report or other document that demonstrates your research ability, undergraduate academic transcripts, and a personal interview.
In the statement of purpose, please write (1) your reasons for applying to our program, (2) what kind of research interests you, and (3) how you think your knowledge and abilities can be applied to that research, in approximately 2,000 characters (in Japanese).

For the personal interview, the applicant explains the reasons for his/her application, followed by a question-and-answer session. The interview lasts approximately 20 minutes, including the Q&A session. During the explanation of reasons for application, the applicant may not use a projector or other equipment, but may use a handout of up to one page of A4 paper.

(2) Written exams

The written exams consist of a short essay and specialized subjects.
There are a total of 10 questions on the specialized subjects: 1 on mathematics, 1 on mechanics, 1 on electromagnetism, 1 on thermodynamics, 1 on inorganic chemistry, 3 on earth science, and 2 on biology. Please select two of the ten questions and answer them.

The exam time is 60 minutes for the short essay and 120 minutes for the specialized subjects.

(3) English score

Please submit a score sheet of either TOEFL or TOEIC.
In our program this is used to determine your English proficiency.

Criteria for assessing entrance exams

Whether an applicant passes or fails the admission selection process is determined by a comprehensive evaluation of the results of document screening, personal interview and written exams.

Inquiries on the above matters and requests for application guidelines

National Institute of Polar Research
10-3, Midoricho, Tachikawa, Tokyo 190-8518, Japan
E-MAIL:sokendai-kyokuiki@t.rois.ac.jp