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Project-based graduate school

The Principles of Graduate School of Core Ethics and Frontier Sciences
A Full-Term Project Formed Graduate School― Moving from Discipline to Theme―

　Ever since university was first established in age of early modernization, the Japanese university system is now facing the greatest time of change. The whole educational research system from undergraduate to graduate school is forced a fundamental reconsideration based on international standards. Sophisticated expertise and a researcher who can engage in issues of new era is now require. The concept of the Graduate School of Core Ethics and Frontier Sciences is the answer we, Ritumeikan University, offer to training researchers for this new era.
　Today’s graduate school is basically placed after the university, which is based on a system of modern studies since Meiji era, namely, based upon division of technical fields. The Graduate School of Core Ethics and Frontier Sciences is an independent graduate course, not based on specific university department, but it is to develop researchers engaging in leading themes with new qualities handed over from the 20th century to today. Its fundamental goal is to form a rigorous union between graduate school education and leading comprehensive research through cooperating with institutes and centers on project research education, and to integrate disciplines as an independent graduate course.
(Extracted from document of establishment of The Graduate School of Core Ethics and Frontier Sciences in 2003, and partly modified)

　The graduate school education, woven by diverse projects,itself is a one grand project.

　Ritsumeikan University’s institutes and research centers have made many accomplishments due to project research.It is not too much to say that combining these project research to graduate school education itself is a single project.

　The project-based education/research system aims to create a new current in research field thorough, monthly joint seminars according to theme, individual projects, field researches of each graduate students’ subject, and media creation.Furthermore, guest participants are invited, basically out of full-time staff but also forefront researchers inside and outside school, forming a research network.

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　While studying to learn the basics of research in first and second year, graduate students will attend these seminars and individual projects as associates. The Preparatory Project Exercise opening for first and second year, is a class closely related to each theme of seminars and projects, and it lets students to acquire the basic technique of research according to each theme. .The member of faculty teaching this class, while taking part in research projects, is assigned to combine each student’s issue to each theme. At Preparatory Project Exercise in latter semester of second year, project leaders themselves are in charge of the preparatory exercise, and the students concentrate on finishing up their preparatory doctoral thesis. The preparatory doctoral paper turned in at the end of the semester also becomes a factor to examine whether the student qualifies to officially participate as a collaborator.

　When graduate students pass the exam,、they become an official collaborator from associate, and play a core role in running the project. That means, while systematically promoting the research every day, they are required to accumulate presentations of outcomes at 、seminars and meetings in and out of school.