The objectives and courses differ greatly between the Master’s Program and Doctoral Program. The objective of the Master’s Program is to learn about the fundamentals of undertaking research by progressing one’s own research through following the schedule detailed in the program. In contrast to this, the Doctoral Program requests a more self-directed approach to completing one’s own research with the courses set out by the schedule being minimal. Students will experience the series of processes from drafting a research plan, to making contributions to the academic community, and the objective is for them to become able to carry out activities as world-class researchers and practitioners.

The differences in the objectives of these programs can even be seen in one of the distinctive features of our graduate school’s courses, “projects”. In “project execution” for the Master’s Program, the professor takes the lead in drafting, managing and carrying out the project, and through participation the students can learn about its implementation. On the other hand, in “project research” for the Doctoral Program, students draft the project and carry out the project under the guidance of a professor. The experiences that can be gained fundamentally differ, from participating and learning in a premade framework, to having to personally design a framework and carry out the project. It is in this way that the objectives, and courses differ greatly between the Master’s Program and the Doctoral Program.

Furthermore, having a doctorate’s degree is not only a prerequisite to be recognized as a researcher, but it can also be expected to provide more opportunities than a master’s degree in relation to various aspects of international activities. For the time being, we recommend even people who are deliberating only to do the Master’s Program, to consider also doing the Doctoral Program.