• AY 2023 Post-Master's Research Student / Doctoral Research Student Application Guidelines
• AY 2023 Application for Post-Master's Research Student/ Doctoral Research Student
• Pledge Statement & Consent to Use of Personal Information (Post-Doctoral)
• Pledge Statement & Consent to Use of Personal Information (Post-Master)

The Graduate School of Policy Science (GSPS), Ritsumeikan University (RU), will recruit master's course students from overseas for September 2023 enrollment accompanied by the Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho; MEXT) University Recommendation Scholarship.

Application Guidelines and Forms for MEXT University Recommendation Scholarship-based admissions procedures for Sep 2023 enrollment are now online. Please click here to check the information.

Graduate School of Policy Science (GSPS) Application Guidelines and Application Form click here Application Period: Dec 1, 2022 - Dec 22, 2022

The curriculum at GSPS is characterized by its focus on training graduate students who are poised to implement public policy development and practice in a comprehensive manner through participatory research and evidence-based policymaking. This is most clearly borne out in the "Master’s Program to Foster Leading Moderators for Co-creating Regional Development." This English-taught educational program fuses academic and scientific research theory with practical knowledge based on participatory research performed in actual policymaking contexts. This enables students to develop problem-solving skills to challenge complex policy science issues associated with regional development.

• AY2023 Ritsumeikan University Graduate School Readmission Examination Gudelines
• Request for Readmission
• Doctral Dissertation Writing Plan
• Master's Thesis Progress Report and Plan for Completion
• Doctoral Dissertation Progress Report and Plan for Completion

Would you like to join the Open Seminar of Research Project?

Graduate School of Policy Science (GSPS) offers a class called "Research Project" as a core aspect of our research guidance. The class consists of faculty members from different fields of academic research as well as graduate students who are organized into research teams.

The Open Seminar of the “Research Project” of GSPS will be held for two weeks in mid-November during Graduate School Week at Ritsumeikan University. It will provide a great opportunity to experience what the research guidance of the Graduate School is like as it will be conducted in the same way as a normal class on campus would be held. We hope that you will join us!

The 5th period class will be held from 16:20 to 17:50 and the 6th period class will be held from 18:00 to 19:30.
Face-to-face or online observations are available.

Advance Registration is Required!

To those who wish to participate in the Open Seminar, please email us with the following information.

“Name”, “Affiliation”, “Research Project Title you wish to participate”, “Preferred Language”, “Preferred Date”, “Preferred Period”, “Participation Method (Classroom/Online)”.

Email: gsps-adm(at)st.ritsumei.ac.jp ※Please replace (at)with @.
We will provide specific instructions on how to participate in the classroom or online (Zoom) later.

Application Period

• To those who wish to participate on Nov.9(Wed)・Nov.10(Thu),
  please apply by Nov.7 (Mon), 9:00 am.
• To those who wish to participate on Nov.16 (Wed)・Nov.17 (Thu),
  Please apply by Nov.14 (Mon), 9:00am.

please click here (only available in Japanese)

The Spring 2022 Ritsumeikan University Graduate Schools Admission Guidance Fair will be held online via Zoom.

The Graduate School of Policy Science Fair will consist of 2 sessions, and the date and time will be on 5/20(Fri) 18:00-, 6/11(Sat) 10:30-.
Faculty members and current students of the Graduate School of Policy Science will answer your questions, so we hope that you will be able to join us.

You need to apply in advance for each session. For more details, please refer to the website.

Ritsumeikan University Graduate School Entrance Examination Information Website Ritsumeikan University Graduate Schools Admission Guidance Fair

• AY 2022 Post-Master’s Research Student / Doctoral Research Student Application Guidelines
• AY 2022 Application for Post-Master's Research Student/ Doctoral Research Student
• Pledge Statement ＆ Consent to Use of Personal Information(Post-Doctoral)
• Pledge Statement ＆ Consent to Use of Personal Information(Post-Master)

The Graduate School of Policy Science (GSPS), Ritsumeikan University (RU), will recruit master's course students from overseas for September 2022 enrollment accompanied by the Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho; MEXT) University Recommendation Scholarship.

Application Guidelines and Forms for MEXT University Recommendation Scholarship-based admissions procedures for Sep 2022 enrollment are now online. Please click here to check the information.

Graduate School of Policy Science (GSPS) Application Guidelines and Application Form click here
Application Period: Dec 7, 2021 - Jan 11, 2022

The curriculum at GSPS is characterized by its focus on training graduate students who are poised to implement public policy development and practice in a comprehensive manner through participatory research and evidence-based policymaking. This is most clearly borne out in the "Master’s Program to Foster Leading Moderators for Co-creating Regional Development." This English-taught educational program fuses academic and scientific research theory with practical knowledge based on participatory research performed in actual policymaking contexts. This enables students to develop problem-solving skills to challenge complex policy science issues associated with regional development.

The Graduate School of Policy Science (GSPS), Ritsumeikan University (RU), will recruit master's course students from overseas for September 2022 enrollment accompanied by the Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho; MEXT) University Recommendation Scholarship. Please click here to check last year’s Application Guidelines as reference. This year’s application is scheduled to be announced on Tuesday, December 7, 2021. The application period will be from Tuesday, December 7, 2021 to Tuesday, January 11, 2022.

Detailed information as reference (Last year’s version):

• Scholarship description
• Application guidelines

The curriculum at GSPS is characterized by its focus on training graduate students who are poised to implement public policy development and practice in a comprehensive manner through participatory research and evidence-based policymaking. This is most clearly borne out in the "Master’s Program to Foster Leading Moderators for Co-creating Regional Development." This English-taught educational program fuses academic and scientific research theory with practical knowledge based on participatory research performed in actual policymaking contexts. This enables students to develop problem-solving skills to challenge complex policy science issues associated with regional development.

Would you like to join the Open Seminar of Research Project?

Graduate School of Policy Science (GSPS) offers a class called "Research Project" as a core aspect of our research guidance. The class consists of faculty members from different fields of academic research as well as graduate students who are organized into research teams.

The Open Seminar of the “Research Project” of GSPS will be held for two weeks in mid-November during Graduate School Week at Ritsumeikan University. It will provide a great opportunity to experience what the research guidance of the Graduate School is like as it will be conducted in the same way as a normal class on campus would be held. We hope that you will join us!

The 5th period class will be held from 16:20 to 17:50 and the 6th period class will be held from 18:00 to 19:30.
In principle, Ritsumeikan University-enrolled Students are required to observe in the classroom, and other participants are required to observe online.
* III. The “Cross-Sectoral Area and Media Studies” project will be conducted online for both enrolled-students of Ritsumeikan University and other participants.

Advance Registration is Required!

To those who wish to participate in the Open Seminar, please email us with the following information.
“Name”, “Affiliation”, “Research Project Title you wish to participate”, “Preferred Language”, “Preferred Date”, “Preferred Time”, “Participation Method (Classroom/Online)”.
Email: gsps-adm(at)st.ritsumei.ac.jp ※Please replace (at)with @.
We will provide specific instructions on how to participate in the classroom or online (Zoom) later.

Application Period

• To those who wish to participate on Nov.10(Wed)・Nov.11(Thu), please apply by Nov.8 (Mon), 9:00 am.
• To those who wish to participate on Nov.17 (Wed)・Nov.18 (Thu), Please apply by Nov.15 (Mon), 9:00am.

Find out what research projects you can participate in!

The composition of the faculty members of each research project and the topics they are working on that you can participate in are as follows.

Ⅶ. “Regional Planning, Community and Housing” Research Project

Faculty Members: Prof. TAKAMURA Gakuto, Prof. YOSHIDA Tomohiko, Associate Prof. SHIKI Kimiko

Representative Works in recent years:

• TAKAMURA, Gakuto et als. (2021) "Bundle of Rights Reversed: Anticommons in a Japanese Common Property Forest Due to Legalization". International Journal of the Commons, 15(1), pp. 259–275 http://doi.org/10.5334/ijc.1080
• Yoshida, T. 2020. Factors Affecting Close Proximity of Older Parents and their Adult Children in Japan. Academic Bulletin of the Asia-Japan Research Institute of Ritsumeikan University, Vol.1, pp1-12, https://doi.org/10.34389/asiajapanbulletin.14

*The composition of research projects will change by Academic Year.
*This composition is for the fall semester of the 2021 academic year.

Inquiry

The Administrative Office of Graduate School of Policy Science
gsps-adm(at)st.ritsumei.ac.jp
※Please replace (at) with @.

The Graduate School of Policy Science cordially welcomes Fall 2021 new students!

They include the first cohort of students enrolled in the Master’s Program to Foster Leading Moderators for Co-creating Regional Development and the transfer students from the Indonesia Linkage Master's Degree Program of the Ministry of National Development Planning, Indonesia.
Entrance ceremony and orientation for these students have been held in-person in combination with online on September 24 and 25.

The Master’s Program to Foster Leading Moderators for Co-creating Regional Development is a newly established English-taught educational program, which fuses academic and scientific research theory with practical knowledge based on participatory research performed in actual policymaking contexts. One of the unique aspects of the program is the central role played by the participatory research, in which graduate students spend a predetermined amount of time conducting on-site work on intrinsic policymaking issues faced by local governments or NPOs in Japan.

The program was adopted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) as one of “The International Priority Graduate Programs (PGP)–Advanced Graduate Courses for International Students-” in 2020. Selected students from overseas, especially from (but not limited to) Southeast Asian countries, are awarded Japanese Government (MEXT) University Recommendation Scholarship. The next application (Fall 2022 Enrollment) will be open in December 2021.

The Spring 2021 Ritsumeikan University Graduate Schools Admission Guidance Fair will be held online via Zoom.

The Graduate School of Policy Science Fair will consist of 3 sessions, and the date and time will be on 5/10 (Mon) 18:00-, 5/21(Fri) 18:00-, 6/6 (Sun) 14:00-.

Faculty members from the Graduate School will be available to answer any questions you might have. Current graduate students and alumni may be in attendance as well. We hope that you will be able to join us.

You need to apply in advance for each session. For more details, please refer to the website.

https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/gr/exam_event/briefing/eng/index.html/

• AY 2021 Post-Master’s Research Student / Doctoral Research Student Application Guidelines
• AY 2021 Application for Post-Master's Research Student/ Doctoral Research Student
• Pledge Statement ＆ Consent to Use of Personal Information(Post-Doctoral)
• Pledge Statement ＆ Consent to Use of Personal Information(Post-Master)

The Graduate School of Policy Science (GSPS), Ritsumeikan University, is pleased to anounce that we are launching the "Master's Program to Foster Leading Moderators for Co-creating Regional Development" in September 2021. We are recruiting MEXT University Recommendation Scholarship applicants who are willing to newly enter Japan to enroll in this Program.

GSPS has provided English-taught courses including "Participatory Case Research Analysis," "Social Survey Data Archive Analysis," and "Policy Case Reading," where research has been pursued through participatory survey methodologies and evidence-based policymaking. We are launching a new participatory research subject, "Regional Co-Creation Study," which is geared at graduate students in the English language track. This is being formulated into a full-fledged program with a global outlook, titled the "Co-creating Regional Development Course Subjects." The Program fuses academic and scientific research theory with practical knowledge based on participatory research performed in actual policymaking contexts. This enables students to develop and deploy problem-solving skills to challenge complex policy science issues. The Program would be suitable especially for students from ASEAN states but applications from other countries are not limited.

• Scholarship description
• Application guidelines

• 【GS】AY2021 Readmission Examination Guidelines
• Request for Readmission
• Doctoral Dissertation Writing Plan

The Graduate School of Policy Science (GSPS) is organizing the event below in Nov, 2020 to help Undergraduate students understand what graduate school is like. This is an opportunity to experience a seminar from the GSPS.

Would you like to join the Open Seminar of Research Project?

GSPS offers a class called "Research Project" as a core aspect of our research guidance. The class consists of faculty members from different fields of academic research as well as graduate students who are organized into research teams.

The Open Seminar of the “research project” of GSPS will be held for two weeks in mid-November during Graduate School Week at Ritsumeikan University. It will be a great opportunity to experience what Graduate school is like as it will be conducted in the same way as a normal class on campus would be held. We hope that you will join us!

Find out what research projects you can participate in!

The composition of the faculty members of each research project and the topics they are working on that you can participate in are as follows.

Ⅰ．"Resilience and Sustainability" Research Project

Associate Prof. TOYODA, Associate Prof. SAKURAI Ryo, Prof. TAKAO, Prof. KANEGAE
Date and Time
Nov.11 (Wed) 16:20～17:50 (English), 18:00～19:30 (English)
Nov.18 (Wed) 16:20～17:50 (Japanese), 18:00～19:30 (Japanese)

Ⅱ．"Area Management and Public Policy" Research Project

Prof. MORI Hiroyuki, Prof. HIRAOKA, Prof. ISHIKAWA, Prof. KOSUGI, Prof. OBATA
Date and Time
Nov.11 (Wed) 16:20～17:50 (English), 18:00～19:30 (Japanese)
Nov.18 (Wed) 16:20～17:50 (Japanese), 18:00～19:30 (English)

Ⅲ． "Pluralistic Welfare and Economic Society" Research Project

Prof. OTSUKA, Prof. KAMIKUBO, Prof. SAKANISHI, Prof. SAKURAI Masanari
Date and Time
Nov.12 (Thu) 16:20～17:50 (English), 18:00～19:30 (English)
Nov.19 (Thu) 16:20～17:50 (Japanese), 18:00～19:30 (Japanese)

Ⅳ． "Politics and Law" Research Project

Prof. MORI Michiya, Prof. SHIGEMORI, Prof. TABAYASHI, Prof. TSAY, Associate Prof. FUJII, Prof. YAMAMOTO, Prof. SATOH
Date and Time
Nov.12 (Thu) 16:20～17:50 (Japanese), 18:00～19:30 (Japanese)
Nov.19 (Thu) 16:20～17:50 (Japanese), 18:00～19:30 (English)

Ⅴ．"Public Policy in Asia" Research Project

Prof. KISHI, Associate Prof. FUNAHASHI, Prof. NISHIMURA, Prof. KAMIKO, Associate Prof. KAKUMOTO
Date and Time
Nov.12 (Thu) 16:20～17:50 (English), 18:00～19:30 (Japanese)
Nov.19 (Thu) 16:20～17:50 (Japanese), 18:00～19:30 (English)

Ⅵ．"Global Governance and Energy Environmental Policy" Research Project

Prof. ZHOU Weisheng, Prof. MIYAWAKI
Date and Time
Nov.12 (Thu) 16:20～17:50 (Japanese), 18:00～19:30 (Japanese)
Nov.19 (Thu) 16:20～17:50 (Japanese), 18:00～19:30 (Japanese)

Ⅶ．"Regional Planning, Community and Housing" Research Project

Prof. TAKAMURA, Prof. YOSHIDA
Date and Time
Nov.12 (Thu) 16:20～17:50 (English)
Nov.19 (Thu) 16:20～17:50 (Japanese)

*The composition of research projects will change by Academic Year.
*This composition is for the fall semester of the 2020 academic year.

Sign up for the Open Seminar!

The Open seminar will be conducted by Zoom.
The URL of Zoom will be sent to those who applied to participate in the Open Seminar.
You are required to apply in advance.
To those who wish to participate in the Open Seminar, please email us with the following information.
・ “Name”, “Affiliation”, “Research Project Title you wish to participate”, “Preferred Language”, “Preferred Date”, “Preferred Time”.
・ Email: gsps-adm(at)st.ritsumei.ac.jp ※Please replace (at)with @.

Application Period

1）To those who wish to participate on Nov.11(Wed)・Nov.12(Thu), please apply by Nov.4 (Wed)
2) To those who wish to participate on Nov.18 (Wed)・Nov.19 (Thu), Please apply by Nov.11(Wed).

Inquiry

The Administrative Office of Graduate School of Policy Science
gsps-adm(at)st.ritsumei.ac.jp
※Please replace (at) with @.

The master's degree conferral ceremony of Graduate School of Policy Science (GSPS) in the fall of AY 2020 was held on face-to-face basis taking infection prevention measures in Osaka Ibaraki Campus while the university-wide graduation ceremony was held on the Internet.

On Tuesday, 22nd of September, 17 students were awarded a degree of Master of Arts in Policy Science.
After a congratulatory speech from Professor Hiroyuki Mori, Dean of GSPS, diplomas were handed to each of 15 attendees out of the 17 new graduates.
We would like to pay tribute to them who continued their research and completed their master's thesis even in the severe situation where their activities were restricted due to the spread of infectious diseases during the last six months of their studies.

Dear Students of the Graduate School of Policy Science:

You may have been affected in a variety of ways with the spread of the novel coronavirus worldwide. We recognize that some students are currently outside of Japan and will not be able to enter Japan for some time.

At Ritsumeikan University, classes for about one month after the start of the Spring Semester of 2020 will be conducted on the Web instead of face-to-face, allowing students to study anywhere. Please register for the courses online even if you cannot return to Japan as of April. The manner of instruction and supervision in the subsequent period will be announced as soon as it is decided.

You will register for and take courses mainly through a Web-based tool called manaba+R. Please log in manaba+R frequently to check the latest information. Not only course instruction but also important announcements from the graduate school will be communicated through manaba+R.

Research guidance will be provided by various electronic communication means such as e-mail and video conferencing systems in addition to manaba+R, depending on the supervisors. All faculty members of the Graduate School of Policy Science will make every effort to minimize the impacts of this thorny situation on your journey to writing up your dissertation. We hope that you will work closely with your supervisor and manage to steadily advance your research.

The Policy Science Workshop scheduled to be held in April is postponed to May as it is not suitable for electronic communication (detailed procedures will be announced on manaba+R as soon as they are determined).

If you have any difficulties in receiving guidance via electronic communication, please contact the Graduate School Office. We hope that the spread of infection will converge as soon as possible and that we will be able to provide face-to-face guidance as usual. Please take care of yourself and your family. Protect yourself from infection.

April 1, 2020
Prof. Hiroyuki Mori, Dean, Graduate School of Policy Science, Ritsumeikan University