Previously, the purpose of pursuing doctoral degrees had been considered to deepen researches in graduate schools and to get a position in academia such as universities or research institutes. However, recent rapid technological advancements are drastically increasing the demand of highly specialized doctoral graduates as human resources who support Society 5.0* and pioneer sustainable innovation in all fields of society. Development of such human resources is, however, quite difficult in conventional graduate school education. Therefore, this program was started in 2013 to nurture international leaders who are highly specialized with the excellent comprehensive faculty of different fields and can be active in many fields of society. Through collaborations between the Graduate School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering and other graduate schools, the program provides education and research guidance covering a wide range of academic fields such as life science and materials engineering. To develop a new education system in the advanced graduate schools, this program includes mathematical sciences education and activities that focus on communication in science and technology. A total of 50 students have graduated from the program, and many of them are active in industry as well as in academia.
*: Society 5.0 is a human-centered society that balances economic advancement with the resolution of social problems by a system that highly integrates cyberspace and physical space. It was proposed by Japanese government in the 5th Science and Technology Basic Plan as a future society that Japan should aspire to.