Guidelines for Application
Master's Program in Informatics (Special Selection of Global Individuals in English)
Degree Programs in Comprehensive Human Sciences
Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba
1.

Objectives of Education and Admission Policy
Objectives of Program

Admission Policy

2.

This program aims at providing a comprehensive education at graduate level,
via a multi-disciplinary approach that encompasses fundamental and applied
courses in informatics.
Students are trained to develop research skills in multidisciplinary fields, i.e.,
including managing diverse information resources.
Applicants will be selected based on the following criteria:
1)

Demonstrate adequate English proficiency to perform successfully inInformatics program;

2)

Demonstrate evidence of basic knowledge to perform successfully in ourInformatics program;

3)

Demonstrate genuine interest in studying informatics at graduate level.

Name of Degree
Master of Science in Informatics

3.

Application Schedules(A)

Application period via e-mail: November 20 to December 11, 2019
(Deadline for submission of printed and original documents: December 18, 2019) (See Section 9)(B)

Interview via online video conference (e.g., Skype, Zoom): Specified day during January 23 to 31, 2020
or face-to-face interview at the University of Tsukuba: January 30 or 31, 2020

(C)

Announcement of the final selection results: February 17, 2020

(D)

Program Commencement: October 1, 2020 (further details will be sent upon selection)

4.

Number of Students Accepted: Several

5.

Eligibility of ApplicantsApplicants must meet at least one of the following criteria, in order to apply:

1(A)Having completed 16 years of formal education by the end of September 2020, and graduated from a 4-year
university degree program, or expect to graduate by the end of September 2020.

(B)

Having completing less than 16 years of formal education by the end of September 2020, and graduated from a
3-year graduate-level university program which is (1) certificated by the government, or the certificate authorityof the country, or (2) expect to graduate by the end of September 2020.

(C)

Possessing qualification that is proven (during the screening process) to be equivalent to (A) mentioned above.
Please contact our office no later than November 20, 2019 via contact information stated in Section 7 to inquire
about your eligibility.

6.

Exemption from English Proficiency Testing
Applicants other than those listed below must submit the score of English proficiency tests (TOEIC, TOEFL or IELTS)
described in Section 8-3 that is no more than 2 years old, to serve as evidence of their English proficiency.
(A)

Those whose nationalities connected to countries where English is the SOLE language of instruction (Australia,Bahamas, Barbados, Canada except Québec, England, Ghana, Ireland, India, Jamaica, Kenya, New Zealand,
Nigeria, Scotland, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United States, and Wales).

(B)

Those who have received degrees from the universities accredited by the U.S. Department of Education. If you
are currently enrolled at a university in the United States, you must submit an official transcript or proof of yourdegree status from that institution – in order to qualify for a TOEIC, TOEFL or IELTS waiver. If the officialtranscript or proof cannot be provided, the English proficiency test score is required.

(C)

Those who have received or will receive a degree from an accredited university where English is the SOLE
language of instruction. If you are a degree program candidate in a university, where English is the SOLE
language of instruction, you must submit official verification from that university that English is the SOLE
language of instruction along with your anticipated date of graduation. If the degree or official verification cannot
be provided, the English proficiency test score is required.

7.

Application Procedures
To apply for the program, please send the application documents as described in Section 8 by following the instructions
given in Section 9. The application documents must arrive on or before the deadline.
In advance, each applicant needs to contact a faculty member and get confirmation as your prospective academic
advisor. The faculty member list is available at:
http://www.slis.tsukuba.ac.jp/grad/english/education/faculty_e.html

If you have any questions about the application procedure, please contact us via e-mail at:elis-info@slis.tsukuba.ac.jp

8.

Application Documents

2

The following documents are necessary for completing your application. Please use the specific application forms,
which are distributed together with this guideline.
Payment of examination fee is required before sending your application documents. No late payments will beaccepted. Please note that examination fee will not be refunded after application has been submitted, regardlessof the final results.
Document

Applies toNotes

1Application FormAll

Please fill out Form 1 and attach a photo showing your full face, neckand shoulders in frontal view. Photo must be taken within the last 6months.

2

Certificate of Payment for
Examination Fee

All

Please use Form 3.

Letter ofRecommendation

All

3

Please pay 30,000 Japanese yen before submitting the application
except the Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho: MEXT)
Scholarship students.
See Section8-1 for payment procedure in details.
A Letter of Recommendation from your previous academic advisor(i.e., in an undergraduate program) is required. There is NO specifiedformat.
Please use A4/letter size paper. For details, see Section 8-2.

4(Expected) Graduation
Certificate*All

Please submit a graduation certificate (or an attested document
certifying that you will graduate) issued by a university or anothereducational institution that meets the application requirements for theMaster’s programs of this Graduate School.
Note: Even though you have already earned a Master’s or a Doctoral
Degree, you need to submit a graduation certificate issued by theuniversity, which you have earned your Bachelor’s Degree from.

5Degree Certificate*All

If you have graduated from a university or another educational
institution outside of Japan, please submit the certificate of yourbachelor’s degree.
Note: Even though you have already earned Master’s or Doctoral
Degree, you need to submit a degree certificate issued by a university,
which you have earned your Bachelor’s Degree from.

6Academic Transcript*

AllSubmit an academic transcript (the official transcript of programs
record) issued by a university or another educational institution thatmeets the application requirements for the Master’s programs of thisGraduate School.
If any credits were transferred from another school, please submit anacademic transcript from that school.
If you have completed or will soon complete a graduate-level program,please submit an academic transcript (the official transcript of programs
record) issued by the graduate school also.

3

7Research Plan

8

TOEIC, TOEFL, IELTS
Score orCertificate mentioned inSection 6 (B) and (C)AllDescribe your reasons for applying and your study plan in English (500words maximum). Please use Form 2.

All except thoseindicated inSection 6 (A)Please take the TOEIC, TOEFL or IELTS examination before applying
and include the test score certificate in the application documentation.
For procedures for score notification, see Section 8-3.
The certificate of exemption from English proficiency test must be
provided officially by your university.
*You can submit the score on the examination day.
If the original copy has not been published during application period yet,submission of a printed copy from the official web site of each test isacceptable. In case you do not submit the original copy on theattendance confirmation, you cannot take the face to face interview
examination.
When you want to take the interview through video conference, youneed to send the original copy by the interview date.

Notes:All documents must be written in English (or in Japanese). If the certificates issued by your university are not in English orJapanese, you MUST submit an official notarized translation for non-English documents with the original notary seal affixed(please use A4/letter size).
*The notary seal: To officially notarize the copied document, affixed by authorized public institutions or home university.

8-1.

Payment of Examination Fee
Please pay the examination fee before submitting the application documents. Please pay by (A) credit card or (B)international bank transfer. The specific payment procedures are outlined below.
Note: We recommend you to pay by (A) credit card.
The examination fees are exempted for those who are the Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho:MEXT) Scholarship students.

(A)

Credit card (Visa/MasterCard/JCB/AMERICAN EXPRESS) payments

Please make the payment via the following website on the payment period between November 20, 2019 andDecember 11, 2019.
https://e-shiharai.net/english/index.html
The following instruction is valid only during the payment period.
When you access “Category Selection”, please pay attention to the following points.
1)

Choose “Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences” in the First Selection.

2)

Then, choose “Master, Program Jan. 2020” in the Second Selection.

3)

Finally, choose “Master's Program in Informatics” in the Fourth Selection.

4After the payment process is complete, a “Receipt Number” will be displayed. Please make sure to take a record of
the receipt number, along with the copy of the payment receipt. Then attach the printed copy of the payment receipt
in Form 3.

(B)

International bank transfer
1)

Transfer the 30,000 Japanese yen (JPY) examination fee into the following bank account before
submitting the application documents.

2)

All charges and fees for the money transfer must be paid by the applicant. Please note that Japanesebanks charge a Japanese yen currency exchange fee (about 2,500 JPY). Also, if the transfer is throughanother bank, an additional transfer fee will occur through the routing bank. These fees must also be paidby the applicant. When sending the bank transfer, please inform the transferring bank that “the payer
will pay any and all kind of transfer charges and fees involved in this transaction.”3)

Be sure to secure a receipt of the transfer and attach it to Form 3.
Bank Name:MUFG Bank, LTD.

Branch Name:

HEAD OFFICE

Type of Account:

Ordinary account

Account Number:

7862425

Account Name:
Currency:
SWIFT Code:

8-2.

University of Tsukuba GAKUNOUKINGUCHIJPYBOTKJPJTLetter of Recommendation
A Letter of Recommendation from your previous academic advisor (or the Head of the Department, Dean of theFaculty, etc.) is required for the application. This Letter of Recommendation should be written in either English orJapanese. It must be signed by your previous academic advisor. There is no specified format for this letter ofrecommendation. Please use A4/letter size.

8-3.

Submission of TOEIC, TOEFL or IELTS Score
Enclose an original copy of one of the following test scores issued by the test agency. No copy printing of theTest Score is accepted.
・TOEIC Official Score Certificate: with photo printing
・TOEIC Institutional Program (IP) Score Report
・TOEFL Score Report: copy for test taker with photo printing, issued by ETS・TOEFL ITP Score Record Level 1
・Test Report Form of IELTS (Academic Module)5A test score is valid if it is no more than 2 years old as of November 2019.
* You can submit the score on the examination day.
If the original copy has not been published during application period yet, submission of a printed copy from the official
web site of each test is acceptable. In case you do not submit the original copy on the attendance confirmation, you
cannot take the face to face interview examination.
When you want to take the interview through video conference, you need to send the original copy by the interview
date.
9.

Submission of Application Documents(A)

Submission method1)

Send an e-mail to the address: tosyoss-daigakuin@un.tsukuba.ac.jp, with an attachment file which
includes all scanned application documents (PDF files) except Letter of Recommendation and Certificateof Payment for Examination Fee. Please use the subject “ELIS Application” in the e-mail. We will review
your application and may request some modification on it. Please send the original copies of application
documents only when we complete our review.

2)

Please send all printed application documents and original certificates by registered mail or package withtracking number to the following address by December 18, 2019 after the completion of our review.
Graduate Affairs Section,
Academic Service Office for the Library, Information and Media Sciences
Area
University of Tsukuba
1-2 Kasuga, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
Postal Code: 305-8550
Phone:81- (0) 29-859-1120
Failure to do so will result in disqualification of the application.

3)

You will be notified by e-mail about the receipt of your application.
Please register the e-mail address including “xxx@un.tsukuba.ac.jp” not to end up in spams or anyothers.

(B)

Notes
1)

Please register the e-mail address including “xxx@un.tsukuba.ac.jp” and xxx@slis.tsukuba.ac.jp not toend up in spams or any others.

2)

If any documents are missing or not filled out correctly, your application will not be accepted. Pleasecheck carefully the documentation thoroughly before submission.

3)

Application documents will not be returned.

64)Those who require special considerations for study due to disabilities or other issues should consult with
the University via e-mail to the address: elis-info@slis.tsukuba.ac.jp

5)

If any factual discrepancies are found in the application documents during the application process orafter admission to the University, admission may be revoked.

10.

Selection Method
During the interviews (via video conference or face-to-face), a comprehensive evaluation will be made for English
proficiency, basic knowledge, and interest in studying informatics.
Subject

English (100 points)

Oral Examination (300 points)

Evaluate TOEIC Official Score
Certificate, TOEFL Examinee’s Score
Record or IELTS Test Report Form

You will be expected to give a presentation about yourresearch, and the reasons for applying for the program,based on the research plan which you have submitted (thepresentation within 7 minutes). For the remaining 20
minutes, you will be questioned about the contents of thepresentation and your basic academic skills for the relatedfields.
Note:
A research subject will be formally determined with youracademic advisor’s consultation after enrollment.

(Note)
Scores of TOEIC, TOEFL and IELTS are evaluated based on the reference scores shown below. A score equal to or
over the reference score is evaluated as perfect. And you will be given a perfect rating if you satisfy the qualification
mentioned in the Section 6 (A), (B) or (C).

11.

TOEICⓇ

TOEFL-iBT

IELTS

830

94

6.5

Announcement of Examination’s Result
All applicants will be notified via EMS regarding the result -- on the announcement day of the examination results, andalso by e-mail as a matter of convenience. “Documents Required for Enrollment” will be sent to all the successful
applicants. See Section 3 for the date of the announcement of the final selection results.

12.

Enrollment Procedures(A) Documents Required for Enrollment

7An admission package includes documents required for enrollment would be sent until the end of June, 2020.
(B) Enrollment Period
1)Students must accept the offer of enrollment by the end of August 2020 (further details will be sent uponselection).

2)

Send all documents required for enrollment before the deadline.

(C) Fee and Waiver1)

The admission fee is 282,000 JPY

2)

The tuition is 535,800 JPY / Year.

3)

If the tuition is revised at the time of admission or while students are enrolled, the updated tuition fee will
be applied only to the subsequent payments after the time of revision.

4)

Application documents for the admission fee waiver will be enclosed in the admission package.

5)

The University offers full or partial tuition waivers to students who, for reasons of financial difficulty, aredeemed eligible.

6)

13.

Students can apply for the tuition waiver only after they have enrolled in the program.

Handling of Personal Information(A)

Personal information provided to the University of Tsukuba through the application documents will be used

exclusively for selection purposes.
(B)

14.

Personal information from tuition waiver application documents will be used during the selection process.

Security Export Control
University of Tsukuba has established the University of Tsukuba Rules on Security Export Control in accordancewith the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act, and conducts strict examinations for acceptance of international
students, etc. International applicants who fall under any of the conditions set out in said regulations may be unable toenter their desired course or program.

(November 11, 2019)(Revised November 21, 2019)8