Introduction
The Data Sciences Program (DSP)II started on October 2018 as one of the “International
Priority Graduate Programs (PGP) - Advanced Graduate Courses for International Students - ”
supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, and Technology (MEXT).
Main purpose of this program is to develop highly-specialized global human resource of data
science contributing to construction of social, life, and environmental foundations. The programis designed to acquire not only basic knowledge and skills of data science based on computerscience, fundamental mathematics, and engineering, but also practical skills for discovery andsolving the real world problems in life sciences, economics, biomedical engineering and others.
Graduate School of Information Sciences (GSIS) conducts this program in collaboration withgraduate schools of Life Sciences, Economics and Management, and Biomedical Engineering in
Tohoku University. The courses will mainly be given in English except for some optional subjects
to learn Japanese language and culture.

ProgramDSPII consists of a graduate program combining 2-year Master’s and 3-year Doctor’s course.
Students should be affiliated with one of the four graduate schools: Graduate Schools ofInformation Sciences (GSIS), Life Sciences, Economics and Management, and BiomedicalEngineering. Primary mentor and sub mentor are assigned to every student participating DSPII
for supervising their learning and research. The primary mentor is the supervisor of the student
in her/his affiliated graduate school, and the sub mentor is the professor/associate professor has
been matched to the student from GSIS. The course curriculum is organized as follows:

Master’s course(1) Lectures
i. Specialized subjects provided by the affiliated graduate school.
ii. Fundamental subjects to learn information law and ethics for the treatment of big data.
iii. Interdisciplinary subjects designated to data science: sensing, storage, computation/analysis, data mining/discovery and solving the real world problems(2) Practical training and internshipi. Training Camp to develop computational
ability of big dataii. Internship in industries(3) Writing a master thesis supervised by the mentors

1Doctor’s course(1) Advanced seminars: Data science-related
meetings, symposia, and conferences assignedby DSPII(2) Big data challenge: Project-based learning basedon knowledge and skills of data science(3) Writing doctor thesis supervised by the mentors

Eligibility for DSPII 2020
Applicant must be an excellent student newly coming from abroad to study as a graduatelevel foreign student.

Applicant must have earned over 2.3 evaluation point average of their latest two-year’s
academic grade based on the specialized calculation (see note [1]).

Applicant must be able to leave for and arrive in Japan by the beginning of October, 2020.

Applicant for DSPII need to satisfy one of the following conditions:
For 5 years Master’s and Doctor’s Course Applicanti) Those who have graduated, or will graduate, from a university, that is, completion of a
total of 16 years of school education by September 30, 2020 (see note [2]).
ii) Those who have reached 22 years of age by September 30, 2020 and can be recognized tohave an academic ability equivalent or superior to those who have graduated from auniversity based on individual qualification examinations.

For 3 years Doctor’s Course Applicanti) Those who have earned, or will earn, Master’s degree by September 30, 2020.
ii) Those who have engaged in research activities for at least 2 years at an educational orresearch institution after graduation from a university and can be recognized to have anacademic ability equivalent or superior to those who have earned Master’s degree on thebasis of their research performance.
iii) Those who have reached 24 years of age by September 30, 2020 and can be recognized
to have scholastic ability equivalent or superior to those who have earned Master’s
degree based on individual qualification examinations.

2Notes[1] The calculation procedure of the evaluate point average
Scale

Grade4-scale evaluation

ABCF

100-80

79-70

69-60

59-SABCDABCDF

100-90

89-80

79-70

69-60

59-Evaluation Point332

10

Number of your total credit

N4N3N2N1N05-scale evaluation

Evaluation Point =(𝑁4 + 𝑁3) × 3 + 𝑁2 × 2 + 𝑁1 × 1
𝑁4 + 𝑁3 + 𝑁2 + 𝑁1 + 𝑁0

[2] The term “graduated from a university” means a total of 16 years of educational programs,
which consists of 12 years of school education and a 4 years undergraduate (bachelor)
program.

e.g. Educational programs in Japan:
Elementary (primary) school...................

6 years

Junior high (secondary) school................

3 years

Senior high (higher secondary) school....

3 years

University (undergraduate) ....................

4 years --------------

12 years
total 16 years

Financial Support
Japanese government (MEXT) scholarship will be available for excellent students who intend
to be actively engaged in the DSPII program and contribute to its objectives. A monthly
stipend is available; the detail and other information are listed below. Awardees of thescholarship will be selected from the candidates who are successful in the DSPII screening.
The MEXT scholarship scheme applies only to those who live outside of Japan at the time ofapplication and were born on or after April 2, 1985.
(a) Exemption from Application, Admission and Tuition fees(b) Monthly stipend: 146,000 JPY for 2 years in Master’s course.
(c) Flight tickets between the applicant's country of nationality and Japan* Self-financed students are also encouraged to participate in DSPII.

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For Master and Doctor: 5 years course
Number of recipient as the candidate ofMEXT scholarship: 4 studentsTerm of the scholarship: 2-years in Master’scourse.
Kindly note that we cannot guarantee
the financial support when you go onto yourDoctor's course at the moment because ofthe termination of scholarship program.
Please contact DSPII Admissions Office tosee what kind of support can be considered.
For Doctor: 3 years course
Please contact DSPII Admissions Office to see what kind of support can be considered.

Application
Application period-Pre-application period: January 6, 2020 - January 17, 2020
-Deadline of Application: January 29, 2020-Notification Period: Middle of April, 2020-Program begins on October 1, 2020 (Fall semester, 2020)

How to Apply
Step 1: Find the candidate of your prospective supervisor among the faculty member in thefield of your interest.
Application will not be accepted without the consent of your prospective supervisor. Notethat the supervisor must be a professor or an associate professor in one of the graduate
schools of DSPII.
To look for the faculty member, refer to the following websites:· Graduate School of Information Sciences<http://www.is.tohoku.ac.jp/en/laboratory/list_dept/>
Graduate School of Life Sciences<http://www.lifesci.tohoku.ac.jp/en/research/>· Graduate School of Economics and Management*<https://www.econ.tohoku.ac.jp/english/index.html>

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· Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering<http://www.bme.tohoku.ac.jp/english/>[Attention]
The applicants of Graduate School of Economics and Management need to prepare not
only the required documents for DSPII but also the following required documents (see thefollowing URL), then submit them (or the both) to the DSPII Admission office.
・GPEM_Required documents
http://is.tohoku.ac.jp/_eng/dsp2/form/DSP2020/GPEM/GPEM_Required_documents.pdf
・GPEM_Pledge_EN
http://is.tohoku.ac.jp/_eng/dsp2/form/DSP2020/GPEM/GPEM_Pledge_EN.pdf

Step 2: Contact directly to the candidate of your prospective supervisor via e-mail andrequest the consent of acceptanceTo contact the faculty member, it is strongly advisable to:- Gather information about the faculty member and their field of research by looking attheir publications, research papers, and personal website.
- Provide your academic background and application information.
- Inform the name of your current or the latest supervisor as a reference.

Important!
After getting the consent, you must ask your prospective supervisor to send a notification ofacceptance by e-mail to DSPII Admissions Office (ilo@is.tohoku.ac.jp) (and to your e-mailaddress as Carbon Copy (CC) if you want).
A sample of the notification of acceptance as a candidate (PDF) (WORD)

Step 3: Fill out the Pre-application form in the period of January 6, 2020 – January 17, 2020
*The online system “Pre-application” will be open on January 6, 2020
Please check the DSPII website when the period starts[Attention]
You must have the consent of acceptance from your prospective supervisor to do the Preapplication

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Step 4: Send all of the required documents (original) via air mail to DSPII Admissions Office byJanuary 29, 2020.

<Required documents>

1) Application for admission: Form A (PDF) (WORD)*ID Photo should be pasted not stapled and have your name on the back2) Two recommendation letters from different references: Form B x2 (PDF) (WORD)*Do not open the recommendation letter

3) Application for Japanese government (MEXT) scholarship: Form C (PDF) (EXCEL)*Duplex printing*ID Photo should be pasted not stapled and have your name on the back4) Field of Study and Research Plan: Form D (PDF) (WORD)*Duplex printing5) Official recommendation letter from the dean or higher level of your last institute:
Form E (PDF) (WORD)*Do not open the recommendation letter

6) Official academic transcript(s)Doctor’s course applicant: official academic transcripts of undergraduate and master’scourseMaster’s + Doctor’s course applicant: official academic transcript of undergraduate
7) Certificate(s) of graduation
Doctor’s course applicant: one of the followings is necessary to submit.
・Photocopy of master’s diploma
・Certificate of graduation of master’s course
・Certificate of enrollment of master’s course with expecting date of graduation
Master’s + Doctor’s course applicant: one of the followings is necessary to submit.
・Photocopy of bachelor’s diploma
・Certificate of graduation of undergraduate
・Certificate of enrollment of undergraduate course with expecting date of graduation
8) Photocopy of a valid score report of designated English test as below
・TOEFL (iBT or PBT)・IELTS・TOEIC(R) Test

*We do not accept TOEFL-ITP*Unnecessary for native English speakers6*Applicants of Graduate School of Economics and Management should follow thedirection “GPEM_Required Documents” in “Step 1”.
9) Photocopy of your passport or other identification documents
10) Abstracts of thesis of undergraduate and master’s course (if applicable)
11) Other supporting materials12) 3 extra ID photos (4×3cm (1.6"×1.2"))*Write your name on the back[Attention]— Do not alter the prescribed format of the download files. Attach an additional sheet ifnecessary.
— Forms should be typed in English. Attach an English translation of the documentswritten in a language other than English.
— Any of the application documents will not be returned to the applicant.

SelectionThe DSPII selection consists of the documents screening and the Skype interview. You will be
informed the detail from the examining committee via e-mail after the application deadline.
The result of the selection (DSPII admission and MEXT scholarship nomination) will beannounced by the middle of April from the DSPII Admissions Office although the final result ofMEXT scholarship will be announced in July, 2020.

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Contact Information
DSPII Admissions Office
Graduate School of Information Sciences, Tohoku University
Room 413, 6-3-09 Aramaki-aza-Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579
JAPANE-mail: ilo@is.tohoku.ac.jp

Tel: +81-22-795-4691*Those who are inquiring by e-mail, please: Include "DSPII" in the subject line.
Related Websites
Tohoku University-Academic research staff at Tohoku University <http://db.tohoku.ac.jp/whois/TunvTopE.html>- Websites of Graduate Schools of DSPIIInformation Sciences <http://www.is.tohoku.ac.jp/index-e.html>
Life Sciences <http://www.lifesci.tohoku.ac.jp/en/>
Economics and Management<https://www.econ.tohoku.ac.jp/english/page-graduate.html>
Biomedical Engineering <http://www.bme.tohoku.ac.jp/english/>- Fee Waivers and Deferment of Payments <http://www2.he.tohoku.ac.jp/menjo/>
Supports for International Students- Tohoku University International Support Office (TU Support)<http://sup.bureau.tohoku.ac.jp/index_en.html>- Global Learning Center, Tohoku University<http://www.insc.tohoku.ac.jp/cms/index-e.cgi>- Tohoku University Guide for Prospective International Students<https://www.insc.tohoku.ac.jp/japanese/wpcontent/uploads/2019/03/TohokuUniversityGuide-2019-2020.pdf>- Pocket guide for Procedures International Students<http://sup.bureau.tohoku.ac.jp/images/PocketGuide.pdf>
Others- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)<http://www.mext.go.jp/english/>8