Characteristics of the Functional Biosciences Program

The Doctoral Program in Functional Biosciences covers a wide range of research fields concerning the fundamental principles of life at the level of molecules, organelles, cells and whole organism, such as molecular biology, genome informatics, cell biology, plant physiology and metabolism, plant developmental biology, neurosciences and reproductive molecular signaling. Major research topics are, for example, apoptosis, signal transduction of neuron networks, the molecule-molecule interaction of RNA-binding proteins, regulation of carbon metabolism, cell to cell interaction, genetics of mitochondrial DNA, cardiac pacemakers, mitochondrial DNA diseases, plant cell and genetic engineering, and molecular mechanism of fertilization. These studies are conducted in many model species, from bacteria to higher organisms, by applying the most up-to-date knowledge and technologies, especially gene manipulation and genomics. Our educational goal is to achieve high quality of education with cultivating the abilities needed for active and successful international competition and cooperation.

Considering that the 21st Century is the Age of Bioscience, our courses are organized to integrate inter-disciplinary research fields of life science; the curriculum is thus designed for cultivating student's ability to solve a wide range of biological problems with an inter-disciplinary approach, enabling them to gain insight into sophisticated biological systems. Our program consists of four major disciplines, namely "molecular and genetic networks" and "cell functions" in molecular and cellular systems, and "neuroscience" and "development" in life systems.

The requirement for residence in the Doctoral Program is basically 3 years, but students who have excellent publications and high motivation, talent and research ability are encouraged to obtain a degree in less than 3 years. The table below summarizes the faculty and their major research fields in this doctoral program. In addition to study on the main campus, students may also study under the supervision of guest professors who are in some public and private institutions in and around Tsukuba in the Cooperative Graduate School System.

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