Educational Policy

Objectives for Human Resource Development and Education & Research

IPS aims to develop prospective researchers and engineers who can solve complicated contemporary technical problems and create new value by utilizing deep insight and advanced knowledge in both real-world applications and academic research. IPS has three main research areas: Information Architecture, Production Systems, and Integrated Systems. Through education and research at IPS, you are expected to acquire fundamental and applied knowledge, advanced expertise, as well as core competencies including information literacy and problem-identification skills, logical thinking and problem-solving skills, and practical leadership and international communication skills. In Kitakyushu where IPS is based, new industries such as the automotive, robotics, and environmental industries are expanding. By participating in joint research with companies and national projects and by applying research results, you can enjoy the real pleasure of research and development. IPS will disseminate world-class research results from Kitakyushu.

From Kitakyushu, developing advanced engineers to support global manufacturing

Think Global

A new knowledge hub open to the Asia-Pacific region

Economic globalization demands an approach to manufacturing that considers the whole world. IPS, as a state-of-the-art hub for education and research in the Asia-Pacific region, develops highly specialized engineers needed in a globalized era.

A Cosmopolitan Research Community with a Large International Student Population

Many international students from various countries in Asia and other regions are enrolled in IPS. It is a multicultural environment where interaction among people from different cultural and intellectual backgrounds naturally fosters an international perspective.

Research Exchange with Leading Overseas Universities, Research Institutes, and Industry

IPS actively promotes partnerships and research exchange with leading overseas universities, research institutes, and companies.

Act Local

Education and research that draw on Kitakyushu’s manufacturing tradition

Kitakyushu City has a manufacturing tradition that goes back more than 100 years. More recently, the city has actively fostered the development of a state-of-the-art system LSI industry. IPS takes a distinctive approach to education and research by drawing on the advanced technologies and know-how accumulated in the region.

Developing Practice-Oriented Engineers through Industry Collaboration

The region’s industries possess a wealth of talent and practical experience. IPS applies this know-how to practice-oriented education, while also offering continuing education programs that enable working professionals to move between industry and graduate study.

Industry–Academia–Government Collaboration to Create New Regional Industries

IPS feeds back its research outcomes to the region and contributes to the creation of new industries.

Policy on the Acceptance of New Students (Admission Policy)

We seek students from inside and outside the country who understand the guiding principles of Waseda University, “Independence of Learning,” “Practical Utilization of Knowledge,” and “To Create Good Citizenship,” and have the determination and ability to learn and conduct research aiming to solve issues and create value.
・Students with sufficient basic knowledge, sharp intellectual curiosity, and an interest in study and research with a sense of purpose
・Students who understand the research ethics and the social impact of engineering and information technology, and aim to become researchers and engineers who can resolve social problems and create added value
・Students who aim to become researchers and engineers who rely not only on basic and elemental technologies, but also integrate them in complex ways and resolve difficult issues through systems thinking
・Students who resolve problems from a global perspective, and aim to become researchers and engineers who can contribute to developing local regions

In order to admit a diverse student body with the determination and ability to achieve these goals, the entrance exams for our master’s program include a general examination aimed at Japanese students, foreign students, and professionals as well as a work force entrance exam targeting professionals who have already made existing accomplishments when they apply. We also practice recommendation exams, based on recommendations from partner institutions of learning, to actively admit excellent students from both within and outside the country. The recommendation exams, operating in cooperation with specialized high school programs from around the country and top-class universities mainly in Asia, admit talented students with skills as researchers and engineers from both within and outside the country. Our doctorate program adhere to the entrance examination methods above, admitting talented students with research and engineering skills that are internationally applicable.

Policy on the Design and Operation of the Curriculum (Curriculum Policy)

Centered in the three research fields of Information Architecture, Production Systems, and Integrated Systems, we provide education from both concrete and abstract perspectives, including research fields requiring interdisciplinary cooperation. Students in the master’s program enter one of the three research fields, earn credits in the established curriculum according to the diploma policies, and acquire the essential basic knowledge and abilities for research. Namely, in order to acquire various kinds of specialized knowledge required for their master’s thesis, students can take basic research courses that extend the foundational knowledge acquired in undergraduate studies, specialized research courses that instill and apply specialized knowledge necessary for research, and experimental classes that allow students to master practical knowledge through using devices and equipment. Additionally, under the guidance of instructors, they carry out research for their master’s thesis for each research question, and assemble and present their results as research papers. In the doctoral program, students supplement the abilities developed in the master’s program and acquire advanced abilities to conduct independent research. Students in the doctoral program do not have a required number of credits, but can take courses in the master’s curriculum when needed. Furthermore, under the guidance of instructors, they investigate specialized theories relating to higher level research problems, conduct research based on new proposals and their applications, actively publicize their research findings at meetings such as conferences, and compile them into a doctoral dissertation which is then presented. Also, in order to cultivate talented graduates capable of operating internationally, courses and research guidance are provided in both Japanese and English, contributing to an environment where students from abroad and Japanese students study together.

Policy on Graduate Certification and Conferring of Degrees ( Diploma Policy )

In the three research areas: Information Architecture, Production Systems, and Integrated Systems or research areas which cooperate with the three research areas interdisciplinarily, we train prospective researchers and engineers who can contribute to developing technologies related to those research areas, solve complicated contemporary technical problems, assume an approach of new systems and create new values in the real world and in scientific fields by utilizing high insight and advanced knowledge. You will acquire the ability to apply basic knowledge to real world problems as well as professional knowledge. Also, it is expected to acquire information literacy and problem finding ability, logical thinking ability, problem solving skills, system conception ability and practical leadership. Students in the master’s program carry out research under the guidance of instructors, compile their research results into a master’s thesis, and acquire fundamental research skills and specialized knowledge to allow them to work as researchers and engineers. When this is accomplished, a master’s degree in engineering is awarded. Students in the doctoral program, under the guidance of instructors, master the ability to carry out independent research by making full use of specialized knowledge and sophisticated research skills by conducting independent research that contributes significantly to the development of their field, presenting their results inside and outside of Japan, and compiling them into a doctoral dissertation. When these accomplishments are recognized, a doctorate in engineering is awarded.

Master Program

1) To acquire the basic academic skills and specialized knowledge necessary to plan and conduct one’s own studies and research, and to be able to apply these skills and knowledge.

2) To have a correct understanding of information ethics and information security and be able to put them into practice.

3) To be able to investigate and understand the technological trends in one’s own area of expertise and to be able to appropriately set issues to be addressed by oneself.

4) Propose methods and means to solve the issues they have identified, and demonstrate their soundness, novelty, and effectiveness by objectively verifying them.

5) Be able to correctly convey one’s ideas and thoughts to others, and acquire the process of assertion and cooperation in communication with others based on a high sense of ethics.

6) Be able to plan and execute the means to properly realize the solution methods envisioned.

Doctoral Program

1) To plan one’s own study and research, acquire the specialized knowledge necessary to carry it out, and be able to apply it.

2) To have a correct understanding of information ethics and information security and be able to put them into practice.

3) To be able to investigate and understand the technological trends in one’s own area of expertise and to be able to appropriately set issues to be addressed by oneself.

4) Propose methods and means to solve the issues they have identified, and demonstrate their soundness, novelty, and effectiveness by objectively verifying them.

5) Be able to correctly convey one’s ideas and thoughts to others, and acquire the process of assertion and cooperation in communication with others based on a high sense of ethics.

6) Be able to plan and execute the means to properly realize the solution methods envisioned.

7) Have original research that makes a significant contribution to technological development.