Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences/School of Science and Graduate School of Environmental Studies

How old is the Earth? How did the moon form? What causes earthquakes? What makes a mountain? What is the past, present and future of our planet's environment? Some of the answers we know, others are for future generations to discover, but these are all questions central to Earth and Planetary science.
Come and join us on a ride from the stratosphere to the centre of the earth and out again into the cosmos. Earth and Planetary science offers a unique combination of observation in the field and laboratory combined with knowledge of physics, chemistry and biology to explore our ever changing Earth and its cousin planets.

Our department has a long tradition of working across traditional academic boundaries and treating the Earth as an integrated system. We were the first integrated Earth Science department in Japan. In our education we strive to maintain core competences in geophysics, geology, and geochemistry while at the same time developing links with environmental studies. From cosmo-chemistry to the deep earth, from DNA analysis to satellite remote sensing, from nano-scale studies of crystals to the movement of tectonic plates, and from volcanic eruptions to carbon-neutral power generation: these are all research subjects you can pursue in our department. Graduate students in our department come from many different universities and with a wide range of backgrounds. To help you find the right research group and the right supervisor for your research, we encourage prospective students to contact us before taking the entrance exam.