Graduate School of Engineering

Tuition fees are 535,800 JPY per year.

Hokkaido University offers the Division of Environmental Engineering, a doctoral (PhD) program, in Hokkaido, Japan. The program runs for a duration of 3 years and admits students starting in October and April. Instruction is delivered in English, allowing international applicants to pursue the doctoral (PhD) degree without first developing Japanese-language proficiency. Hokkaido University was established in 1876 as Sapporo Agricultural College and was the first institution in Japan to award a bachelor's degree. Today the university has 12 undergraduate schools and 21 graduate schools spanning nearly all fields of the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, with research recognized across Japan and abroad. The division addresses the engineering methods used to protect air, water, and soil quality, covering topics such as water and wastewater treatment, air pollution control, solid waste management, and environmental impact assessment. Students study the chemical, biological, and physical processes that underlie pollution control technologies, along with the regulatory frameworks that govern environmental protection. The program combines engineering design with an understanding of ecological and public health considerations, preparing students to develop and evaluate systems that reduce environmental harm from industrial, municipal, and agricultural activities. Graduates often work in environmental consultancies, water and waste utilities, regulatory agencies, manufacturing industries with environmental compliance needs, and research institutions studying environmental engineering solutions. The Division of Environmental Engineering suits international students seeking graduate study in this field at Hokkaido University without requiring prior study of Japanese, given the program's English-medium instruction.