PhD in Graduate Program on Global Society

The Graduate Program on Global Society is a three-year doctoral program at The University of Tokyo, located in Tokyo, Japan, taught in English with a September start date. The University of Tokyo is Japan's oldest national university, founded in 1877, and organizes education and research across ten faculties and fifteen graduate schools. The schools bring together students from many countries and disciplines. At the doctoral level, the program examines global society through an interdisciplinary lens, drawing on international relations, sociology, economics, and area studies to investigate how globalization reshapes political, economic, and social structures across regions. Doctoral candidates typically build on prior graduate study to design an original research project, working under faculty supervision toward a dissertation that addresses a specific question in global or comparative society studies. The program brings together researchers from a range of national and disciplinary backgrounds to study global dynamics collaboratively. Graduates with a doctorate in global society studies are prepared for careers in academic research and teaching, international organizations, government policy analysis, diplomacy, and research roles in nongovernmental and international development organizations. English proficiency test requirements are handled on a case-by-case basis, with TOEFL or IELTS accepted and TOEIC not accepted. Screening of application documents is required, but no interview, oral presentation, short essay, or practical exam is required for admission, and there is no transfer system for this program. Pre-arrival admission is available, allowing accepted doctoral students to be admitted before relocating to Japan to begin the three-year program within one of the University of Tokyo's fifteen graduate schools.