About AIQDS

• Introduction
• Program
• Eligibility for AIQDS 2023
• Financial Support

Introduction

  We have been conducting Data Sciences Program (DSP, 2015-2017) and DSP II (2018-2020), both of which were focused on development of data scientists and domain experts with data science knowledge and skills. Although many international students have graduated from our programs as potential data scientists and experts, the situations involving data science has changed dramatically in this few years. One of the major changes is rapid improvement of AI technology and its commoditization. The others are emerging computational technologies such as HPC and quantum computing. Recent acceleration of digital transformation involving those changes urge us to launch a brand-new international graduate program of data science which fully incorporates artificial intelligence associated with emerging HPC and quantum computing (AIQDS). It is worth remarking that this unique educational program is only possible with our legacy of DSP and DSPII, and leading achievement of HPC and quantum computing in Tohoku University.
  AIQDS is a graduate program to develop highly-specialized globally working researchers who can find out and solve real-world problems by utilizing knowledge and skills of data science and artificial intelligence through HPC and quantum computing. This program started in October, 2021, as a part of “The International Priority Graduate Programs (PGP) -Advanced Graduate Courses for International Students-” supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, and Technology (MEXT). In this program, students take courses related to their own expertise in their graduate school, and also learn data science, artificial intelligence, and fundamentals of computations including HPC and quantum computing. On top of that, through various trainings including PBL, students sharpen their sense for finding out real-world problems and learn practical skills for solving them by utilizing state of the art computing technologies such as HPC and quantum computing.
  Graduate School of Information Sciences (GSIS) plays a managing role of AIQDS in collaboration with Graduate Schools of Life Sciences, Economics and Management, and Biomedical Engineering at Tohoku University. Actually, the students take their expertise course in their graduate school, and learn most of the subjects/trainings related data science and PBL in GSIS. The courses related to the program are mostly taught in English. In addition to learning of the expertise and data science, AIQDS expects the students to be familiar with Japanese language and culture, and to build various human networks.

Program Overview

The AIQDS is a graduate program that combines a two-year master's program with a three-year doctoral program. A participant in this program must be a student of either of the four graduate schools: Graduate Schools of Information Sciences (GSIS), Life Sciences, Economics and Management, and Biomedical Engineering. Actually, the student’s learning and research are supervised by a primary mentor in the student’s graduate school. In addition, the program assigns a non-GSIS student with GSIS professor/associate professor as a sub-mentor for supporting the student’s application of data science to her/his research.

Master's Course

(1) Course work

I. Expertise course offered by the student's own graduate school

II. Fundamental data science course

III. Data science course: sensing, high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, statistics, computer science, data mining, quantum computing, etc.

(2) Practical trainings and internship

I. Data science training camps

II. Internship in private companies (elective subject)

(3) Research work for the master degree in the student's graduate school

Doctoral Course

(1) Data science project-based learning of real-world problem solving

(2)Advanced data science seminars

The program assigns international conference, symposium, and/or workshop as advanced data science seminar

(3) Research work for the PhD in the student's graduate school

Eligibility for AIQDS 2023

♦ Applicant must be an excellent student newly coming from abroad to study as a graduate-level foreign student.
♦ Applicant must have earned over 2.3 evaluation point average of their latest or current degree program based on the specialized calculation (see note [1]).
♦ Applicant must be able to leave for and arrive in Japan by the beginning of October, 2023.
♦ Applicant for AIQDS need to satisfy one of the following conditions:

For 5 years Master's and Doctor's Course Applicant
i) Those who have graduated, or will graduate, from a university, that is, completion of a total of 16 years of school education by September 30, 2023 (see note [2]).
ii) Those who have reached 22 years of age by September 30, 2023 and can be recognized to have an academic ability equivalent or superior to those who have graduated from a university based on individual qualification examinations.

For 3 years Doctor's Course Applicant
i) Those who have earned, or will earn, Master's degree by September 30, 2023.
ii) Those who have engaged in research activities for at least 2 years at an educational or research institution after graduation from a university and can be recognized to have an academic ability equivalent or superior to those who have earned Master's degree on the basis of their research performance.
iii) Those who have reached 24 years of age by September 30, 2023 and can be recognized to have scholastic ability equivalent or superior to those who have earned Master's degree based on individual qualification examinations.

Notes:
[1] The calculation procedure of the evaluate point average

Scale	Grade
4-scale evaluation	A		B	C	D
	100-80		79-70	69-60	59-
5-scale evaluation	S	A	B	C	D
	A	B	C	D	F
	100-90	89-80	79-70	69-60	59-
Evaluation Point	3	3	2	1	0
Number of your total credit	N4	N3	N2	N1	N0

Evaluation Point=((N4+N3)×3+N2×2+N1×1)/(N4+N3+N2+N1+N0)

[2] The term "graduated from a university" means a total of 16 years of educational programs, which consists of 12 years of school education and a 4 years undergraduate (bachelor) program.

Financial Support

Japanese government (MEXT) scholarship will be available for excellent students who intend to be actively engaged in the AIQDS program and contribute to its objectives. A monthly stipend is available; details of this and other information are listed below. Awardees of the scholarship will be selected from the candidates who are successful in the AIQDS examination process. The MEXT scholarship scheme applies only to those who live outside of Japan at the time of application and were born on or after April 2, 1988.

(a) Exemption from Application, Admission and Tuition fees
(b) Monthly stipend: 146,000 JPY for 2 years in Master's course.
(c) Flight tickets between the applicant's country of nationality and Japan

# Self-supporting international students are highly encouraged to participate in AIQDS.

For Master and Doctor: 5 years course
Number of recipient as the candidate of MEXT scholarship: 4 students
Term of the scholarship: 2-years in Master’s course.
* Please contact AIQDS Admissions Office to see what kind of support can be considered when you go onto your Doctor's course.

For Doctor: 3 years course
Please contact AIQDS Admissions Office to see what kind of support can be considered.