Degree application, Interim review

Degree Application

Master Course

Students should acquire 30 credits or more within a period of 2 years or longer, and pass the Master’s thesis review and final examination. However, for those who have made excellent achievements, the academic period of attendance can be 1 year.

Ⅰ．Assessment Criteria

Please check 【Screening criteria of a thesis and assessment criteria for the final examination (PDF)】

Ⅱ．Details of Application

Please read Details of Application for Master’s degree carefully before proceeding with the application procedure.

Ⅲ．Deadline of Application

• For graduation in September 2025 : June 5 (Thu), 2025
• For graduation in March 2025 : April 1 (Mon)~December 4 (Wed), 2024

＊Check the schedule below for details.

• September Completion Schedule
• March Completion Schedule

Ⅳ．Application Form

Early Completion System

Students in 1st year of our Master’s course who wish to continue their research in our Doctoral course, as well as who is expected to complete Master course with required credit by excellent grade, will be able to complete 1 year earlier than the designated period.
Condition: have made an oral presentation (including poster presentation) as the leading presenter at nationwide or international conferences.

＊If you would like to apply, please contact the Student Affairs office of GSMS.

Doctoral Course

Requirements for awarding degrees

The academic degree application shall be proceeded by meeting criteria of A or B described as follows.
A) Screening criteria of a thesis and assessment criteria for the final examination which is accepted as a paper which appeared in the academic journals written in English.
B) Screening criteria of a thesis and assessment criteria for the final examination by submitting a thesis and one or more relevant paper.
For an applicant who has obtained designated credits and has submitted a thesis, a thesis screening and final examination will be given.
final examination will be given.
The thesis screening and final examination are conducted by a review committee consisting of one review committee chairman and two or more review committee members. Pass or fail is determined by deliberation at the Graduate School of Medical Sciences’ Faculty Council.

Ⅰ．Assessment Criteria

Check the applicable assessment criteria.

• A. Submit a thesis which appeared in the academic journals written in English (PDF)
• B. Submit both a thesis and one or more relevant papers (PDF)

Ⅱ．Details of Application

Please read the applicable application procedure carefully and proceed with the application procedure.

A. Submit a thesis which appeared in the academic journals written in English

※If you would like to apply for a Doctorate by way Dissertation, please contact the Student Affairs office of GSMS.

B. Submit both a thesis and one or more relevant papers

Ⅲ．Deadline of Application（Preliminary review）

Please note that you will not be able to apply for the formal submission for Doctoral degree unless you have done a preliminary review.

• For graduation in September 2025 : October 1 (Tue),2024 ~ May 23(Fri), 2025
• For graduation in March 2025 : April 1 (Mon),2024 ~ November 29 (Fri), 2024

＊Check the schedule below for details.

• September Completion Schedule
• March Completion Schedule

Ⅳ．Application Form

*Please be sure to check the application documents in the “Details of Application” and “Check sheet”.

A. Submit a thesis which appeared in the academic journals written in English

B. Submit both a thesis and one or more relevant papers

The lists of journals written in English for academic degree application

Criteria for registration of “Journals written in English for academic degree application“

1. For foreign academic journals written in English, they should have a peer-review system and release the names of the editorial board members.
2. For domestic journals written in English, they should stipulate submission written in English, have a peer-review system and release the names of the editorial board members.
3. Journals must be registered in PubMed or Scopus.
4. PubMed is a registration of MEDLINE and does not include PMC (formerly PubMed Central).
5. Online-format journals are acceptable so long as the conditions mentioned above are satisfied.

【The lists of journals written in English for academic degree application (PDF)】

For additional registration of Journals written in English for academic degree application, please check the following registration criteria and apply through your teaching professor.
【The form of additional registration (Excel)】

※When applying for a degree, it is necessary to complete the registration of the journal.
※It takes about one month from application to registration.

◎How to check the collecting of the Scopus or MEDLINE.

1. How to check the collecting of the Scopus. (PDF)
2. How to check the collecting of the MEDLINE (PDF)

Interim Review

Objectives

Kumamoto University Graduate School of Medical Sciences and its Educational Committee aim to improve the research skills of graduate students in the doctoral course and the quality of their theses with cooperation of all academic staff of the Graduate School of Medical Sciences, as an important measure for the improvement of their skills for research promotion. Graduate students in the mid-term (second year) of the doctoral course will deliver presentations on their research plans, results, and progress, and reviewers from various fields will provide specific and constructive advice to improve the quality of research in relation to the presentations.
The plan is designed to provide cross-sectional advice on research for graduate students in collaboration with other related research fields while complying with research policies adopted in their specialties, with the aim of helping them improve the quality of their papers. Interim review is set to solely provide students a guidance and advice so the review itself will not affect the final evaluation and degree application.

Ⅰ．Procedures for the implementation

Please read 【Procedures for the implementation of the interim review (PDF)】 carefully before proceeding with the application procedure.

Ⅱ．Implementation period

• Students enrolled in April：
  　　　Doctoral Program Once in March of the second year or August of the third year
• Students enrolled in October：
  　　　Doctoral Program Once in August of the second year or March of the third year

• The date and venue will be decided by the Student Affairs office after confirming in advance the circumstances of the reviewers.

※Please review the flowchart for a detailed schedule.

• Schedule for AY2024
• Flowchart

Ⅲ．Application procedure for review:

Submit an application for the interim review including research subjects of the graduate students and progress of their research to the Student Affairs Office.
【Application（Word)】

＊Send your name and research title with the sending title “Application for interim review : XXXX (name of applicant)” via e-mail to the following address.
E-mail : iyg-igaku-3*jimu.kumamoto-u.ac.jp (Please change * to @)

Period for submission

Ⅳ．Review results

The student shall prepare research proposal stating the feedback of interim review committee members, and the concrete research plan and idea based on the feedback. After having checked by supervisor, the student shall submit the proposal to the interim review committee members.
【Research Proposal】