In order to gain the skills needed to become outstanding environmental management professionals or environmental researchers, students are required to participate in a lengthy internship study. Based on practical experience gained outside of the university, students gain professional skills that will enable them to write an innovative master’s thesis. After completing the master’s degree, students may continue on to the doctoral program in order to obtain advanced professional and academic research skills or may choose to work for national or local government organizations, international organizations, environment-related departments of industries, environment-related industries, or environment-related NGOs, among others.
Curriculum structure
The core requirements of the Master’s Program in Environmental Management are courses in the theoretical foundations of global environmental studies (global environmental laws and policy, global environmental economics, global resources and ecosystem management, environmental ethics and environmental education). The student studies environmental management fundamentals and theories, and attends seminars corresponding to the student’s area of interest. After that, the student completes an internship and then submits a master’s thesis.
Students also attend environmental management seminars, which include special lectures by invited lecturers, fieldwork, experiments and practical study, and a literature review, all of which serve to instill in the student the fundamental knowledge and skills needed for environmental research or practice at the international level.
Please click here for the courses and syllabus.
Internship study
An internship is a compulsory part of the curriculum of the Master’s Program in Environmental Management. Individual education based on practical experience outside the classroom enables students to acquire competence in addressing global environmental issues. The Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies has arrangements with a wide range of domestic and international environmental research institutions and organizations that currently serve as hosts for internship training. Previously, students have been placed as interns at governmental research institutes, private research organizations, foreign universities, and international organizations such as the United Nations and international NGOs.
Two kinds of internships are available for students. Longterm internships, which require students to spend at least three months at one site to train and cultivate practical skills, and short-term internships of one to two months for students whose research objectives are best achieved through brief practical experience. (For short term internships, submission of preliminary thesis work is required.)
Progress towards the degree
First Year:
Course work, drafting of internship study plan, internship.
Second Year:
Submission and review of master’s thesis.
“Master of Global Environmental Studies” awarded
Completion Requirements
Completion requirements assume that the student has been registered in the course for two years or more, earned at least 30 credits in major subjects, and passed of the examination and review of the Master’s thesis held by the graduate school. However, students who have achieved remarkable research accomplishments may be eligible for a shortening of the period above in accordance with relevant provisions.
Required Credits for Completion:
The following credits must be acquired: 8 credits (4 courses) in the Basics in Global Environmental Studies (compulsory), 5 credits or more (5 courses) in Basics in Environmental Management (elective), 4 credits or more in Lectures in Environmental Management (elective), 10 credits in Internship I and II (compulsory), 2 credits in Environmental Management Seminar (compulsory), and 1 credit in Exercise in Environmental Management (compulsory).
Double Master’s Degree Program
This program seeks to train/foster specialists who will have in-depth knowledge of global and regional environments and the practical skills necessary to solve environmental problems, and who are instilled with an international perspective. Students who successfully complete approved course work overseas at the partner university will gain transfer credit and earn two master’s degrees in two different fields for three years.
Partner universities:
Mahidol University, Thailand (Faculty of Engineering)
IPB University, Indonesia (Master Program in Regional Planning and Master Program in Landscape Architecture)
Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, China