Prospective Students
From admission to graduation
Home > Prospective Students > From admission to graduation
Path to graduation
For further information about available courses, see the page of available courses.
First year
At the Kojirakawa campus in Yamagata city, first year students attend courses on the foundations common to almost all of the university students. In addition, as elaborated upon below, students are also introduced to the fundamentals of their academic discipline.
Courses on the foundations of engineering and the fundamentals of their academic discipline: Calculus solutions, Chemistry C, Basic physical chemistry, Mathematics C, Basic physics, Basic organic chemistry, Polymer engineering
Kojirakawa campus in Fall
Yonezawa campus in Spring
Second year
From the second year, students relocate to the Yonezawa campus and begin to mainly attend courses in their academic discipline. In addition to the foundations relevant to all of engineering such as mathematics, physics and English, students also attend courses in organic chemistry and physical chemistry that are fundamental to polymeric and organic materials. In the second semester of the second year, students attend three introductory seminars (synthetic chemistry, photonic and electronic materials and physical engineering) that span the entire range from synthesis to applications. Students also learn the principles and techniques of structural analysis that underlie the characterization of polymeric and organic materials. In addition, students perform experiments in physics and polymeric and organic materials science and are introduced to other engineering disciplines (chemical and bioengineering, informatics and electronics, mechanical engineering systems etc.) to acquire a broad perspective about engineering. Courses in English (basic technical English) and scientific English relevant to their academic discipline are also offered. Through these, students can acquire the basics necessary to become engineers on polymeric and organic materials.
Third year
From the third year, students specialize in either “synthetic chemistry” or “photonic and electronic materials” or “engineering physical properties” and are educated according to their specialization. Students participate in a journal club to improve their reading comprehension of research literature in English and perform experiments in their specialization. From the second semester of the third year, students are affiliated with research laboratories. By exposing them to state-of-the-art research at an early stage, their experimental skills are strengthened. Further, through laboratory seminars and discussions, their communication skills and their ability to become contributing members of society are developed. Finally, this early exposure is expected to smoothly lead to their Bachelor’s and Master’s research. For detailed information about research, please refer to the web pages of the individual laboratories.
Fourth year
In the fourth year, each student engages in cutting-edge research on their individual graduation research project at their affiliated laboratory. Through research, seminars and discussions, they can deepen their knowledge from discrete to continuous one and train their ability to think, to compile relevant information, to weave together different ideas, to detect and solve problems, to communicate and to present their work. In short, they can become a valued member of society. During the graduation research presentations, not only the technical content of the research results but also their fundamentals will be evaluated. At the same time, the students’ presentation skills and communication skills will also be evaluated. Students who wish pursue a Master’s degree can join the Department of Organic Materials Science in the Graduate School of Organic Materials Science.
