The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI) is a university consisting of only graduate courses based on inter-university research institute corporations such as High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK). It was established in 1988 as a national university. Its status has been changed to a national university corporation since all the national universities in Japan became national university corporations in 2004. It has produced researchers with wide views and creativity, and its system of education and research is internationally appreciated.

In Japan there are many inter-university research institute corporations. For example, National Institutes of Natural Sciences (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Institute for Molecular Science, and so on), Research Organization of Information and Systems (Institute of Statistical Mathematics, and so on), and National Institutes for the Humanities. KEK is one of them. They are doing cutting-edge research, and playing central roles in collaborations with researchers in domestic and foreign universities, and in large-scale research projects that are impossible for one university to perform. SOKENDAI provides good educational and research environment exploiting advantage of inter-university research institute corporation described above.

Although its head office is in Hayama campus, Hayama, Miura, Kanagawa, graduate students are affiliated with research groups in inter-university research institute corporations. They can have quality education, from elementary lectures to guidance of research by members of the inter-university research institute corporations, who are also faculty members of SOKENDAI. Those who earned Ph.D. in SOKENDAI are doing active research in various fields.

For details see SOKENDAI Homepage
http://www.soken.ac.jp/en/