Hiroshima University (HU) was established by combining eight existing institutions in May 1949 under the National School Establishment Law. Later in 1953, the Hiroshima Prefectural Medical College was also added to the new HU. Some of these higher educational institutions already had brilliant traditions and histories of their own. Although these educational institutions suffered a great deal of damage due to the atomic bomb, which was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, they were reconstructed and combined to become the new HU. In addition, Graduate Schools were established in 1953. The new HU has risen from the ruins of war like a phoenix, which is in fact the University's symbol.

HU is located in the southwest part of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. Approximately 900 kilometers away from Tokyo, it takes 70 minutes by airplane, or 4 hours by Shinkansen (bullet train) to Hiroshima. HU has three campuses and the main campus, covering 252 hectares, is located in Higashi-Hiroshima, in a verdant area which is famous for sake brewing. Including campuses in Hiroshima, known as the International City of Peace and Culture, the University includes 11 faculties, 4 graduate schools, a research institute, a university hospital, and 11 affiliated schools.

HU aims to be a world-class hub of education and research, to foster excellent human resources to contribute to the community, and to develop and expand scientific knowledge.

HU's mission of ongoing growth is based on the following five guiding principles:

• 1. The Pursuit of Peace
  To develop intellectual attitudes which always seek peaceful solutions to the problems affecting society and the world at large.
• 2. The Creation of New Forms of Knowledge
  To evolve new systems of study which surpass existing frontiers of knowledge and encourage intellectual innovation.
• 3. The Nurturing of Well-Rounded Human Beings
  To train graduates with well-developed and multifaceted personalities by means of an education which has breadth as well as depth.
• 4. Collaboration with the Local, Regional, and International Community
  To create a university with a strong international awareness which can efficiently disseminate knowledge on a worldwide scale, in collaboration with local and regional communities.
• 5. Continuous Self-Development
  To maintain a constant readiness to re-examine established ways of acting, and a constant openness to improvement and innovation.

HU has a long history of accepting international students from Southeast Asia. This commenced before World War II with students employed as high government officials devoted to the development of their home countries. As of May 2019, HU has over 15,000 students including nearly 1,900 international students from 72 countries.

For details about education and students life at Hiroshima University, please visit the following websites.

Education and Students Life: https://www.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/en/explore_hu

- Learning: https://www.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/en/explore_hu/learning

- Timeline: https://www.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/en/explore_hu/timeline

- Support: https://www.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/en/explore_hu/support

- Life: https://www.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/en/explore_hu/life

- Photos: https://www.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/en/explore_hu/photo

- Videos: https://www.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/en/explore_hu/videos

【Principle Policy】
In Myanmar, various developments have been rapidly implementing in recent years such as designing visions of Myanmar’s national transportation and power generation system, and Greater Yangon region’s transportation system, etc. through international cooperation with donor countries like Japan. Meanwhile, regional developments have also been carrying out. For example, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has promoted the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Economic Cooperation Program in order to encourage the development of “Economic Corridor” to connect GMS countries for economic growth across the region, in which Myanmar is included. To further accelerate Myanmar’s national economic growth in collaboration with the project, three special economic zones (i.e., Kyaukphyu SEZ (north), Thilawa SEZ (central), and Dawei SEZ (south)) have been developed as industrial economic hubs for GMS.

One of the keys to implement such infrastructure development plans in various scales and to integrate them for achieving nationwide sustainable economic growths in Myanmar is the development of human resources who can play a principal role in development cooperation involving various actors. These developments of sustainable infrastructure systems in developing countries have been promoted to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the last decade. Today, more considerations are required for the further development issues such as economic gaps among regions, and urban and regional vulnerability, etc. towards the post MDGs.

In FY2015, Development Technology Course (DTC), Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation (IDEC), and　Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DCEE), Graduate School of Engineering (GSE), Hiroshima University, newly established a comprehensive educational program, “Global Educational Program for Designing Sustainable Infrastructure Systems (GESIS)” on the basis of the following three academic fields (see Figure 1):
1) Regional and Urban Sustainable Design
2) Forest and Ecosystem Conservation
3) Disaster Management

Figure 1. Academic Framework for Designing “Sustainable Infrastructure Systems”

The main aim of this program is to foster human resources with systematic knowledge and capability required for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed as the post MDGs for the next decades in developing countries.

The JDS Fellows will join the GESIS program in order to be equipped with special knowledge and skills necessary for addressing socio-economic and environmental issues in Myanmar through the improvement of social infrastructure involving hardware and software aspects, and the improvement of urban and regional planning by considering interaction between industrial location, land use, transportation, architecture, energy, water, human life, ecosystem, earthquake and climate disaster prevention, etc. We provide the GESIS program for students through theoretical and empirical lessons with practical cases.

【Experiences and Achievements in the Fields of International Cooperation Research】
GESIS has 33 faculty members, in which 3 professors, 7 associate professors, and 6 assistant professors from DTC, and 4 professors, 7 associate professors, and 6 assistant professors from DCEE are included respectively. We provide education and research guidance in English, with a teaching model that employs multiple teachers. Regarding research activities, professors and several students have been constantly presenting the papers in the journals or proceedings of international academic societies. Students are regularly guided to submit the research articles after the presentation for publication in high-ranking international journals, in which the following topics are included.

• Regional and Urban Sustainable Design: Urban and regional planning, Transportation planning, Transportation engineering, Tourism policy, Architecture, Structural engineering, Material engineering, Geotechnical engineering, Energy policy, Hydraulic engineering, Hydrology, Environmental system engineering, and Environmental engineering, etc.
• Forest and Ecosystem Conservation: Ecology, Botany, Animal resources, Forest resources, Landscape ecology, Biomass energy technology, and Environmental risk analysis, etc.
• Disaster Management: Meteorology, Earthquake engineering, Ground disaster prevention engineering, Environmental fluid dynamics, Coastal engineering, and River engineering, etc.

Since its establishment, IDEC has provided personnel training to developing countries through research, education, and activities that contribute more to the society. It has also created and expanded a human resource network through international cooperation. Based on aforementioned endeavor, DTC promotes educational initiatives for those who are capable of coping with urban and regional environmental sustainability from the viewpoint of interdisciplinary knowledgebase including both public policy and technological and engineering expertise. Furthermore, IDEC has been selected as one of the best 5 educational institutions in Japan for global environmental leaders education
(GELs program (https://www.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/en/idec/education/special_education/courses/gels) and the performance was evaluated to be “S” (top score) among others. Faculty members of DTC have made important roles to the achievement through research and education activities in the fields of “Urban System Design”, “Wise Use of Biomass Resources” and “Environmental Impact Assessment”. Therefore, rich experiences and achievements on advanced and up-to-date interdisciplinary environmental education in IDEC, specifically in the field of environmental studies, are surely beneficial for educating and developing professional in sustainable infrastructure, environmental and disaster management in Myanmar.

DCEE has also contributed infrastructure and industrial development in developing countries, through international cooperation. Some of the faculty members have experiences to be a course leader of JICA training program or a JICA specialist on international cooperation projects, with the topics including; i) sewage treatment in Latin America region, ii) geotechnical engineering, iii) improvement of personnel engaging in construction of express highway, iv) technical support to Suez Canal Authority and so on. In addition, many professors are carrying out collaborative research with foreign universities or organizations, such as “development of low cost wastewater treatment technology in Jakarta”, “environmental rehabilitation of coastal area, Korea”, etc. Furthermore, some of the professors have experiences of working in national institute belonging to Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, which are administrating the technical codes of infrastructures in Japan. They are familiar with the technical codes supporting the design, maintenance and safety against the natural, environmental preservation of infrastructures.

【Regular Program】
The JDS Fellows will study GESIS (Global Educational Program for Designing Sustainable Infrastructure Systems), organized by Development Technology Course (DTC), IDEC, and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DCEE), GSE. The broad spectrum of faculty member disciplines in DTC and DCEE enables us to design “GESIS” that fosters advanced specialists who address a wide range of problems in socio-economic and environmental conditions in urban and rural areas in developing countries. It consists of four sub-programs: a) Collaboration program, b) Usual program of DTC and DCEE, c) Training for thesis writing, and d) JDS special program. Through the preliminary education (phase I of “JDS special program”), main-supervisor and affiliation (DTC or DCEE) will be decided for each student.

a) Collaboration program: This program, in which different academic fields of DTC and DCEE are integrated, is the axis of GESIS. It consists of four subject areas, to include: i) Systematic Theory and PBL, ii) Regional and Urban Sustainable Design, iii) Forest and Ecosystem Conservation, and iv) Disaster Management. In subject area i), which is based on effective combination of lecture, group work, and debate, etc. Students’ interdisciplinary knowledgebase is fostered for designing sustainable infrastructure system. Through the lectures of land use, transport, architecture, energy, urban metabolism and water resource management, etc. in subject area (ii), forest management, sustainable agriculture, ecosystem conservation and environmental risk management, etc. in subject area iii), and natural disaster management, and adaptation of earthquake and climate disaster, etc. in subject area (iv), academic expertise and practical skills of each subject area are fostered. Furthermore, to seek continuous improvement in effective educational methods in this program, taskforce of “GESIS collaboration program design” is organized by several faculty members with different expertise. In this taskforce, education methods such as i) fostering a more systematic understanding of sustainable infrastructure, ii) providing more suitable reference materials for students to succeed in their group works, and iii) improving each student’s communication level in the early stage by increasing students’ opportunities to discuss issues with lecturers, etc. have been discussed. Based on such activities, contents of subjects and group work topics, etc. are periodically reviewed and enhanced.

b) Regular program of DTC and DCEE: On the basis of guidance and advice from main-supervisor, student can learn the suitable subjects provided by DTC or DCEE to foster the student’s own academic expertise. To strengthen practical skills of international cooperation, interdisciplinary education program is also provided. In this program, the subjects of “International Environmental Cooperation Studies I and II”, “Practical Seminar on International Cooperation Project”, “Technology Transfer”, and some existing internship programs, such as i.ecbo (Explorers of International Cooperation Studies to Cross Borders) and ECBO (Engineers to Cross Border), etc. are included. Field research by students is also actively promoted in this program. For more details, refer to https://www.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/en/gecbo/xecbo/iecbo.

c) Training for thesis writing: A JDS Fellow will be supervised by three professors (one main-supervisor, and two sub-supervisors) from DTC and DCEE. All students are required to join the seminar held by their main-supervisors every week. Through the seminar classes, student can receive more deliberate supervision (research plan, literature review, academic presentation, and academic writing) and obtain basic skills necessary for academic research (analytical methods and result interpretation). In addition, through the appropriate guidance and advice from sub-supervisors, student can enhance research contents by obtaining knowledge of research methods in different academic fields.

【Special Program】
We provide the special program consists of three phases: preliminary education (phase I), practical education and research (phase II), and follow-up training (phase III). Note that our special program has been enhanced through our 5-year experience of acceptance of JDS Fellows from various Asian countries. Thus, we do have high confidence that we provide ample support for JDS Fellows in terms of their personal life and more importantly, in research. The usual program, in which aforementioned sub-program a), b) and c) are included, will be implemented in phase II.

(1) Phase I: preliminary education
Preliminary education aims to help accepted JDS Fellows preparing for studying advanced materials in our course through distance education. JDS Fellows are provided with textbooks on basics of sustainable infrastructure development and are required to conduct self-study under the instruction of professors. JDS Fellows need to submit a report, of which topic is “importance of designing and realizing a sustainable infrastructure in Myanmar”, and professors will give some advices based on their expertise to foster the JDS Fellows’ academic skills.

(2) Phase II: practical education and research

• (a) We provide several opportunities to discuss with specialists of other universities and institutions, and officers of governmental and international organizations, to learn practical knowledge for problem-solving policy and technology system design. It would be very useful opportunity to build a network of personal connections with professionals. In addition, we actively promote JDS Fellows’ participation to academic conferences. In our program, the International Conference on Civil and Environmental Engineering has been held annually, rotating in four hosting universities in China, Korea, Taiwan and Japan (FY2015: National Central University, Taiwan, FY2016: Hiroshima University, Japan, FY2017: Dalian University of Technology，China). At the conference, student workshop is organized by the students in partner universities working together on a self-determined theme, which are then presented as sessions in panel discussion. The selected students from the partner universities hold a leader's camp (LC; extensive course) in Hiroshima University. In LC, students participate in group-work for a solution proposal under the given task supported by the lecturers from partner universities. Participating students not only acquire international communication capabilities but also learn the role of leader in highly advanced research or practical issues with regards to cities, environment and disaster preventions in Asian regions.
• (b) All JDS Fellows are provided with specialized books, datasets, and/or other materials necessary for their research. In addition, analytical tools and software to promote research activities are also provided.
• (c) At least one Ph.D. student is assigned to every JDS Fellow (mentorship system). Students are able to get appropriate advice and ample support on their research from the mentor.
• (d) We provide special English language courses. Through these courses, student can obtain basic skills in writing academic papers. In addition, JDS Fellows can utilize English proofreading by native speakers on their master theses. These practices have improved JDS Fellows’ English skills dramatically

(3) Phase III: follow-up training
In order to get feedback from graduates on how they utilize the knowledge acquired in our course and how we should improve the on-going JDS project, we hold a follow-up seminar in Myanmar after JDS Fellows return to their home country. We also provide advice and recommendations on practical issues from the academic’ view point. Information obtained from the seminar will be utilized to improve the quality of the JDS project and make sure that their knowledge and skills are used in the most effective and suitable ways for their work.

To obtain a Master’s degree, JDS Fellows need to satisfy the following requirements: (1) minimum of 30 credits through course work (Collaboration Program: 10 credits or more, Usual Program of DTC or DCEE: 8 credits or more, Training for Thesis Writing: 8 credits or more, and JDS Special Program: 4 credits or more), and (2) submission of a master’s thesis. All students need to decide research topic and supervisors (one main-supervisor and two sub-supervisors) at the beginning of the first semester. Under the main-supervisor’s advice, students will choose subjects to enroll and start preparations for a master’s thesis. Students will choose subjects provided by GESIS, but also can select some subjects offered by IDEC and GSE.

List of subjects offered in 2017 academic year (Reference) Please refer the attached sheet. On the basis of the subjects provided by DTC and DECC, Collaboration Program of GESIS is designed as follows (see Table. 1).

Table 1. Contents of “Collaboration Program” (Students are required to take “10 credits or more” in this sub-program, and “2 credits or more” from each subject area.)

Students need to decide their research topic and supervisors (one head-supervisor and two sub-supervisors) at the beginning of the first semester. Under the head-supervisor’s advice, students will choose subjects to enroll and start preparations for their master’s thesis.

List of Faculty Members【Civil and Environmental Engineering Program】

List of Faculty Members【Transdisciplinary Science and Engineering Program】

（Reference）

Fall Semester (October 1 - March 31)

October 1

Entrance Ceremony, Orientation

October 1 - February 15

Classes

Early October

International Student Orientation (University-wide)

Mid October

Deadline of Class Registration

November 5

University Anniversary Day

December 26 - January 5

Winter Vacation

February 16 - March 31

End-of- Academic-Year Holidays

Spring Semester (April 1 - September 30)

April 1 - April 7

Spring Vacation

April 8 - August 10

Classes

Mid April

Deadline of Class Registration

End of July

Thesis Submission

Mid-August

Thesis Defense

August 11 - September 30

Summer Vacation

September 20

Graduation Ceremony

Dormitories

“Ikenoue Dormitory” (approx. 180 rooms for international students) and “International House” (60 single, 10 family units) located on the Higashi-Hiroshima campus are available for international students. The majority of students, however, live in privately-owned apartments.

Library

Our library has nearly a collection of 30,000 titles of books and journals. Our collection is mainly focused on economics of development, education development, international relations and Asia regional culture development.
"World Bank Information Kiosk" is placed for the purpose of introducing active discussions in academic area about the policy and actions of the World Bank. Students can access to "World Development Indicators Online" in our library. Flag ship publications, project reports, brochures and publications from the World Bank Tokyo Office are also available.
JDS fellows have full access to 5 other libraries on campus which has approximately 3,300,000 materials in its collection. Holding a huge collection of books and electronic journals, with a total combined area of 29,000 square meters, Hiroshima University Library System comprised of 5 libraries is one of the largest in the country.

Other facilities

Within the campus, we have welfare facilities such as various cafeteria, a travel agency office, stores, book shops, a drug store and a barber shop. Hiroshima University also has a post office, a university health service center, and a dental clinic in the campus. The International Center provides mental counseling service to international students in English.

From University:

HU is a research based university. In line with this policy, GESIS requires a thesis for the fulfillment of the master’s degree, which is different from the coursework-based curriculum typically found in professional schools. It is not a very easy task to compile a master’s thesis based on independent research. In fact, students need to spend significant time and resources. However, it is expected that this experience will enable you to acquire specialized academic and practical knowledge in your area of specialization. Expected outcomes of GESIS are as follows.

• (i) Under the various natural and socio-economic conditions, the current issues of infrastructure system vulnerability will be understood at macro-, meso- and micro- spatial scales，such as national, regional, urban and rural, block, and building levels, etc. in comprehensive and theoretical perspectives.
• (ii) Through the practical lessons of problem-solving policy, institution and development technology with the interdisciplinary knowledge on the above perspectives, analytical skills and methods to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of policy and technology measures will be mastered.
• (iii) Presentation and communication skills will be fostered through participating to domestic and international academic conferences and PBL (problem-based learning) education program, etc. in which group work discussion and presentation, as well as debate, are included.
• (iv) Practical skills will be imparted to students through internship and fieldworks, etc. in which they are, a) required to prepare a feasible research plan to implement their field survey, b) monitored regularly by professors during the period of field survey, and c) required to summarize their fieldwork in terms of necessity/importance, and roles of technology and policy for improving the targeted issues after field survey.
• (v) Academic expertise and problem solving skills will be fostered to develop a social infrastructure system for realizing sustainable economic development.

Now, under our aforementioned program, four JDS Myanmar Fellows are promoting their research activities on forest management, rural electrification, urban planning and architecture planning, respectively. In this program, students design a sustainable infrastructure system to address the following questions: i) What types of technologies are useful for improving the current status?; ii) What types of policies support such technologies?; and iii) What types of institutions are needed to implement such policies?. They formulate their solutions on the basis of their own expertise and multidisciplinary knowledge.

We have a vast experience of guiding students from different countries with various government　and national and international agencies’ scholarships and even self-financed, whose details are mentioned below. Our graduates are now working as professors, government officers, researchers, international agencies officers, NGO workers and so on, in their respective countries.

Finally, in the campus surrounded by abundant nature in the suburbs of Hiroshima city, you can give your full attention to your study. Your each and every experience here will serve as an excellent base for your further steps as a professional government official. We welcome you to Hiroshima University.