For international students who would like to apply as a research student

Thank you for visiting this page. I am a clinical geropsychologist. I am mainly studying psychosocial interventions for people with dementia, and for people working or living with them, and developing assessment tools to examine the effects of interventions, in the area of geriatrics & gerontology.

I am primarily working in the Neuroscience Degree Program in my university. The mainstream of research in the program is to clarify function, activity, and system of the brain regarding cognitions, emotions, and behaviors. In my opinion, psychosocial interventions and support for people with brain dysfunction, such as dementia, is also an important field in neuroscience. However, you need not only knowledge and skills related to my narrow specialty, but also mainstreaming knowledge if you want to study in my laboratory. Thus, my lab welcomes those who have already learned geropsychology, clinical psychology, statistical analysis, and basic neuroscience and who wish to do research according to my specialty. (http://www.human.tsukuba.ac.jp/~kyamanak/en/index.html)

In addition to the above degree programs, I also help the Disability Science Degree Program. In the program, I am a member of the area of social security and care for people with a disability, but note that I cannot guide your research if you want to study the system of social security and care for the elderly because my specialty is clinical geropsychology as mentioned above. In this degree program, we welcome those who have already learned basic knowledge of geropsychology, clinical psychology, statistical analysis, medical and nursing care, and my specialty. (http://www.human.tsukuba.ac.jp/~kyamanak/en/index.html)

Doctoral students are required to write papers in English and submit them to international journals. Moreover, my laboratory also requires Japanese language skills to communicate with Japanese people in practical settings. Additionally, having a valid Driver’s License may be helpful, as many care facilities are in suburban areas with little public transport access.

Thus, there are many considerations when studying in my lab and conducting research in my area. If you understand these points, and if you are interested in clinical geropsychological research on people with dementia and their surroundings in Japan, which is one of the super-aged countries, of course, you are welcome to study with me.