Murata laboratory wants enthusiastic students.
Seminars of Murata laboratory are in English.

If you are a student of the Department of Computer Science, School of Computing of Tokyo Institute of Technology, you can apply for Murata laboratory when you move up to a senior student. A meeting for the explanation of lab assignment is usually in January, lab visit and investigation of application are in February or March, and final lab assignment is in April. Please see here (in Japanese) for the schedule. And please see our Japanese page.

Murata laboratory basically does NOT accept KENKYUSEI except when you are selected as an international student receiving Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship through the screening by the Japanese Embassy in your country. This is to prevent some (malicious) students to be KENKYUSEI only for VISA for staying in Japan.

Starting as a research student is not recommended for the following reason: even if you have come to Japan as a KENKYUSEI, you have to take an entrance exam in the same way as other applicants, and there is no advantage for the entrance exam. If you want to be a graduate student, I strongly recommend you to (1) apply for MEXT scholarship to the Japanese Embassy in your country, or (2) apply for Tokyo Tech IGP(C).

Murata laboratory basically does NOT accept short-term internship students. We often receive requests of short-term internship especially from India, and we know many Indian students are excellent. But please understand that accepting foreign students is not an easy task for us. We have to prepare many documents in order to get permission from Tokyo Tech. Lab space and the budget for the stay is quite tight.

You can check Tokyo Tech's partner universities at Overseas Partner Universities. Although Tokyo Tech accepts international visiting students from non-partner universities, we don't recommend because admission fee and tuition fee are not cheap. If you want to be a graduate student of Tokyo Tech, please read the followings and take an entrance exam.

You have two choices:(1) taking an entrance exam in the same way as other Japanese applicants, or (2) taking an entrance exam of Tokyo Tech IGP(C). Please keep in mind that you cannot apply for both (1) and (2) for the same admission period.

(1) Please see this page (in Japanese) and Graduate School Admissions (Programs Conducted in Japanese). If you are going to take an entrance exam just the same way as Japanese applicants, you don't have to send your CV before application.

(2) Please read IGP(C) : International Graduate Program (C). You can apply for Tokyo Tech IGP(C) even if you are already in Japan now.. Before you apply for Tokyo Tech IGP(C), please contact your intended academic supervisor in advance. If you are interested in our laboratory, please send the following files to Murata by email: (i) your CV, (ii) your grade transcript(s), (iii) your research proposal after admission, (iv) a list of your publications, and (v) your thesis for graduating master/undergraduate course (if it is not written in English, please send any English technical papers/documents written by you). We will think about the possibilities of accepting you based on these documents. If you are going to apply for Tokyo Tech IGP(C), I strongly recommend you to take English proficiency test (such as TOEIC or TOEFL) as soon as possible.

You have two choices: (1) applying for MEXT (scholarship of Japanese Government) at the Japanese Embassy in your country, or (2) applying for International Graduate Program (IGP(C)) of Tokyo Tech directly.

(1) After you pass the initial screening by the Japanese embassy in your country (it will be in July or August), please send the following files to Murata by email as soon as possible: (i) your CV, (ii) your grade transcript(s), (iii) your research proposal after admission, (iv) a list of your publications, (v) your thesis for graduating master/undergraduate course (if it is not written in English, please send any English technical papers/documents written by you), and (vi) "Passing Certificate of the Primary Screening" from Japanese embassy in your country.
There are some procedures in order to issue "a Letter of Provisional Acceptance". (i) If your research interests match ours, I will do online meeting. (ii) And then, I and some other faculties will do online meeting. (iii) After that, we will discuss and make decision at monthly faculty meetings. (iv) If you are allowed, I will issue "a Letter of Provisional Acceptance".
After the "Letter of Provisional Acceptance" is submitted to the Japanese embassy in your country, then the final screening for students receiving Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship will be done.
If you are finally selected as a recipient of MEXT scholarship, you will come to Japan usually in April. After six-months training of Japanese language, you can (i) take a special entrance exam for graduate school or (ii) become a research student (KENKYUSEI) and spend another six months before the special entrance exam. If you pass the special entrance exam, you can be a graduate student from September or from April.

(2) The entrance exams of International Graduate Program (IGP(C)) of Tokyo Tech are twice a year. Application periods for Tokyo Tech IGP(C) are (i) Mid-August to Mid October (for April admission) and (ii) Mid-January to Early-April (for September admission). Entrance exam for (i) is usually in May, and for (ii) is usually in November.

• If you want to apply, please send the following files to Murata by email as soon as possible: (i) your CV, (ii) your grade transcript(s), (iii) research proposal after admission, (iv) a list of your publications, and (v) your thesis for graduating master/undergraduate course (if it is not written in English, please send any English technical papers/documents written by you). We will think about the possibilities of accepting you based on these documents. After the screening of the documents and preliminary online interview, I will issue a "Consent of a Tokyo Institute of Technology Faculty Member", which is one of the required documents for application.
• The entrance exam of Tokyo Tech IGP consists of (i) initial screening based on submitted documents, and (ii) online interview. At the interview, you will be asked (a) the past research or activities that you have done in your country, (b) your future research plan if you are allowed to come to Tokyo Tech, and (c) some basic questions about computer science. Some additional questions about a technical paper will be asked to doctor-course applicants. Since the exam is competitive, it is advisable to prepare for the interview.
• Our laboratory belongs to Department of Computer Science in School of Computing.
• There are two choices for the course: "Graduate Major in Computer Science" and "Graduate Major in Artificial Intelligence". If you want to apply for our laboratory, Graduate Major in Artificial Intelligence is strongly recommended.
• Applicants are required to submit English proficiency test score reports such as TOEFL or TOEIC taken within two years from the deadline of application. If you have no score report, or if your score report is too old, please take an English proficiency test immediately.
• If you apply for Tokyo Tech IGP(C), please scan all documents that you submit to Tokyo Tech before submission. Then please send the PDF files of the scanned documents to Murata by email. When you compress the files, please use zip (not rar).
• For more information, please see Prospective Students.

Please send the following files to Murata by email: (i) your CV, (ii) your grade transcript(s), (iii) your research proposal after you come to Tokyo Tech, (iv) a list of your publications, and (v) your thesis for graduating master/undergraduate course (if it is not written in English, please send any English technical papers/documents written by you). We will think about the possibilities of accepting you based on these documents.

Regrading financial support for your study, please see Financial Support first.

Most of the doctoral students are able to obtain Tokyo Tech Tsubame scholarship from April 2019 (although the amount of money is not high).

There are some financially supports limited number of very excellent students. The scholarship is very competitive and it should be renewed for every 12 months.

JSPS supports limited number of very excellent doctoral students as Research Fellowship for Young Scientists. But it is very competitive.