Admission to Master's Course

Master's Course, AY 2025

Information about the AY 2025 entrance examination for the Master's Programs of the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, which will be held in Feb 2025, is available on the website of the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Special Subjects Examination Scope

  • FISHERIES DYNAMICS

Subject area

FISHERIES DYNAMICS examines the fundamental knowledge required for the sustainable and effective utilization of fishery resources. In specific, the topics include technical aspects of fishery production, basics of resource biology and ecology, economic and institutional aspects, social and international positioning, dynamics of fishery resources, resource assessment and management, fishery management, etc.

Keywords

Fishery production in Japan and the world, formation of fishing grounds, resource fluctuation, fishery technology, fishery system, fishery management, supply and demand of fishery products, distribution of fishery products, various situations and international relations related to fishery, resource dynamics model, fishing process, resource characteristics, resource assessment, resource management

Reference books

  • AQUACULTURE BIOLOGY

Subject area

AQUACULTURE BIOLOGY is related to propagation, which aims to protect and enlarge aquatic resources by actively working on them and the surrounding environment, and aquaculture, which produces aquatic organisms by rearing them under human control. In addition to knowledge of propagation and aquaculture, the examination will test the underlying knowledge of the physiology and ecology of the organisms subject to propagation and aquaculture.

Keywords

Breeding protection, breeding aid, seed production, aquaculture technology, aquaculture environment, feed, infectious diseases

Reference books

Aquaculture-Farming Aquatic Animals and Plants 3rd Edition (Willey Blackwell), Aquaculture Engineering 3rd Edition (Willey Blackwell)

  • ORGANIC CHEMISTRY AND FOOD CHEMISTRY OF AQUATIC ORGANISMS

Subject area

In Japan, aquatic organisms consisting of various species have been used as food for a long time and have formed the Japanese food culture centering on dashi (Japanese soup stock). Because aquatic organisms have significantly different characteristics from terrestrial organisms, it is necessary to know about them for utilization. In addition, some of the natural toxins produced or stored by aquatic organisms for self-protection have lethal effects, and without an understanding of these toxins, it is impossible to use them safely. On the other hand, many components of aquatic organisms have health-regulating effects or are important as medicines or biochemical resources, and their effective utilization is required. In ORGANIC CHEMISTRY AND FOOD CHEMISTRY OF AQUATIC ORGANISMS, questions will focus on the use of aquatic organisms as food as well as toxic and useful components in aquatic organisms.

Keywords

Japanese food culture, types and characteristics of marine food, freshness, storage methods, characteristics of algae as food, taste components・odor・color of seafood, nutritional value and health functionality of marine food, sanitary control methods, causative agents of seafood food poisoning, venom of aquatic organisms, pharmaceutical resources contained in aquatic organisms.

Reference books

  • AQUATIC ZOOLOGY

Subject area

This examination will test the basic knowledge (taxonomy, phylogeny and evolution, morphology, body structure and function, life history, and ecology) required for handling aquatic animals inhabiting oceans, rivers, lakes, and marshes, which are the main research fields of the Department of Aquatic Bioscience. Questions will be divided into those on aquatic vertebrates and those on aquatic invertebrates. In addition to the above, questions on invertebrates will also cover their relationship to humans, such as their uses and harmful effects.

Keywords

Aquatic vertebrates: morphology and swimming, body surface, muscle, skeleton, feeding and digestion, swim bladder, respiratory system, larvae and juveniles, life history, migration, reproduction, social interaction, interspecific interaction, population and community, history and taxonomy

Reference books

Aquatic invertebrates: Invertebrates Protozoa to Echinodermata (Alpha Science) *excluding the chapters for insects

  • AQUATIC ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY

Subject area

AQUATIC ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY is a field of study and research that aims to understand the mechanisms of various life phenomena (such as environmental adaptation and reproduction) exhibited by fish and other aquatic animals from the viewpoint of the functions of various organs, cells, and molecules in the body (i.e., from a physiological perspective). The scope of this examination covers the physiology of fish, including the process of embryogenesis, in which the structure and function of various organs and cells are established.

Keywords

Cells and organs, nervous system, endocrine system, environmental adaptation, osmoregulation, respiration and circulation, sensation, reproduction, embryogenesis, morphogenesis, organogenesis

Reference books

  • AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY

Subject area

AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY tests knowledge and understanding of the interactions between environmental factors and organisms, which are fundamental to understanding the ecology, physiology, and production of aquatic organisms. In particular, questions will focus on the relationship between the temporal and spatial variation of suspended organisms and the environmental factors that control them, as well as the role of the communities that inhabit them in aquatic biological production and biogeochemical cycles.

Keywords

Ecosystems, biogeochemical cycles, biological production, nutrients, plankton, food webs, climate change, environmental change

Reference books

Invitation to Oceanography by Paul R. Pinet
Biological Oceanography by Charles B. Miller and Patricia A. Wheeler
Biological Oceanography: An Introduction by Carol Lalli and Timothy R. Parsons

  • BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF AQUATIC ORGANISMS

Subject area

The hydrosphere is home to a diverse array of phylogenetically and evolutionarily distinct organisms, each of which contains a variety of biomolecules with distinctive structures and functions. In addition, organisms in the aquatic environment, which is different from the terrestrial environment, have undergone unique evolutionary changes and have metabolisms that are not found in terrestrial organisms. This examination covers the biochemistry and molecular biology required to understand the life of aquatic organisms with these characteristics.

Keywords

Structure and function of proteins, Structure and function of carbohydrates, Structure and function of lipids, Structure and function of nucleic acids, Structure and function of low molecular weight compounds, Structure and function of trace elements, Energy metabolism, Photosynthesis in aquatic plants, History of establishment of molecular genetics and molecular biology, Structure of genome, Biosynthesis of proteins, Gene expression and its regulation, Sexual Reproduction and Genetics, Molecular Evolution, Biotechnology, Gene Cloning, Technologies Related to Molecular Biological Analysis

Reference books

  • AQUATIC ECOLOGY

Subject area

AQUATIC ECOLOGY is the study of ecology in aquatic environments such as oceans, lakes, and rivers, which have unique physicochemical characteristics. As in terrestrial ecology, the aim of aquatic ecology is to "attempt both proximal and ultimate explanations of interactions that determine the distribution and abundance of organisms". In this examination course, questions will cover the environment, communities, populations, individuals, and their interactions in aquatic ecosystems.

Keywords

Aquatic ecosystem, community, population, individual, life history, behavior, ontogeny, adaptation, evolution, survival, growth, reproduction, predation, prey, competition, symbiosis, migration, spread, distribution, ecosystem services

Reference books

Contact

Shigeru Okada (Head of Department, Laboratory of Aquatic Natural Products Chemistry)

E-mail: aokada#mail.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp

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