Research Groups

Earth and Planetary Science Organization


The goal of our department is to form the core of research and education in earth and planetary sciences in Japan. In order to achieve this goal, five core groups based in Hongo (Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Group, Space and Planetary Science Group, Earth and Planetary System Science Group, Solid Earth Science Group, and Geosphere and Biosphere Science Group) cooperate with various internal and external research institutions.

Core Groups

Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Group
Space and Planetary Science Group
Earth and Planetary System Science Group
Solid Earth Science Group
Geosphere and Biosphere Science Group

Affiliated Groups

Earthquake Research Institute
Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute
Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology

Cooperating Groups

Institute of Space and Astronautical Science / JAXA
Institute of Materials Structure Science / KEK
National Museum of Nature and Science
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Related Research Institutes (Internal)

Geochemical Research Center
Graduate Schoolf of Frontier Sciences
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Graduate School of Engineering
Center for Integrated Disaster Information Research
Center for Spatial Information Science
The University Museum

Related Research Institutes (External)

Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology / JAMSTEC
Kobe University
National Institute of Polar Research
Tokyo Institute of Technology
National Institute for Materials Science

5 Core Research Groups


Earth and Planetary Science encompasses an exceptionally extensive research areas including the solid earth consisting of crust, mantle, and core, the fluid earth including ocean and atmosphere, biosphere that extends along the boundary between the solid and liquid layers of the earth, and their assemblage, the earth system; it further extends into solar system including its planets, satellites, and planetary space.

The educational program aims to train doctoral-level researchers who can become leading figures in their respective fields and masters-level students and undergraduates who will take a variety of positions in government, industry, and education, where it is hoped that they will be able to make significant contributions to society.

Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Group

How do atmospheric and oceanic flow and complex turbulence occur, and what is essential for projecting their variations? As Atmospheric and Oceanic Science serves as the foundation to appropriately cope with climate change and significant environmental issues, the importance of our research group is increasing more than ever.

Space and Planetary Science Group

This group will study the planets, their interiors, surfaces, atmospheres, and magnetospheres, the heliosphere, and space, aiming at a comprehensive understanding of elementary physical processes, structures, compositions, dynamics, and their mutual interactions. We closely work with JAXA especially in the field of megnetoshpere, planetary exploration and solar atmosphere observation.

Earth and Planetary System Science Group

The magnetosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and lithosphere of the Earth and other planets interact one another through feedback, and evolve over time scale of seconds to billion years. Earth and Planetary System Science Group integrates extensive of various fields, and aims to wholly understand planet system and life evolution within.

Solid Earth Science Group

How did the Earth originate and has evolved? What are the constituents and structure of the Earth, and how do they move? Continental drift, occasionally detrimental earthquake and volcanic activities and magnetic north are a few aspects of the live Earth. Solid Earth Science aims to reveal these subjects from varioius time and spatial scale.

Geosphere and Biosphere Science Group

On the geosphere and biosphere, the outermost layer of the earth, various interactions have taken place among lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere over a long geologic history. Geosphere and Biosphere Science conducts research and education on the formation of geosphere materials, the evolution of the geosphere, the origin and evolution of life, and the fundamental processes of geosphere-biosphere interactions.