Consortium for Human Resource Development in Volcanology

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What is the Next Generation Volcano Researcher Development Program?

The purpose of this program is to train the next generation of volcano researchers, who will deepen our understanding of diverse volcanic phenomena, advance leading-edge volcanology research with strong international collaboration, and take on the challenge of disaster science mitigating volcanic hazards in a developed society. Recently, with improving observational technology, theoretical models of magma dynamics have advanced and research into understanding volcanic phenomena to forecast volcanic activity have started to merge the three main fields of volcanology: geophysics, geology/petrology, and geochemistry. Furthermore, there is an expectation that volcano researchers will contribute to reducing damage from eruptions, so there is great demand for research applications in the disaster sciences. In this context, we are establishing a consortium of universities and research institutions that perform leading-edge volcano research, national agencies, and local municipalities that are responsible for volcano disaster mitigation, and private companies that support these efforts. The goal of this consortium is to create an environment that provides systematic learning in interdisciplinary volcanology. Specifically, we will develop volcano research capabilities through sharing university courses, field studies at active volcanoes, seminars on leading-edge volcano research, and observational and computational technologies. We will also offer seminars on such topics as disaster social science to gain knowledge about disaster mitigation and provide opportunities to understand job sites involved in volcano monitoring and disaster mitigation through internships. For students who have acquired the necessary credits, we will award a certificate for the fundamental, application, and advanced courses.

Interview

Consortium members

Universities

Tohoku University (representative institution)Hokkaido University
Yamagata UniversityUniversity of Tokyo
Tokyo Institute of TechnologyNagoya University
Kyoto UniversityKyushu University
Kagoshima UniversityKobe University
Shinshu UniversityAkita University
Ibaraki UniversityHiroshima University
Tokyo Metropolitan UniversityWaseda University
Toyama University

National agencies and research institutions

National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED)
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)
Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)
Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI)

Local municipalities

Hokkaido PrefectureMiyagi PrefectureNagano PrefectureKanagawa Prefecture
Gifu PrefectureNagasaki PrefectureKagoshima PrefectureGunma Prefecture
Yamanashi Prefecture

Academic associations

The Volcanological Society of Japan
Japan Society for Disaster Information Studies
The Interuniversity Center for Research in Volcanology (Italy)

Private companies

Asia Air Survey Co.,LtdNTT DOCOMO, INC.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, IncorporatedKyushu Electric Power Company, Incorporated

Achievements

February 2017: Admitted 36 students

May 2017: Admitted 4 students

November 2017: 30 students completed fundamental course

March 2018: 8 students completed fundamental course, and 4 students completed application course

April 2018: Admitted 22 students

March 2019: 17 students completed fundamental course, and 22 students completed application course

April 2019: Admitted 33 students (fundamental course: 20, advanced course: 13)

March 2020: 20 students completed fundamental course, and 17 students completed application course

April 2020: Admitted 20 students (fundamental course: 16, advanced course: 4)

Examples of classes sponsored by the consortium

Field study in Japan: Kirishima, Kusatsu-Shirane, Sakurajima, Zao, Unzen, Aso

Overseas field study: Stromboli (Italy), Sinabung, Toba, and Merapi (Indonesia)

Volcanological study: Weather radar analysis, Numerical modeling, Geodesy, Geomagnetisim, Analog experiments,
Material science, Volcanic gas, Geochemistry, Thermology, Social science, SABO

Contact

Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University
Executive Office of Consortium for Human Resource Development in Volcanology, Japan
6-3 Aramakiaza-Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8578
Phone: 022-795-6522
Web: https://kazan-edu.jp/en
E-mail: @grp.tohoku.ac.jp