About GSDM
Background to GSDM（download pamphlet）
The Global Leader Program for Social Design and Management (GSDM) is an interdisciplinary doctoral program to train top leaders for today’s global society. Harnessing the strengths of 21 departments in nine graduate schools at the University of Tokyo, GSDM aims to develop all-round professionals. Based on the University of Tokyo’s “Action Scenario: FOREST 2015,” GSDM provides outstanding faculty and programs and represents a breakthrough in the reform of graduate school education.
The University of Tokyo runs nine Programs for Leading Graduate Schools, including GSDM. GSDM is regarded as the most important of them because it is an all-round program.
Responding to the Need for Human Resources Capable of Solving Social Issues
A new kind of human resources is needed in every field.
- Policy-oriented government organizations seek personnel with advanced doctoral-level capabilities to work as civil servants who can be core negotiators, as issues grow increasingly complex and overseas bureaucrats become more and more highly educated.
- International organizations seek human resources with PhDs, and those without a doctorate have difficulty being seriously considered as this labor market becomes more competitive.
- The business community needs professionals who can spearhead innovation and seeks human resources with agenda-setting abilities, concept-creation skills, the leadership skills to handle open innovation, project management capabilities, and the global perspective and communication skills to be able to function in international settings.
- Healthcare has, to date, been a relatively domestic and technology-oriented field. However, the field is now at the heart of international trade negotiations, and people with multidisciplinary abilities are needed.
Social Design and Management: Focused Interdisciplinary Learning
Technology alone cannot solve society’s problems; social context needs to be appreciated. Policies and systems alone also cannot solve social problems; policies and systems have to be designed and planned based on an understanding of advanced technologies. GSDM develops human resources with a balanced knowledge of both technologies and policies/systems, with a global perspective, and with specialized and broad-spectrum knowledge. Such “Social Design and Management” professionals are able to identify social issues by taking a global perspective and using broad-spectrum and specialized knowledge, to design integrative solutions by bringing together innovative technologies and public policy, and to collaborate with diverse stakeholders to realize the solutions.
