Message from the Chair

Message from the Chair

The Statistical Science Program

The Statistical Science Program at the Institute of Statistical Mathematics (ISM) is one of the Departments of Multidisciplinary Sciences at SOKENDAI (Graduate University for Advanced Studies). It conducts educational and research activities related to statistical mathematics. It was established in 1988 concurrently with the establishment of SOKENDAI. This Department originally offered only a three-year doctoral course for those who have completed their Master’s degree. Since 2005, it has additionally offered a five-year integrated doctoral program for those who have completed their undergraduate degree.
The Statistical Science Program aims to cultivate individuals who possess creative research skills to contribute to solving various important intricately-intertwined problems. To this end, the Department conducts education and research related to the basics, mathematics and applications of data collection designs, modeling, inference and prediction, and equip students with the ability to extract information and knowledge from the real world based on the effective use of data.

The Institute of Statistical Mathematics (ISM)

The Statistical Science Program was established at the ISM. The ISM itself was established in 1944 as a research institute directly under the Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture for conducting academic research in statistical science. It has subsequently undergone various changes and is now under the Inter-University Research Institute Corporation. The ISM has contributed to academic developments as a leading research institute in statistical science both in Japan and worldwide. Its achievements include the Akaike Information Criterion, Quantification Theory, and Monte Carlo Filter (Particle Filter). It has three departments (Statistical Modeling, Statistical Data Science, and Statistical Inference and Mathematics) and four centers (Risk Analysis Research Center, Research Center for Statistical Machine Learning, Data Science Center for Creative Design and Manufacturing, and Research Center for Medical and Health Data Science) under it. Further, it is involved in extensive interdisciplinary research in fields ranging from the humanities and social sciences to science and technology.