Gakushuin University is a relatively small private university located in one of the most convenient places in Tokyo. Unlike many colleges in big cities, however, it has a large beautiful campus with plenty of trees and greenery.

The physics department is a small department with seventeen faculty members and roughly two hundred students. The department is well known for its highly qualified education and research activities.

There are nine independent research groups in the department. Each group, which is the core of our research, consists of a professor and a assistant professor as well as graduate and undergraduate students. The six groups in experimental physics cover a wide range of fields including condensed matter physics, surface physics, quantum optics, crystal science, and biophysics. The three theoretical groups cover condensed matter physics, statistical physics, mathematical physics, relativity, and cosmology.

Undergraduate students learn basic physic through small class lectures, problem sessions, and experiments in small groups. The environment is intimate and supportive without too much competitive pressures.

In the fourth year, each student joins one of our research groups and participates in a genuine research activity. The students are encouraged to make their own contributions in their senior papers, and some of them really accomplish this goal.

Graduate students, who become members of our research groups from their first year, are the major driving force of research activities in the department. The students are expected to become independent researchers who can participate in scientific investigations based on their own views and interests. It is not at all uncommon for a graduate student to report his/her own findings at international conferences.

The physics department offers the degrees in master and doctor of science.