The GSS Program students are required to accomplish two elements below:

By achieving the two above elements, students in the Inter-Graduate School Program for Sustainable Development and Survivable Societies will be granted the following mention (tentative translation) on their diploma:

The Doctorate Program of each Graduate School will certify the completion of (a), while the Leading Examination Committee of the GSS Program will certify that all necessary requirements have been completed for (b).
The Graduate School and the GSS Program will then report to the Steering Committee of the Program for Leading Graduate Schools, Kyoto University that the students have successfully completed both (a) and (b). This committee, upon receiving this report, will certify that it corresponds to the above mention on the diploma.

As seen in Table 1 below, the name of the degree slightly changes depending on the Graduate School.

Table 1 – Mention on the diploma bestowed after completion of the program (as of April 2013)

The GSS Program intends to cultivate human resources in new emerging interdisciplinary area of “Global Survivability Studies”.

The GSS Program seek for students who can lead in different areas of our global society and contribute to better direction in positions such as :

Students who are enrolled in any of graduate schools and departments listed in Table 2 can apply for this Program, regardless of nationality, gender and age. The first semester of the first academic year is set as the Leading Program Preparatory Course, during which applicants will attend classes as Program candidates. Then they will be evaluated for admission. Those selected will be officially registered as Program students from next semester of the same academic year and attend the course classes.

Table 2 – Graduate schools and departments involved in the GSS Program

This program provides a 5-year education program and pioneers a new academic discipline of Global Survivability Studies (GSS) which is developed to send out capable resources in the world. It is designed to develop internationalized human resources who will contribute to global society and also local society. In order to develop a broad-based knowledge and in-depth expertise, to cultivate flexible thinking, determination and ability to take action, and to lead in different areas of society, it is indispensable to build a wide variety of experiences, which in turn requires time. Therefore, from the moment they enroll in the first part of the program (Master’s Program in some cases), students are expected to create their 5-year plan and set their own objectives, and have the opportunity to choose a curriculum that will match their project. For the curriculum, students are required to take Global Survivability Studies Program classes, Interdisciplinary seminars, and GSS activities. Students who aspire to graduate should also follow the curriculum policy in their respective graduate schools.

Students who aspire to graduate from the Global Survivability Studies Program and obtain a diploma such as described in Table 1, in parallel with the program and research in their respective graduate school, are required to attend and pass all the categories from (a) to (g).

(a) Global Survivability Studies Program classes
(b) Field Training
(c) Internship
(d) Interdisciplinary Seminars
(e) International Academic Exchange
(f) Industry-University Collaborative Project
(g) International Cooperation Project

Global Survivability Studies Program classes include 4 compulsory classes provided by this program, optional compulsory classes, and optional classes from their respective graduate schools. As for interdisciplinary seminars, students are required to take 15 sessions and get certification. GSS activities include Field Training, Internship, International Academic Exchange, Industry-University Collaborative Project, and International Cooperation Project. These five activities are planned, organized, carried out, and concluded by students. After completing each of the five projects, students are required to make a presentation of their research activities and it will be evaluated. The evaluation criteria are written in the syllabus. For example, as for the criteria of the field training, the following points are evaluated: addressing real world problems, activity description, presentation skills, and English skills.

By following the curriculum policy in their respective graduate schools, students take 5 years to complete this program. The program is carried out as their own 5-year plan and students have the opportunity to choose a curriculum that will match their plan. At the end of the 1^st year, students are required to take the First Year Pre-Qualifying Examination. In order to take this examination, students are required to complete 3 interdisciplinary seminars and more than 2 credits of compulsory classes or 1 GSS activity before taking the examination. At the end of the 2^nd year, since students are necessary to meet their requirements such as depending on the department and the graduate school they enrolled in, they have to submit a Master thesis or an equivalent research work (depending on their department and graduate school, students may have to submit a preliminary doctorate thesis, which is the equivalent of a Master thesis). In addition, they must have completed more than two credits of compulsory classes and at least one GSS activity before the examination. In order to receive doctoral degree, students are required to pass the final examination with submitting their doctoral dissertations in their respective graduate schools and completing their curriculum in the GSS program.

See also Education for details of time frame of course.