では、「機能」とは何でしょうか。それは、知能が物理世界に実装され、社会や自然の中で具体的な作用として現れるかたちです。人を支援するロボット、脳の働きを解明する神経工学、リアルとバーチャルをつなぐXR技術、人や環境を対象とする物理・工学システム。知能が人間・社会・自然界と関わりながら発揮されるとき、それは機能として世界を動かします。
「知能機能システム」とは、知能と機能を分けて考えるのではなく、両者を統合的に設計する学問領域です。情報と物理、理論と実装、人間と人工物、それらの境界を越え、多様な要素が連携協調する新しい工学システムを創出することを目指しています。
本学位プログラムは、エンジニアリングフィジクス、ヒューマンロボティクス、ニューロエンジニアリング、XR・メディアという四つの専門領域を擁し、それぞれの分野で国際的に活躍する研究者が教育・研究に携わっています。また、つくば研究学園都市という環境を活かし、産業技術総合研究所をはじめとする研究機関との連携大学院制度を通じて、学際的かつ実践的な研究機会を提供しています。
本プログラムには、多様な学問的背景を持つ学生が国内外から集っています。複数指導教員による対話的な研究指導体制のもと、基礎から専門までを段階的に修得できるカリキュラムを整備し、異なる視点に触れながら研究を深化させることができます。挑戦を支える教育環境もまた、私たちの大切な特色です。 ここでの学びは、既存の技術を習得することにとどまりません。未知の領域に踏み出し、自ら問いを立て、教員と共に探求しながら、新しい社会像を構想するための出発点です。知能と機能を統合し、未来の社会基盤を共に設計してみませんか。
皆さんの挑戦を、私たちは全力で支えます。
知能機能システム学位プログラムリーダー
延原 肇
(2026/4/1)
What do you think of when you hear the word intelligence? Many people associate it with artificial intelligence, systems capable of rapid computation and sophisticated reasoning. Yet intelligence is not limited to algorithms. It is the ability to identify structure within complexity, to adapt to uncertainty, and to generate meaningful responses in dynamic environments. It is a creative and relational capacity.
Now consider how intelligence engages with the world. Intelligence becomes transformative when it is embodied. When it interacts with physical space, with human beings, with machines, and with natural systems. It is realized in robots that support and empower people, in neuroengineering systems that explore and augment brain function, in extended reality technologies that integrate physical and virtual environments, and in engineering systems that connect society
and the natural world.
Intelligent and Mechanical Interaction Systems is an academic field devoted to integrating intelligence with physical embodiment and interaction. Rather than separating information from matter, or theory from implementation, our discipline seeks to co-design intelligent systems that operate within real environments and collaborate with people. It aims to create engineering systems in which diverse elements interact harmoniously across boundaries between information and physics, humans and machines, design and analysis.
Our degree program encompasses four major domains: Engineering Physics, Human Robotics, Neuroengineering, and XR/Media. Across these areas, internationally active researchers engage with students not only through supervision, but through shared exploration and collaborative inquiry.
Located in Tsukuba Science City, our program benefits from a uniquely rich research ecosystem. Through the Collaborative Graduate School system with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and other leading research institutions, students gain access to interdisciplinary and practice-oriented research opportunities at the forefront of science and technology.
We welcome students from diverse academic backgrounds, both from Japan and around the world. Supported by a multi-supervisor mentoring system and a carefully structured curriculum that strengthens both foundational and advanced expertise, students are encouraged to deepen their research from multiple perspectives. Our educational framework is designed not only to challenge, but also to support ambitious inquiry.
Studying here is not simply about acquiring established knowledge. It is an invitation to step into the unknown, to formulate original questions, and to envision new forms of society through the integration of intelligence and interactive physical systems. We invite you to join us in designing the future of intelligent interactions.
Together, let us build the foundations of the next generation of human-centered systems.
The Degree Programs leader in Intelligent and Mechanical Interaction Systems
Hajime Nobuhara
(2026/4/1)