This program consists of three different courses, each equivalent to 1 academic credit:
- Healthcare Research and Innovations in Japan and India
- Design and Culture in South Asia
- Project-Based Learning: Unmet Medical Needs
Together, these courses provide a cross-disciplinary introduction to the medical and healthcare systems of Japan and India, focusing on how each country addresses unmet medical needs through policy, technology, culture, design, and innovation.
Through online lectures, joint discussions, and project-based learning, IIT students will learn together with University of Tsukuba students, identify real-world healthcare challenges, and develop project ideas addressing unmet medical needs.
Students will examine differences and similarities in healthcare delivery, disease prevention, social systems, and cultural approaches to medicine, while exploring opportunities for collaboration in digital health, biomedical engineering, social innovation, and entrepreneurship.
The program emphasizes cross-cultural communication, interdisciplinary teamwork, and practical problem-solving. Through group discussion, joint research, and faculty mentorship, students will explore how differences in healthcare systems, lifestyle, culture, and society influence business development and innovation. Participants will cultivate the ability to propose original solutions and design feasible approaches independently and collaboratively.
Expected Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Gain cross-cultural insight into healthcare, design, and social innovation in Japan and India.
- Understand how lifestyle, belief systems, culture, technology, and social structures influence health and society.
- Compare healthcare systems, disease prevention strategies, and innovation ecosystems in Japan and India.
- Engage in online joint lectures and discussions co-taught by faculty from the University of Tsukuba and IIT.
- Apply interdisciplinary thinking by integrating perspectives from medicine, engineering, design, humanities, and social sciences.
- Work effectively in multicultural and international teams.
- Identify unmet medical needs and propose practical, innovative, and socially relevant solutions.
- Develop communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills through PBL-based collaboration.
Period: 6–8 weeks within September–December
Format: On-demand videos through JV-Campus Online, with selected online joint lectures, discussions, and PBL activities.
Credits / Micro-Credentials: Each course is equivalent to 1 academic credit and may be issued as a micro-credential.
Students may take one course or all three courses.
Healthcare Research and Innovations in Japan and India
Design and Culture in South Asia
Project-Based Learning: Unmet Medical Needs
