The Master of Arts Program for Journalist Education in Science and Technology is a new challenge for the Graduate School of Political Science, Waseda University.

First, this program is a challenge in that it is an attempt to establish an innovative system based upon a new concept for the development of professional journalists. The Graduate School of Political Science has produced many quality journalists in the past. It goes without saying that this new program is built on that tradition and outstanding performance. However, this program has been assigned the additional task of becoming the most forward-looking; the first of its kind in the world. Upon its launch, therefore, we conducted thorough research overseas to determine what type of professional journalists are most sought out in today's world. Based upon the concept thus obtained from the research findings, we aim to develop professional journalists who practice ethics, knowledge, and skills and have outstanding expertise as journalists that play a key role in public communication to build bilateral relations between science and technology academia and the general public.

Secondly, the program is a challenge in that it is an attempt to realize an unprecedented, truly interdisciplinary educational program. The fact that this program will be conducted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology as part of the New Area Human Resource Development Program funded by the Special Coordination Fund for the Promotion of Science and Technology, in itself demonstrates that despite the fact that there is a great demand for journalists specialized in science and technology in modern society, such social needs have not yet been fully met. This is due to the difficulty associated with the fact that the development of journalists is an interdisciplinary project. Only the Graduate School of Political Science, which pursues political science as a "Master Science," could have launched such a project that combines journalism, a compound applied discipline in social sciences and humanities, with research on natural science and technology. We aim to develop journalists with an acute sense that enables them to detect and capture today's most significant agendas, namely modern society and science and technology, at the forefront of development.