MEXT will offer scholarships to foreign students who wish to study at GRIPS as YLP students in public administration/public policy for the academic year 2014 under the MEXT Scholarship Program. The Young Leaders’ Program (YLP) aims to cultivate national leaders of the future in Asia and around the world. In addition, while enhancing the participants’ understanding about Japan, it should help form a network among national leaders, contributing to the establishment of friendly relations and improved policy planning activities between worldwide, including Japan. The YLP is one of the Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho: MEXT) Scholarship Student systems.
Study Subjects and Level:
Scholarships are provded to study in the field of Public Administration/Public Policy. The Scholarships are obtainable to learn master program at National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS).
Eligibility:
- Nationality: Applicants must be nationals of countries eligible for the YLP (School of Government).
- Age: Applicants must be, in principle, under 40 years of age, as at 1 October, 2014 (i.e. born on or after 2 October 1974).
- Academic Background: Applicants must hold a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent from a recognized/accredited university or college, and have achieved shown excellent academic performance.
- Work Experience: At least 3 years of work experience in public administration (preferably 5 years or more).
- English Proficiency: A minimum TOEFL-iBT score of 79 (TOEFL-CBT score of 213, TOEFL-PBT score of 550), IELTS 6.0 or equivalent.
- Health: Applicants must be in good health.
- Visa Requirement: Selected applicants must acquire “College Student” (ryugaku,) visas before entering Japan. They then enter Japan with the “College Student” (ryugaku,) residence status. Applicants who are already in Japan under a different visa category are required to change it to “College Student” by the end of the month preceding the start of the scholarship. Applicants who change their resident status to anything other than “College Student” following their arrival in Japan will immediately lose their status as a Japanese government scholarship student.
Applicants who meet any or all of the conditions below are not eligible. If identified as such after commencement of the scholarship period, applicants will be required to withdraw from the scholarship:
- Active members of military forces, or civilians employed by military forces at the time that the scholarship period is scheduled to commence.
- Unable to travel to Japan within dates set by the receiving university.
- Already enrolled in a Japanese university under “College Student” status, or plans to enroll at a Japanese university as a privately-financed international student, between the time of application for the GRIPS scholarship and the time the scholarship period is due to commence.
- Those who will lose their status as public administrators or government officials following the time of application or before completion of the program.
Scholarship Open for:
Students of P. R. China, Rep. of Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, Hungary, Czech, Slovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey can apply for this Young Leaders’ Program.
Scholarship Value:
- Allowance: 242,000 yen per month (in FY 2013; amount is subject to change) will be provided to grantees during the term of the scholarship. Grantees who are absent from the university for long periods, will no longer be provided with the scholarship.
Travel Allowance:
- Transportation to Japan: Grantees will be provided, in accordance with their itinerary and route as designated by MEXT, with an economy class air ticket from the international airport closest to their place of residence to Narita International Airport (or following the itinerary normally used by the university where grantees are placed). Expenses such as inland transportation from place of residence to the nearest international airport; airport taxes; airport usage charges; special taxes on overseas travel; and travel expenses within Japan will be borne by the grantee (in principle, the grantee’s place of residence shall be the address stated in the application form).
- Transportation from Japan: Grantees who return to their home country within the fixed period following the expiration of the scholarship will be provided, upon application, with an economy class air ticket from Narita International Airport to the international airport nearest to their home address. Expenses such as inland transportation from their home address to the international airport, airport taxes, and special travel taxes will NOT be provided (in principle, the address in the grantee’s home country as stated in the application is considered the “home address”). The airport that the grantee departs from, or returns to, must be an airport in their home country.
- Tuition Fees: Fees for matriculation, tuition, and university entrance examinations will be paid by the Japanese government.
Accommodations:
- In principle, grantees may reside at accommodations provided by GRIPS.
- Private Boarding Houses or Apartment Houses:
Those who cannot accommodate in the facilities described above will be arranged at private boarding houses or apartments recommended by the GRIPS Student Office.
Selection Procedure:
- Initial screening will be conducted by there commending authorities in applicant’s home country.
- Second screening by means of an interview and review of submitted documents will be conducted by GRIPS. If it is difficult to arrange an interview in the applicant’s home country, the interview maybe conducted by telephone or internet.
- The list of final selections by GRIPS will be submitted to the YLP committee organized by MEXT for final approval.
How to Apply?
- All documents should use A4 paper and should be typed. If documents are handwritten, please print clearly.
- These documents should be written in English. Each document must be submitted with a certified English translation if the original is not written in English. We must emphasize that applications are considered incomplete until all documents, including recommendation letters and diplomas, are submitted in English or come with English translations.
- Recommendation letters should be written separately in the designated format by an immediate superior at your workplace or an academic advisor from your university. At least one and preferably two should be written by immediate superiors at the workplace.
- Submit English test proficiency scores from the TOEFL or IELTS from within the last two years. If you submit the results of a different test of English proficiency, please submit a conversion of the score to TOEFL or IELTS.
- If you have a publication or dissertation, submit the overview separately.
- Your application may not be accepted if any of the documents are incomplete, inaccurate, or missing.
- Number the documents from 1 to 10 (the items numbered in the list above) in the upper right corner of each document.
Application Deadline:
The deadline of the applications differs according to the country. Please contact with Japanese embassy or consulate general in your country.
For further information: http://www.mext.go.jp/english/highered/1338147.htm
