How to Get the Japanese Government Scholarship (Monbukagakusho): TheResearch Category

The Research Student Scholarship under the Japanese Government offers applicants the opportunity to spend 18 or 24 months conducting independent research under a Japanese professor. After this period, the research students can continue their studies as a regular Master’s or Doctorate students provided that they are accepted to their desired university’s regular program and that the extension of their scholarship is approved by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Technology and Sports (MEXT).

Any field of study is eligible for the scholarship, but applicants should find a Japanese professor in a Japanese university who is willing to supervise their research. However, it is important to note that finding a professor does not guarantee that the applicant will be placed with that professor because in the process each applicant will be asked to provide names of three professors and their respective universities. It is up to MEXT to decide on which university the applicant will be placed.

There are (roughly) six stages in application process: Document screening, written exam, panel interview, securing a certificate of admission to the desired university, waiting for the tentative announcement of results, and the last stage, an even more stressful waiting time for the final results.

Below is a very rough estimate of the timeline of each application stage. This is based from my experiences in the Philippines so the application period in the other countries might slightly differ.

Late March to early April: Application opens

May: Application closes

Second or third Week of June: Written examination

A week or two after the written examination: Panel Interview

Last week of July: Notification of pre-qualifying results

August: Time of application to the desired universities

Late December to Early January: Notification of tentative Results

February: Notification of Final Results

Late March: Departure Orientation

April: Departure of successful applications who will enter the Spring semester

Late August: Departure Orientation

September or October: Departure of successful applications who will enter the Fall semester

In the application, applicants are asked which on which semester they desire to enter the university in Japan. I chose Fall semester so I arrived in Japan on the first week of September.

The first few stages of application from document screening to the panel interview are pretty quick and intense. Just  a few weeks after submitting the documents, applicants who qualified for the written examination will be notified immediately by phone or by email. And just a week after, qualified applicants will be notified again and scheduled for a panel interview. The period of notification between these two stages is pretty short so expect for a call from an embassy within a week's time or maybe shorter. If you took the examination and failed to receive a message from the embassy after a while, I suggest you call the embassy to inquire about the status of your application for your own peace of mind. It might be a little embarrassing to do so, but I believe there's no harm in trying. It's either you get the truth straight or you get a little glimmer of hope if they tell you that the results have still not been finalized. However, take note that you should be professional enough and regulate your calls. Please don't call the embassy staff everyday!

Please see the links below for a more detailed discussion of each stage:
How to Get the Japanese Government Scholarship (Monbukagakusho): Document Screening
How to Get the Japanese Government Scholarship (Monbukagakusho): Written Examination
How to Get the Japanese Government Scholarship (Monbukagakusho): Panel Interview
How to Get the Japanese Government Scholarship (Monbukagakusho): Securing a Certificate of Admission

For an overview of the Japanese Government Scholarship, please see my earlier post How to Get the Japanese Government Scholarship (Monbukagakusho): An Overview