Research Students

2020/6/17
1. Requirements (*application forms are available below)
  1. Academic Background: 16 years of formal education (must be a university graduate)
  2. Age: Born on or after April 2, 1986
  3. Transcript: 7 grades or higher out of 10 grades of cumulative Grade Point Average (or average GPA>=2.8) (average from first year to final year) in the last university or graduate school attended
The transcript which candidates are required to submit at the application and the Embassy uses to judge the requirement of transcript are as follows.
Status of candidates Transcript which candidates are required to submit at the application Transcript which the Embassy uses to judge the requirement of transcript
Candidates who have already graduated from universities (undergraduate) and have not been enrolled in graduate schools Undergraduate Undergraduate
Candidates who are enrolled in Master’s course of graduate schools Both undergraduate and Master’s course* Undergraduate
Candidates who are enrolled in Doctoral course of graduate schools All of the undergraduate, Master’s course and Doctoral course* Master’s course
Candidates who have already graduated from graduate schools (Master’s or Doctoral courses) Both undergraduate and graduate school (Master’s and Doctoral courses) Master’s or Doctoral course (last course)
 *Regarding transcript of the course in which candidates are enrolled, submit the transcript from first year to the term for which grades have been determined at the application.

2. Period of study
  • Non-regular students: 1.5 year
  • Regular students enrolled in master's or doctoral courses: necessary period for the completion of the regular program
  • Extendable period of scholarship upon screening by MEXT
  • Including 6-month of Japanese language training for grantees who require such training
(*for more details about non-regular and regular students, please see the APPLICATION GUIDELINES below.)

3. Fields of Study
  • The field which fulfills both (a) and (b):
    1. The field which you will be able to study and research in graduate courses at Japanese universities
    2. The field which you majored in university or its related field
  • Some courses are taught in English.
4. Accepting Institutions
Universities (Non-regular students, Master's or Doctoral Courses)

5. Necessary documents for application (originals are required) 
  • Application form for Research Students     PDF               Excel              Sample
  • Field of study and research plan (Research Proposal)       PDF                   Word          
  • Essay about applicant’s own future plan in 100-150 words in English (or 400 letters (400字) in Japanese)    PDF               Excel
  • ID Card or Student Card     PDF               Excel
  • Certified grade transcript for each academic year from the last university attended. (The transcript should show the grades earned by the applicant in all the subjects studied for each year and the grade scale applied.)
  • Graduation certificate or degree certificate of the last university attended (copy is accepted)
6. Detailed information about Research Students
APPLICATION GUIDELINES JAPANESE GOVERNMENT (MEXT) SCHOLARSHIP FOR 2021 (English)

2021 年度 日本政府（文部科学省）奨学金留学生募集要項 (日本語)

“How to write a Research Proposal?” by Research Students of MEXT 2020 (video)

Back to Top