The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan (MEXT), is now accepting applications from Japanese university students for the 8th round of the TOBITATE! Ryugaku Japan Scholarships for University Students. TOBITATE Scholarships provide a monthly allowance, preparation allowance and tuition fees for those who study abroad between 28 days and 2 years (this scholarship is primarily for short-term study and not for degree programmes). The scholarship aims to fund 10,000 Japanese students by 2020.

From this round a new sub category titled “Future Technology Human Resources” will allocate a quota for approximately 50 students majoring in artificial intelligence, IoT, big data, cyber security, robotics, and data science.

The 8th round is aimed at those who will start their study abroad between 1 April 2018 and 31 October 2018. Application closes on 20th October 2017.

MEXT has also announced the application schedule for the 9th round of the scholarship which is aimed at those who will start their study abroad between 18 August 2018 and 31 March 2019. For each round, the scholarship will be available for 500 students in 4 categories. For the details of each category and the application process, please see the attached PDF.

Commentary by Rui Ogura:
The new“Future Technology Human Resources” sub category reflects Japan’s strategy to embrace new technologies to boost competitiveness. It will encourage students in these 6 fields to seek study abroad opportunities throughout the world. This will in turn lead to new opportunities for UK institutions to recruit excellent technology students from Japan.

Despite the government’s promotional efforts, Japanese university administrative/academic staff often report that many of their students are not aware of the TOBITATE scholarship opportunities. For the 7th round, 608 students out of 1,939 applicants were chosen for the scholarship, which indicates competition is not so intense. UK institutions are advised to highlight this scholarship when promoting study abroad programmes to prospective students.

Applicants need to submit detailed study plans and some universities provide students with extensive support for revising their study plans. Students that receive support from their university have tended to be more successful with their applications. Prospective students should be advised to visit the international office at their home university to find out more about the scholarships.