AUN/SEED-Net Doctoral Scholarships Program for ASEAN Countries Students, Japan

The AUN/SEED-Net Project with support from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) provides scholarships for prospective applicantsfrom AUN-SEED/Net Member Institutions to pursue doctoral degrees in engineering at one ofthe following Japanese Supporting Universities: Hokkaido University, National Graduate Institute of Policy Studies, Keio University, Kyoto University, Kyushu University, Tokai University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Toyohashi University of Technology, University of Tokyo, Shibaura Institute of Technology, and Waseda University.

The fields of study that can be supported by the AUN/SEED-Net are as follows: Civil Engineering (CE), Chemical Engineering (ChE), Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE), Environmental Engineering (EnvE), Geological Engineering (GeoE), Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Manufacturing Engineering (ManuE), Materials Engineering (MatE), and Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering (ME/AE). Under the above 9 fundamental engineering fields, applicants, if interested, may also propose
any research topic(s) related to the new five (5) interdisciplinary areas (Biotechnology, Disaster Mitigation, Environment, Natural Resources/Materials, and New/Renewable Energy). 

Although studying outside ASEAN countries, students under the Doctoral Degree Program in Japan are encouraged to participate in AUN/SEED-Net’s network activities (e.g. AUN/SEED-Net Regional Conference, Collaborative Research activities, etc.) so as to create, maintain, and deepen the linkage with Member Institutions (student’s sending institution and/or student’s hosting institution when pursued master’s degree).

2. Objectives
(1) To increase the number of high quality doctoral degree holders in engineering at Member Institutions to contribute to a sustainable industrial development of ASEAN countries through conducting highly qualified education and researches.
(2) To strengthen human networking of teaching and research staff among Member Institutions and Japanese Supporting Universities.

3. Qualifications
(1) Applicants must have a research-based master’s degree in relevant engineering field or to be awarded the master’s degree before starting doctoral degree study.
(2) Applicants should be ranked within top 10% of the class for Bachelor’s Degree, in principle, (a certified document of class rank is required).

(3) Applicant should have a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3 or more in the 4-scale grading system or at least 7.5 in the 10-scale grading system, with some English competency. (TOEFL score or equivalent test is required.)
(4) Applicants must be outstanding graduates of Master’s Degree Program of AUN/SEED-Net Project, or outstanding young teaching staff or research staff of Member Institutions, who are strongly motivated to have a professional career as teaching staff at Member Institutions.
(5) Applicants, in principle, should have at least one recent (not older than 2 years) research publication in refereed national or international journal.
(6) Applicants must be under the age of 35 at the time of enrollmentand capable of carrying out independent research.

4. Duration of Scholarships
The duration of the scholarship is strictly three years.

5. Coverage of the Scholarships
Tuition fees, living expenses, health insurance, and a round-trip air ticket will be provided as per JICA regulations.

6. Application for Scholarships

The application procedure is as follows:

6.1 Application and screening process
(1) The applicants for the Doctoral Degree Program in Japan submit the AUN/SEED-Net’s Application Form for Scholarship along with other required documents (please refer to Application Form of the Doctoral Degree Program in Japan 2013, Item No. 12-13) to the contact person of the Member Institutions to which the applicants belong (sending institutions). (List of contact person at each Member Institution is given in Attachment 3.)
Please note that at this stage, applicants are required to submit the names of their proposed Japanese advisors and Japanese Support Universities, but there is no need to submit application form of those universities.

(2) The contact person of each sending institution sends a collection of Application Forms endorsed by the Member Institution to the AUN/SEED-Net Project. Please note that individual applications sent to AUN/SEED-Net Project will not be accepted. However, Sending Institutions could submit the collection of application forms more than once towards the Deadline.

(In case of applicants studying overseas, Application Forms as well as other required documents can be submitted directly to AUN/SEED-Net Project, provided that the applicants request the contact person of their respective Sending Institution to submit an endorsement letter to AUN/SEED-Net.)

(3) The AUN/SEED-Net Project will check all required documents and request missing documents from applicants through Sending Institutions, if necessary.
(4) The AUN/SEED-Net Project will conduct initial screening and send the results to applicants’ sending institutions. At the same time, the AUN/SEED-Net Project will consult with concerned Japanese Supporting Universities for possibility of accepting the applicant in the event that the applicant is awarded a scholarship and passes the entrance examination.
*Applicants are encouraged to contact by themselves a prospective advisor of their preference at a Japanese Supporting University for consent on acceptance in the event the applicants are awarded a scholarship and pass the entrance examination. It will be an advantage in the screening process if the applicant can obtain and enclose such consent letter (or copy of e-mail communication) from a prospective advisor in this application as it can fasten the screening process.
(5) After the communication with Japanese Supporting Universities, the AUN/SEED-Net Project prioritizes the applicants and sends the result to JICA Headquarters. JICA Headquarters then make the decision on the selection of the successful applicants by April2013.
(6) The AUN/SEED-Net Project or JICA Office in each country informs the results to the Member Institutions/Members countries officially to which the applicants belong in April 2013.
(7) The process after sending the official notifications may be different in terms of countries or Japanese universities. AUN/SEED-Net Project, in cooperation with the JICA Office in the respective countries, will advise the scholarship awardees on the necessary procedures.

6.2. Official request from a member country to the Japanese Government
(1)  JICA Headquarters will instruct JICA Office in the member country of the successful candidate to submit the JICA Application Form. The Form should be prepared by the successful candidate with the endorsement ofhis/her Sending Institution and submitted to the Embassy of Japan or the JICA office in each country through the coordinating ministry of agency responsible for international cooperation in the country.
(2)  When the JICA Application Form is endorsed by the Member Institution, a photocopy of the form should be sent directly to the AUN/SEED-Net Project prior to forwarding it.
(3)  After receiving the JICA Application Form, JICA will examine the candidacy and send an official notice of acceptance or rejection to the government concerned.
(4)  It is expected that the enrolment of successful candidates will take place between September 2013 and March 2014.

7. Submission Deadline of the Application Form
Applications for the Doctoral Degree Program in Japan should be submitted both in soft copy and in printed form, by October 31 (Wed), 2012to the AUN/SEED-Net Project. They must be signed by the Dean or the Representative of the AUN/SEED-Net Member Institution to which the applicants originally belong.

8. Scholarship Allocation
The allocation policy of scholarships for each fiscal year is as follows. The high priority is given to the fresh graduates of Master’s Degree Program of AUN/SEED-Net Project. Among teaching staff of Member Institutions, the high priority is given to those who are in the host field of Host Institution.

9. Remarks
Applicants must submit the health check-up certificate before proposed departure date. Applicants who are pregnant or suffer from chronic diseases, e.g., respiratory illness, cardiac disease, metabolic disease (diabetes, etc.), renal dysfunction and immune insufficiency (systemic steroid administration, etc.) shall not be approved of the visit to Japan in principal.

Please submit the application to:
AUN/SEED-Net Project
(Doctoral Degree Program in Japan 2013)
Faculty of Engineering, Bldg 2, Rm 109-110,
Chulalongkorn University
Bangkok 10330, THAILAND
T. +662-218-6419-21
F. +662-218-6418
Email : prog@aun-seed.net

Visit the official website at www.seed-net.org