Very specific, I'm sorry. I'm a second-year doctoral student right now and I want to apply for the JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for International Students (Standard Program) next year. Thing is, my Japanese level is lower intermediate at best so there is no way I can write the application in Japanese next year, and all guidance books are also in Japanese. I could skip the PD mess and go job-hunting, but I'm just not ready. I'm so frightened about being unable to find a job before graduation (though I'll have a PhD and native-level English skills).
There's also the issue of my lagging behind in conference presentations and publications. I'll have a publication and at least three conferences under my belt next year but I doubt it's going to make me competitive enough. Extra minus points for my research being pure biology that does not benefit society/environment/humans directly (so it's not biomed/biotech, human genetics, climate/environment etc).
So I'm wondering if someone here has experience with this very competitive fellowship or can point me towards resources that can help me improve my application and/or guide me on boosting my profile in the year that I have.
by Lady_TwoBraidz