Hi, am a molecular medicine Msc student studying cancer genetics currently… I left Syria during the war and recently got awarded the Turkish nationality for progress. Currently I am trying my best to get a PhD position in japan, though the fees are basically astronomical for me,,, I am aware that there are a lot of scholarships for international students, yet they are from third parties, as in not the university itself.. I couldn’t get around to understand the system and I hope someone could help me for a few days till I get an acceptance or at least some good news.
2 comments
Slight correction;
There are not a *lot* of scholarships for privately funded international students. Many have scholarship income limitations. Many more require Japanese fluency.
As a PhD student you have slightly more options simply due to less competition, and at times they’ll be of higher overall value.
1. At all public schools tuition is ¥535,800 per year plus about ¥30,000 application fee and ¥282,000 entrollment fee. Although, at most of the big public schools, you can apply to get your tuition exempted or half exempted for being a self supporting international student. Enrollment and application fee, I don’t think it’s possible to get around without a scholarship. Private schools cost more. Also, your daily life like rent and food will cost more than than tuition, so fees are the least of your trouble.
2. There are two main scholarships that cover your life fees and tuition, the MEXT scholarship and the JSPS DC fellowship. They are pretty competitive, but if the cost of fees scares you, you need to try your hardest. The MEXT scholarship is done through your embassy, so check the Turkey embassy website for details. The JSPS fellowship is basically impossible to get without the help of a supervising professor that knows the Japanese research proposal style. The MEXT is reasonable though.
3. The best thing to do is to find a supervisor to help you before you even start to apply. The entrance exam to a PhD normally consists of a research plan and presentation and permission to enter the lab of a professor. So, to start, instead of picking random schools, you should find professors in your field. Eventually, you should prepare a research plan and contact them. If your Masters professors have any friends in Japan, it will greatly help your chances getting a response from the professor.
4. Deadlines are super strict in Japan and the windows are small. The application deadline for the scholarships is coming really fast. If you haven’t started, you are almost too late.