The Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) supports to dispatch research advisors to visit former international students, who are currently engaged in educational or research activities in universities or research institutes in their home country/region, for the purpose of providing research guidance to them, give a lecture in seminar/symposium and etc. The objective of this program is to further polish the knowledge, research methods that the former international students acquired in Japan, to promote academic exchange between local and Japanese researchers, and to motivate local students to come to study in Japan.

Countries and regions listed in the attachment. (PDF: 74KB)

The research advisor provides more than one of the following five services in this program, and chiefly implements service (1).

(1) The research advisor provides research guidance for the former international student.

(2) The research advisor principally participates, cooperates, and exchanges academic information in a seminar hosted by the university, etc., with which the former international student is affiliated, for the former international student and other researchers, etc., regarding the specialized field of research.

(3) The research advisor provides a special class for local students on his/her research field.

(4) The research advisor introduces and provides information on the educational situation in Japan, such as higher educational institutes for researchers and local students.

(5) The research advisor has discussions with officials in charge of international affairs about academic and educational exchange between universities.

Research advisor is an instructor who conducted research activity of a former international student during his/her study in Japan and also is currently a full-time worker in a Japanese university (except Japanese junior college).

Former international students who wish a research advisor to be dispatched in this program must satisfy all the following conditions described in (1) - (4).

(1) Previous resident status in Japan was a "College Student".

(2) To have completed the master/doctoral course in a Japanese university or obtained all the necessary credits before graduation (coursework doctor).

(3) As of April 1, 2012, less than five years have passed since returning home after studying in Japan (i.e., returned home after April 1, 2007).

(4) To belong to a university, etc., in the relevant country or region, and be currently working in education, research, or government in their home country. (Employees of private businesses are not eligible.)

The length of stay in the dispatched area is 7-10 days between May 20, 2012 and March 10, 2013.
* Not including days used exclusively for travel.

About 17 appointees (The result in the Fiscal 2011: 17 appointees)

(The number of research advisors to be appointed will be determined in accordance with the budget for Fiscal 2012.)

JASSO will bear the following expenses (1)-(3) for each research advisor who has been selected for the project.

(1) Round-trip Airfare
JASSO provides an economy-class round-trip air ticket for the most economical route between the international airport in Japan closest to the university where the research advisor works and the international airport nearest to the university/institute that research advisor visits.

Note: The airline company and travel route shall be selected from among those specified by a travel agency contracted by JASSO.

(2) Living Expenses
JASSO will provide a lump-sum of 16,000 yen for each day of stay in the dispatched area, from the day of arrival at the site until the day of departure from the final work site.

* Does not include days in which the individual lodges at a stopover destination.

(3) Expenses for Guidance, etc.
JASSO provides expenses for research guidance that JASSO acknowledges as necessary. (Upper limit of ¥100,000 per research advisor)

[Notes regarding financial support]
1) When travel expenses are not provided.
Travel expenses will be withheld if any of the following conditions apply to the research advisor.

• The research advisor receives financial support from a public institute other than JASSO. (Applicable to a round-trip airfare.)
• The research advisor does not return to his/her country/region immediately after the completion of the follow-up research guidance program. (Applicable to return airfare.)
• Acceptance to this program has been revoked.

2) When a daily allowance is not provided.
All or part of the daily allowance will be withheld if any of the following conditions apply to the research advisor.

• The research advisor receives financial support from a public institute other than JASSO.
• The duration of the research guidance program is changed due to illness or other personal reasons.
• Acceptance to this program has been revoked.

3) When expenses for Guidance are not provided.
All or part of the expenses for guidance will be withheld if any of the following conditions apply to the research advisor.

• The content of the application has been judged to be unsuitable.
• There has been a significant change in the plan from the time of application.
• Acceptance to this program has been revoked.
• When any of the above conditions apply, the president of JASSO shall withhold all or part of the airfare, daily allowance, and other expenses for guidance.

4) Other
The travel route shall be selected from among those specified by a travel agency contracted by JASSO
Be aware that an airline cancellation fee may be charged if the application is withdrawn immediately before the departure date.

The president of the Japanese university who wishes to dispatch a research advisor to the former international student recommends him/her to the president of JASSO with the following documents (1)-(3)

(1) Answer Sheet for Follow-up Research Guidance for Fiscal 2012 (Form 1) (Excel: 27KB) / (PDF: 66KB)

(2) Application Form for Follow-up Research Guidance for Fiscal 2012 (Form 2-1/2-2/2-3/)

(3) Request for Follow-up Research Guidance for Fiscal 2012 (Form 3)

Form 2-1/2-2/2-3/ and Form 3 are in the same file. Download here. (Excel: 250KB) / （PDF: 218KB)

If there are two or more applicants, university has to rank them by level of recommendation.
Note: 10 printed copies of all forms listed above must be submitted.

Note: Form 2-1/2-2/2-3 and Form 3 must also be submitted in digital format.

[Notes regarding application]
*1 The same research advisor cannot file two or more applications.
*2 A single application can be applied to more than one former international student.
In such cases, Form 2-1/2-2 and Form 3 must be submitted for the second and subsequent eligible international students.

Applications must be received by Friday, February 10, 2012.

Note: The deadline is just for JASSO. Please confirm the deadline for the Japanese university.

(1) Selection
Selection is made by JASSO’s international student selection committee under the following policy. There may be cases in which the selections do not comply with the recommendation rankings assigned by the university.

[Examination policy]
1) The application is to contribute to the progress of education, academic research and administration of developing nations, regions, etc., and academic research and international exchange at universities in Japan.

2) The dispatching of a research advisor can be expected to further advance research activities.

3) Advance negotiations between the former international student and the research advisor are clear, and activity plans are detailed and indicate that the period of guidance will be used effectively and efficiently.

4) The research advisor is to visit not only the institute in question, but many others to widely engage in discussion with local researchers, exchange opinions, and attend lectures. The application must be designed to address educational matters such as the promotion of exchange with young researchers.

5) There should be diverse research topics, recipient countries and the universities which send research advisors.

6) The main focus must be on research guidance of the former international student, and the allotment of time to other activities must be appropriate.

7) Concerning privately financed former international students, priority shall be given to prior recipients of an Honors Scholarship for Privately Financed International Students .
Note: The Honors Scholarship for Privately Financed International Students is a scholarship program implemented by JASSO for international students in Japan.

(2) Notification
The president of the university will be notified of the result of selection in writing by JASSO.

Notification schedule: Early April, 2012 (planned)

The former international student will be notified of the result by the Japanese university. No individual inquiries about the selection result will be accepted.

[Note regarding selection]
Application forms with errors will not be received by the selection committee.

(1) When falsehoods have been included in the application.

(2) When there has been a violation of Section 13. "Obligation of research advisor and former international student".

(1) The research advisor, with help from his/her university’s administration director, makes necessary preparations for the follow-up research guidance.

(2) Within one month after the completion of research advisory work, the research advisor and the former international student each submit a research report and a project survey using the required form.

(3) When giving a lecture in this program, the research advisor needs to mention that it is being given as part of the JASSO operations.

(4) During the advisory work, the research advisor devotes himself/herself to this project and not engage in other activities regardless of remuneration.

Individual information contained in the application form will be kept confidential in accordance with the law on the protection of individual information possessed by independent administrative corporations and others and JASSO’s rules on the protection of individual information. It will be used for the execution of this work (including the supply of individual information so that an external private firm can electronically process and control data). When the application is selected, the names of researcher, research topic, and institute that engages in research advisory work shall be disclosed. The name, job, and report of the former international student shall also be released.

Follow-up Services Unit
Exchange, Follow-up and Housing Division, Student Exchange Department
Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO)
2-2-1 Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-8630 JAPAN
TEL +81-3-5520-6033
FAX +81-3-5520-6034
E-mail: ef2@jasso.go.jp

• Form 1 : Answer Sheet for Follow-up Research Guidance (to be made by Japanese university) (Excel: 27KB) / (PDF: 66KB)

• Form 2-1 / 2-2 / 2-3 :  Application Form for Follow-up Research Guidance (to be made by research advisor)
• Form 3 : Request for Follow-up Research Guidance (to be made by former international student)
  Form2-1 / 2-2 / 2-3 / and Form 3 are in the same file. Download here.(Excel: 250KB) / （PDF: 218KB)
  

• List of eligible countries / regions (PDF file: 74KB)

Note: Form2-1 / 2-2 / 2-3 and Form 3 must be submitted in excel data.

Note:Personal information in the application form is used for the purpose of this program and follow-up services for former international students, and is not used for other purposes

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Eligibility and Conditions

Q: Are honorary professors eligible to apply to be research advisor?
A: Only individuals that are recognized by a university as full-time faculty members are eligible to become research advisor.

Application form
Q: In form 3 it says Reason for applying for the Follow-up Research Guidance is required to be written in 800 characters or less. For English, shouldn’t this be 800 words?
A: No, in English it is also required to be completed in 800 characters or less.

Application
Q: By applying for this program, is a short term stay in Japan possible? (Question from a former international student in Japan.)
A: This program is for dispatching research advisors, and not for inviting former international students.

Q: The instructions say to use file security. What does this entail?
A: See “Submitting Excel Data.” The method for making settings differs according to the software version that is used. Refer to the manual provided with the software.