2025 Application Guidefor MEXT Scholarship Students of“Global leader development program by innovation design method based on knowledgescience”
We seek applicants who wish to enroll in JAIST as MEXT* scholarship students for the special program
called “Global leader development program by innovation design method based on knowledge science”.
This program has been selected as one of the “International Priority Graduate Programs” by MEXT.
*MEXT : Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology-Japan (Monbukagakusho)
I. Number of Students Admitted
Number of Students

SchoolProgram

Graduate School of Advanced Science

Master’s Program

Max. 2Doctoral Program

Max. 3and Technology(Study Area: Knowledge Science)

Admitted

II. Enrollment Year and Month
October 2025
III. Terms and Allowance of Scholarship
Program

Terms

Monthly Allowance

Master’s Program

From 2025.10 to 2027.9

144,000 yen/Month

Doctoral Program

From 2025.10 to 2028.9

145,000 yen/Month*Monthly allowance amount is as of July 2024.Due to the situation of the Japanese Government budget,the amount of payment may be subject to change each fiscal year.
IV. Eligibility Requirements
Applicants must satisfy one of the following requirements by the day prior to the day of desired
enrollment.
Master’s Program:
Eligible applicants are those who have:
1. graduated from a Japanese university.
2. been granted a bachelor’s degree by the National Institution for Academic Degrees and Quality
Enhancement of Higher Education (NIAD-QE) as stipulated in paragraph 7, article 104 of the School
Education Act.
3. completed a 16-year curriculum of school education in countries other than Japan.
4. completed a curriculum at a foreign-affiliated university in Japan which has a university

education curriculum under the school education of its country (Its completion must be
regarded as the completion of a 16-year curriculum of school education in its country) andspecifically designated by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
1

5. completed a 16-year curriculum of school education in a foreign country by completing acorrespondence curriculum of an overseas educational institution while residing in Japan.
6. been granted a bachelor’s degree from a foreign university or other foreign institution ofhigher education by completing a curriculum with a completion period of three years or more.
7. completed a specialized curriculum specifically designated by the Minister of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology at a vocational school on or after the datedesignated by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The
required period for graduation is four years or longer, and which also satisfies othercondition specified by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
8. been designated as eligible by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology. For example, those who graduated from a university which is not under thejurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology
9. Early Graduate School Entrance Program
Applicants for the early graduate school entrance program must have completed therequired number of credits set by JAIST, which is approximately three-quarters of thenecessary credits to graduate from a Japanese university or an equivalent level of thecurriculum in a foreign country, with excellent academic results. Prospective applicants forthe early graduate school entrance program are those who have:a) attended a Japanese university for at least three years.
b) completed a 15-year curriculum of school education in countries other than Japan.
c) completed a 15-year curriculum of school education in a foreign country by completingthe correspondence curriculum of an overseas educational institution while residing inJapan.
d) completed a curriculum at a foreign-affiliated university in Japan which has a university
curriculum under the school education of its country (Its completion must be regarded as
the completion of a 15-year curriculum of school education in its country) and specificallydesignated by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
10. enrolled in a graduate school as stipulated in Paragraph 2, Article 102 of the School
Education Act, and recognized as having sufficient academic abilities by JAIST.
11. been recognized by JAIST through the Judgment of Eligibility as having an equivalent or
greater scholastic ability than that of university graduates, and have reached 22 years ofage.
[Judgment of Eligibility for Master’s Program]
Applicants who wish to apply under the eligibility requirements 9, 10 or 11 must be screened
by JAIST for eligibility prior to applying. Applicants should download the instruction
documents and forms for judgment of eligibility from our website and submit all the necessary
documents before the following deadline. (Admissions > Application Guide > Judgment of
Eligibility)
Application Deadline: August 2, 2024
https://www.jaist.ac.jp/english/admissions/application-guide/Eligibility.html
Note:a. Form 4, 5 and 8 for judgement of eligibility are not necessary to submit.
b. Please submit the documents via mail to the following address.
Mailing Address: International Student Section
Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST)
1-1 Asahidai Nomi Ishikawa 923-1292 JAPAN2

c. The result will be noticed by the middle of September 2024.
Doctoral Program
Eligible applicants are those who have:
1. been granted a master’s degree or a professional degree (are stipulated in Article 5-2 of the Rules

for Degrees (Ordinance of the Ministry of Education No. 9 of 1953) based on the Paragraph
3, Article 104 of the School Education Act. The same applies hereafter.) from a Japanese
university.
2. have been granted a degree equivalent to a master’s degree or a professional degree in a foreigncountry.
3. been granted a degree equivalent to a master’s degree or a professional degree bycompleting a correspondence curriculum of an overseas educational institution while
residing in Japan.
4. been granted a degree equivalent to a master’s degree or a professional degree at aforeign-affiliated university in Japan which has a graduate education curriculum under theschool education system of its country, and specifically designated by the Minister of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
5. completed the master’s program at the United Nations University, and obtained a degree
equivalent to a master’s degree.
6. taken a curriculum at a university abroad, the United Nations University, or a curriculum
specified in the above 4, passed an examination or screening which is stipulated in
Paragraph 2, Article 16 of the Standards for Establishment of Graduate Schools(Ordinance of the Ministry of Education No. 28 of 1974), and have been recognized ashaving an academic ability equivalent to or greater than a holder of a master’s degree.
7. been designated as eligible by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, andTechnology. Eligible applicants are those who have engaged in at least 2 years of researchat a university or research institute after graduating from a Japanese university orcompleting a 16-year curriculum of school education in a foreign country, and who havebeen recognized by JAIST as having equivalent or greater academic ability than a holder ofa master's degree.
8. been recognized by JAIST through the Judgment of Eligibility as having equivalent or
greater academic ability than a holder of a master’s degree or a professional degree andhave reached 24 years of age.
[Judgment of Eligibility for Doctoral Program]
Applicants who wish to apply under the eligibility requirements 7 or 8 must be screened by
JAIST for eligibility prior to applying. Applicants should download the instruction documents
and forms for judgment of eligibility from our website and submit all the necessary documents
before the following deadline. (Admissions > Application Guide > Judgment of Eligibility)
Application Deadline: August 2, 2024
https://www.jaist.ac.jp/english/admissions/application-guide/Eligibility.html
Note:a. Form 3 for judgement of eligibility is not necessary to submit.
b. Please submit the documents via mail to the following address.
Mailing Address: International Student Section
Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST)
1-1 Asahidai Nomi Ishikawa 923-1292 JAPANc. The result will be noticed by the middle of September 2024.
3

V. How to Apply
There are nine main steps when applying for this selection:

Step 1: Read the application guide and 2025 MEXT Scholarship Guidelines carefully.
Step 2: Check your eligibility for MEXT Scholarship students.
Step 3: Contact the faculty you wish to be supervised and obtain an informal consent of acceptancein the laboratory after enrollment.

Step 4: Prepare the application documents.
Step 5: Submit your application documents.
Step 6: Take the interview.
Step 7: Wait for notification of admissions decision.
Step 8: Submit your application.
Step 9: Wait for notification of admissions decision.
Following chapters are the detailed instructions for Step 3 - 8.
VI. Application Process, Deadline and Documents

Step 3
Contact the faculty you wish to be supervised and obtain an informal consent of acceptance in thelaboratory after enrollment.

Step 4 – 5
A. Application Process
1. Send an e-mail to the International Student Section (ISS)
Deadline: 5:00pm, Friday, September 20, 2024 (JST : Japan Standard Time)First, please send an e-mail to ISS with the following information.
・Your name
・Name of Program you wish to apply for (Ex: Global leader development program byinnovation design method based on knowledge science)・Name of JAIST Faculty member from whom you have been given informal consent ofAcceptance. Please submit the certification (Ex: e-mail from the faculty member) that shows
you surely obtain the informal consent of acceptance from intended supervisor in JAIST.
E-mail: ryugaku@ml.jaist.ac.jp
After receiving your e-mail, ISS will inform you how to submit your application documents.
2. Submission of PDF copies of the application documents
Deadline: 5:00pm, Friday, September 27, 2024 (JST : Japan Standard Time)
Please submit PDF copies of all the application documents following the instruction from ISS. We
will check your documents whether there are any mistakes.
3. Submission of hard copies of the application documents via courier delivery
Deadline: Friday, October 25, 2024 (JST : Japan Standard Time)
If the documents have no problem, we will ask you to send the hard copies to us. Please place
all the application documents in an envelope and send it via courier delivery (such as DHL, FedEx,
or EMS) to the International Student Section. Please keep the tracking number for your4

confirmation purpose. Applicants are responsible for the timely delivery of all the required
documents to the International Student Section. The parcel must reach the International Student
Section by the deadline.
Mailing Address: International Student Section
Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST)
1-1 Asahidai Nomi Ishikawa 923-1292 JAPANB. Application Documents
General Instructions:
All the documents must be prepared in English or Japanese. Documents in languages otherthan English must be accompanied with a translation in English or Japanese. We prefertranslations to be issued by the university or government agency and bear a stamp or
embossed seal of the school or the agency and the signature of the authorizing official.
Translations from a Japanese language school or translation company are acceptable if they
are stamped with the official seal of the translating body.
All the application documents are important to enable the Admissions Decision Committee toscreen applicants in a fair and accurate manner, and applications omitting any one of therequired documents will not be accepted.
Please download the forms at the following website.
JAIST Top Page > Admissions > ［Application Guide］ Master's Program and Doctoral
Program - Examination for scholarship track (Division of Advanced Science andTechnology) > Application Guide for Examination for International Priority Graduate
Programs for MEXT Scholarship Students
Applicants may be requested to submit additional application documents.
1

Application Form [Form 1]
Email will be the main medium of communication; therefore, make sure to provide us with anemail address that you frequently use. Please check your email regularly.
Regarding the photograph, please use a photograph of 4.5 cm in length by 3.5 cm in width,
upper half of body, facing camera, without a hat or any material covering your head and face,taken in the past 6 months. If it is a photographic paper, please write your name and nationality
on the back of the photograph and attach it to the specified space. A digital photograph is
acceptable.
Please print this form double-sided on A4-sized paper and do not staple them together.

2

Field of Study and Research Plan [Form 2]
Please print this form double-sided on A4-sized paper and do not staple them together.
Please summarize your field of Study and research plan within 4 pages.

53

Letter of Recommendation [Form 3]
Applicant must obtain an official letter of recommendation from the person of equivalent (orhigher) status to a dean of your faculty addressed to the president of Japan Advanced Instituteof Science and Technology.
※Applicants who are enrolled in degree-seeking program at JAIST need to obtain it from deanof the study area to which the applicants belong.
Copies are not acceptable.
Any format is acceptable, provided that the following contents shown in the box are included.
Please show the following instructions and inform the deadline to your recommenders.

➢Please give your personal impressions of the applicant’s motivation and aptitude
to study, and character. Also, please describe a quality and details of researchor work that the applicant has conducted, and reasons for recommending
him/her as a suitable candidate for MEXT scholarship student at JAIST.
➢Please provide your name, title/position, organization, signature (in handwriting)and date on an official letter headed paper, and pass the letter to the applicant.

4

Official Academic Transcript
Applicants should submit originals or certified copies.
Master’s program applicants must submit a transcript of both undergraduate and graduate school.
Doctoral program applicants must submit a transcript of graduate school.
A transcript must indicate the semester, credits and grading system, e.g. A :100-90 B : 89-80
C :79-70 D : 69-60 F : 59-. Attach reference materials about the grading system if it not shownon the transcript.
If master’s program applicants apply under the eligibility requirements 9, 10 or 11, they do notneed to submit it.
If doctoral program applicants apply under the eligibility requirements 7 or 8, they do not needto submit it.

5

Proof of Graduation or Expected Graduation
Applicants should submit originals or certified copies.
This must specify the date of graduation or expected graduation.
Student who apply to Master’s program-2 of Eligibility Requirements Need To Submit bachelor’s
degree by the National Institution for Academic Degrees and Quality Enhancement of Higher
Education (NIAD-QE)
If master’s program applicants apply under the eligibility requirements 9, 10 or 11, they do notneed to submit it.
If doctoral program applicants apply under the eligibility requirements 7 or 8, they do not needto submit it.

6

Official document indicating your high achievement in the most recent university
This document should indicate your high achievement. For example, GPA, class division, yourrank in the class.

7

Abstract of thesis (or papers)
Please summarize your thesis (or papers) within 4 pages. Copies are acceptable.
If you have not written a thesis, please submit a document summarizing your research activities
for the past few years in free format.

6

8

Proof of Language Proficiency (Photocopies are acceptable)
Applicants must have the language proficiency of either English or Japanese, and must satisfy
one of the qualifications below.
ENGLISH
Eligible applicants are those who have:
1. a certificate of Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR) Level B2
or higher. If you do not have a CEFR score, certificates such as IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC* arealso acceptable. Scores within 2 years on and after September 28, 2022 are valid.
*For TOEIC certificate, applicants should submit both L&R and S&W scores. Submitting only
either one is not acceptable. Certification from Institutional Testing Program of TOEFL or
TOEIC (TOEFL-ITP, TOEIC-IP) will not be accepted.
2. a certificate which shows that the applicant completed an undergraduate program or master's
program which was conducted in English as a main language.
3. a certificate which shows that the applicant’s English language proficiency level is equivalent
to or higher than the above No.1.
JAPANESE
Eligible applicants are those who have:
1. a certificate of Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) Level N2 or higher on and after
September 28, 2022.
2. a certificate which shows that the applicant completed an undergraduate program or master's
program which was conducted in Japanese as a main language.
3. a certificate which shows that the applicant’s Japanese language proficiency level isequivalent to or higher than the above No.1.

9

Letter of Pledge [Form 4]
Applicant should sign by his/her own hand. We don't accept digital signature.

10

Photocopy of your passport
Please print the page(s) with applicant’s picture, name, nationality, date of birth and passportnumber.

11

Curriculum Vitae [Form 5]

12PhotographSubmit both electronic and paper forms.
The photograph should be 4.5 cm in length by 3.5 cm in width, upper half of body, facing camera,
without a hat or any material covering your head and face, taken in the past 6 months. Pleasewrite your name and nationality on the back of the photograph and do not attach it to theapplication form.

13

Self-Declaration Form of Applicability to a Specific Category [Form 6]

VII. Interview

Step 6 - 7
After completion of the application of the candidate, the interviewers will be decided based on eachcandidate’s field of specialization. You will be contacted individually by the interviewers regarding themethod, date and venue of the interview. The interview is conducted by either personal or throughweb communication tools, and for the purpose of discussing the details of your research proposal andyour school life after enrollment and determining whether you can proceed with the application
process (Step 8). Applicants have a choice of speaking in English or Japanese. The International
7

Student Section informs you of the result of the interview via email. Only the candidates who havereceived approval are allowed to proceed with the application process (Step 8).
VIII. Submission of Application

Step 8
A. Application Process
1. Submission of a PDF copy, Excel file and Word file of the application form via email oronline storage service
Deadline: Early January 2025 (TBD)
The International Student Section sends a latest application form to only the candidates who
have received approval via email.
Please send a PDF copy and Word file of the application form via email or online storage service.
We will check your documents whether there are any mistakes.
To: International Student Section
Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST)
Email: ryugaku@ml.jaist.ac.jp
・The specific deadline will be notified to applicants who received approval to proceedwith the application process.
・Submission after the deadline will not be accepted under any circumstances.
B. Application Documents
1

Application Form prescribed by MEXT
The latest version will be announced by MEXT in November.
Submission should be via email or online storage service.

2

Field of Study and Research Plan prescribed by MEXT
The latest version will be announced by MEXT in November.
Submission should be via email or online storage service.

3

PhotographSubmission should be via email or online storage service
The photograph should be 4.5 cm in length by 3.5 cm in width, upper half of body, facing camera,
without a hat or any material covering your head and face, taken in the past 6 months.

Note: Applicants may be requested to submit additional application documents.

IX. Selection Method and Notification of Admission Decision
All applications are evaluated based on the same holistic criteria of screening all the documents
submitted. Based on the selection results by MEXT, we will announce the final admission decision in
June, 2025 (TBD) via email.
X. Admission Procedures
Instructions on admission procedures will be sent to successful applicants in June, 2025 (TBD) via email.
XI. Note
1. If there are any differences between the qualifications and conditions in the “2025 Application
Guidelines for the Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho: MEXT) Scholarship students(University Recommendation)” which will be announced in the middle of November 2024, and thosein the “2024 Application Guidelines for the Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho: MEXT)
Scholarship students (University Recommendation)”, the 2025 Guidelines has the priority.
8

2.

Application documents which are incomplete will be rejected. Generally, modification of submitted
application documents is not permitted. Documents will not be returned to applicants.

3.

If it is discovered that an applicant has made false statements or has neglected matters to be statedon application documents, the admission may be revoked even after enrollment.

4.

Successful applicants must obtain a “Student” visa issued by the Japanese government before
coming to JAIST. If an applicant cannot obtain a “Student” visa, the admission may be revoked.

5.

We will start the visa procedures soon after the notification of the admission decision in June, 2025
(TBD). Therefore, if you do not possess a passport, please obtain one in advance.

6.

Students who enrolled in JAIST based on this entrance examination are allowed to join only thelaboratories which belong to the study area of knowledge Science.

Contacts:
International Student Section
Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST)
1-1 Asahidai Nomi Ishikawa 923-1292 Japan
Email: ryugaku@ml.jaist.ac.jp9