GUIDE TO THE HITACHI SCHOLARSHIP

The Hitachi Scholarship Foundation offers postgraduate scholarship awards to faculty members of the universities in Southeast Asian countries who intend to study at Japanese graduate schools as full-time students for Master’s or Doctoral Course in the field of science and technology under the following conditions. 
 
1.	Term of Scholarship
1-1	For Master’s Course
Two and half years including half a year for preparation to enroll at the Master’s Course
1-2	For Doctoral Course
Three and half years including half a year for preparation to enroll at the Doctoral Course

2.	Contents of Scholarship
	The Foundation will support the following costs and expenses.
2-1	Travel expenses
Economy class round-trip airfare between the nearest airport of the grantee’s university and the airport in Japan and the travel expenses between the airport in Japan and the place of grantee’s research affiliation.  
Only the return fare will be given to the grantee if he/she is already in Japan.
2-2	Arrival and return allowance: \50,000 each
Only the return allowance will be given to the grantee if he/she is already in Japan.
2-3	Stipend: \180,000 a month
2-4	Housing allowance (at cost but maximum amount per month)
        Place of Residence            Single        With Family
     Greater Metropolitan Tokyo ----- 　\60,000         \90,000
     Others ------------------------------- 　\40,000         \55,000
2-5		Tuition and other school expenses listed in the following
1)	Admission and registration fee
2)	Tuition
3)	Facility fee, if any
4)	Seminar and laboratory fee, if any
5)	Tuition for Japanese language course: For six (6) months 
2-6	Field study expenses: At cost but up to \50,000 per year.  Application should be submitted to the Foundation in advance together with the recommendation letter of the host scientist for review and approval.
2-7	Expenses to make presentation at international conferences: At cost.  Application in advance as same as 2-6 above is required.
2-8	Expenses to attend the activities of the Foundation

3.	Application and Selection
3-1	Eligibility and qualification of applicants
Only the faculty members, who satisfy the following conditions, of the universities invited by the Foundation will be accepted as applicants. 
3-1-1	For Master’s Course
1)	Bachelor’s degree holder who wishes to obtain Master’s degree in the field of science and technology, except veterinary science, at a Japanese graduate school
2)	Below 30 years of age (as of October 31, 2009)
3)	Firm position or profession in the university
3-1-2	For Doctoral Course
1)	Master’s degree holder (or the faculty member who is expected to obtain  Master’s degree before the start of proposed Doctoral Course) who wishes to obtain Ph.D. in the field of science and technology, except veterinary science, at a Japanese graduate school
2)	Below 35 years of age (as of October 31, 2009)
3)	Firm position or profession in the university

3-2	Application procedure
Application shall be endorsed by the President’s office of the university to which the Foundation has offered the scholarship award and submitted to the following address through the said office by October 31, 2009 using the registered mail.  Neither personal nor direct application to the Foundation is accepted.
The Hitachi Scholarship Foundation
21F Akihabara UDX Building
14-1, Soto-Kanda 4-chome
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8010
Japan
Application shall be submitted with all the documents as required below and the application missing any of them will be automatically rejected.  The Foundation reserves the right to request any other additional documents.

3-3	Documents required for application
One (1) original and one (1) copy of
1)	Type written Application Form along with 3cm x 4cm size photograph
* Please use the Application Form attached hereto and fill in all the data requested.
2)	Certificate of graduation or certificate of expected graduation from the last school attended
3)	Transcript of academic record of the last school attended
* The applicant for Doctoral Course is requested to submit the transcript of academic record of the undergraduate school as well.
4)	Letter of recommendation from the head and/or dean of the faculty to which the applicant belongs.  This letter needs to be endorsed by the office of the President.  Other additional recommendation letters, if any.
5)	Letter of acceptance from the proposed Japanese host scientist
6)	Physical examination certificate
* The Foundation reserves the right to distribute a copy of the above documents to any person for the purpose of evaluation and selection.  A copy of the above documents will also be distributed to the proposed Japanese host scientists of the finally selected applicants.

3-4	Method of selection
1)	Preliminary selection
The Selection Committee of the Foundation will conduct preliminary selection based on the application documents.
	2)	Interview
The preliminary-selected applicants will be interviewed by the representative(s) of the Selection Committee of the Foundation at their universities.
	3)	Final selection
The Selection Committee of the Foundation will make final selection after the interview.  Award will become effective when the admission of the selected applicant to his/her intended Japanese graduate school has been confirmed.

3-5	Criteria of selection
1)	Support by the senior management of the applicant’s university in relation to their human development program
2)	Academic exchange program between the applicant’s university and the proposed graduate school in Japan
3)	Academic performance and achievement by the applicant
4)	Potentiality of the applicant
5)	Motivation to study in Japan
6)	Proposed plan of study 
7)	Academic necessity of the applicant to undertake his/her study and research at the graduate school in Japan
8)	Communication skill
* 	As the foreign students who conduct their graduate studies and research in the field of science and technology in Japan are normally required to submit their thesis in English unless they have enough Japanese language proficiency, proficiency of English language above 530 points of TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) is preferred.
9)	The applicant’s health and general aptitude for the environmental conditions of academic and social life in Japan.

3-6	Schedule of selection
	End of October	Deadline to accept application
	November - December	Preliminary selection based on the application documents
	December - March	Interview of pre-selected applicants at their universities
	April - May	Final selection
* The result of selection will be informed to the applicant through the President’s office of the applicant’s university in June 2010.
	End of September	Departure for Japan (finally selected applicants only)
* 	The finally selected applicants are requested to attend the orientation in Tokyo at the end of September 2010 and shall start their studies and research at the graduate school, or Japanese language school if necessary, from October 2010 in accordance with the instruction by their enrolled graduate school.

4.	Preparation for Entry to Japan
The finally selected applicants are required to submit the following to the Foundation to obtain the Certificate of Eligibility.  It usually takes one (1) month to obtain this certificate and this certificate is necessary to obtain a valid entry visa from a Japanese embassy or consulate before coming to Japan.
1)	A copy of passport
2)	Thee (3) copies of the photograph with 3cm x 4cm
3)	Record of past entry into / stay in Japan (including number of times of entry)

5.	Admission to Graduate School
The finally selected applicants are requested to make arrangement for enrollment at their intended Japanese graduate schools by themselves.  They are generally admitted at first as non-degree students, i.e. research students of the graduate schools, and required to pass the entrance examination of their intended graduate schools.

6.	Accommodation
The grantee is responsible for finding his/her own accommodation.  
As some graduate schools have their own accommodations, it is recommended to inquire the host scientist about their availability.
The Foundation will make financial support for
1)	Key money, if any
2)	Agency commission, if any
3)	Expenses to purchase room lights, curtain and electric/gas table, if not furnished
4)	Restoration fee, if any, at the time of vacating a room (normal wear and tear only)
The grantee is responsible for the payment of 
1)	Deposit which is to be returned later
2)	Property and fire insurance

7.	Bank Account
The grantee is requested to open an account at a Japanese bank upon his/her arrival and inform the Foundation of the bank account details sending a copy of bankbook. 
 
8.	Alien Registration
The grantee is required to file application for alien registration within ninety (90) days from the date of arrival in Japan at the municipal or ward office where the grantee resides.

9.	Liaison
The grantee should keep in close contact with the Foundation and keep them informed of any change of his/her address or other pertinent matters.

10.	Report
The grantee is required to submit to the head and/or dean of the faculty of his/her university in home country a progress report of his/her research and other activities every two months with a copy to the host scientist and the Foundation.  
When his/her research is presented for publication or dissemination, the Foundation’s support should be acknowledged in an appropriate way.  
A copy of such publication or offprint is requested to be sent to the Foundation.

11.	Insurance
The Foundation will buy the following insurance for the period from the date of the grantee’s departure from his/her home country until the date he/she is admitted as a student of the graduate school or until the date he/she arranges similar insurance whichever comes earlier.  The grantee is required to arrange such insurance with the graduate school by himself/herself after he/she is admitted as a student.  Illness contracted before the grantee’s arrival in Japan, chronic disease and dental care will not be covered by the insurance to be bought by the Foundation.
	1)	Death from injury:	\15 million
	2)	Treatment of injury:	Up to \2 million
	3)	Death from illness:	\2 million
4)	Treatment of illness:		   Up to \2 million

12.	Japanese Language 
It is important for foreign students to know and understand Japanese language to such an extent that they can pursue their study and research at the graduate school and spend social life in Japan.  Some Japanese graduate schools require Japanese language proficiency to certain level.  The Foundation will, therefore, support the grantees to study Japanese language for half a year before commencement of either the Master’s Course or the Doctoral Course as described in Clause 2.

13.	Compliance with Laws and Regulations
The grantee must abide by the laws and regulations of Japan.

14.	Suspension or Termination of the Scholarship
The grantees of the Hitachi Scholarship Award are expected to devote themselves full-time to their studies and research described in their applications and any employment in Japan during the term of the scholarship may not be accepted.  
The scholarship will be suspended or terminated if the Foundation judges that the foregoing terms and conditions are not observed in good faith or in the following cases:
14-1	When it becomes impossible to continue study or research because of illness or other reasons
14-2	Poor result of study record
14-3	Misconduct