Asian Youth Fellowship (AYF)

The AYF preparatory course before entering Japanese Graduate School as Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) scholarship student is offered by The Japan Foundation. AYF program is open to university graduates in the region who wish to contribute to regional cooperation after obtaining a Master and/or Ph. D. Degree in Japanese Graduate Schools as follows:

Features of the Asian Youth Fellowship Program

AYF consists of the following component:

- Coordination of a host professor and research plan development during the preparatory course in Japan
- Preparatory course (Japanese Language and cultural activities)
- Follow ups after completing the preparatory course

The scholarship grantees shall receive a preparatory course in the Japanese language for approximately 7 months, at The Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Institute, Kansai, Japan. The preparatory course is developed for people who have never learned Japanese language before. Grantees are provided with dormitory. Accompanying family is NOT allowed during the preparatory course.

After completing the preparatory course, grantees will be proceeding to Japanese graduate schools as Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) scholarship students (principally Research Student) .

Field of Study


Any of the fields in Humanities, Social Sciences, Engineering and Natural Science is acceptable..
Students pursuing study areas that would contribute to his/her country or region will be given preference.
* Technical training course is excluded.

Qualifications

- Nationality: Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand or Vietnam.
- Age: under 35 years of age as of April 1, 2010 (i.e. born on or after April 2, 1975)
- Academic Backgrounds: university or college graduates with a bachelor's degree or Master's degree (those who will graduate from a university or college by the Registration Day of AYF may apply, but the grants may be CANCELLED if grantees fail to arrive in Kansai on the starting day of the preparatory course.)

Other requirements:
a. Good proficiency in English is required.
b. Military men and military civilian employees registered on the personnel list are excluded.
c. Applicants should be in good health.
d. The applicant whose spouse has already won a Japanese Government scholarship will not be selected as a grantee, and likewise in the case of a couple applying at the same time.
e. The applicant who has been awarded a Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) scholarship in the past will not be selected as a grantee unless he/she has had a few years' research or teaching experience after returning to his/her country.

Grant Coverage during the Preparatory Course

-Expenses necessary for participation in the official curriculum (transportation, teaching material, etc.)
-Meals during the program (partly in the form of cash allowances) and a set amount of allowances to cover miscellaneous living expenses.
-Accommodation (a single room) at the Institute
-Overseas travel insurance for disease and injury for the duration of the program
-Round-trip, economy-class airline between the nearest international airport from the residence and Kansai International Airport (Osaka, Japan) on the most direct and economical route.

Japanese visa as a trainee
*The above terms of the grant will be effective for the period of the preparatory course. After completing the AYF Program, grantees will proceed to Japanese universities as the Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) scholarship students.
Allowances, accommodations, and other status are subject to Monbukagakusho' s regulations.

Selection


Japanese diplomatic missions concerned, in cooperation with the foreign governments concerned, will select preliminary candidates from among applicants by means of a review of the documents submitted.

Those who have been selected as the preliminary candidates will be recommended to Asian Youth Fellowship Committee, Tokyo, Japan. The Committee will select grantees from among the preliminary candidates by means of an interview made in their respective countries by a mission member assigned and dispatched by the Committee.
Final announcement in writing will be provided by the Embassy of Japan after the AYF Committee. The grantees of the Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) scholarship will be finally selected, on condition that they have completed the AYF preparatory course successfully, after the university placement has been made.

Application Procedure

Applicants must submit the following documents according to the instruction given by the Embassy of Japan in their own country by the date appointed. The documents submitted will not be returned.

http://www.asiaseed.org/ayfj/