Japanese MEXT Scholarships at Hokkaido University

About E3 Program Hokkaido University

Hokkaido University, a popular Japanese tertiary institution formed in 1876, has some of the most highly-sought out university courses available in the world. The university is home to a well-designed learning environment that can cater to not only Japanese students who come from the country, but also international students who are keen on attaining their further education in Japan. It’s no secret that Hokkaido University has garnered a lot of popularity within the educational spectrum. Hokkaido University aims to uplift all of their students no matter what field they choose to pursue, including Engineering.

The Engineering Course of Hokkaido University is a favorite amongst young students. Not only does the course teach their students to be future engineers that are capable on tackling the world of engineering, but they are also prepared and groomed by the university to become active workers who are capable of adapting to the dynamic changes that are happening within the international working world. With the lasting impacts of globalization that has spanned throughout the entire world. To meet these upcoming changes, the Engineering Course has been well-tailored to meet these demands. Which brings us to the university’s newest programme: The E3 Program.

The English Engineering Education program, commonly shortened and simplified to the E3 program, is designed to make local domestic students come out of their safe zones and introduce diversity into the Japanese learning environment. By implementing the English as the main medium of the course, not only does the course becomes accessible towards all people no matter what nations they come from, but it also becomes a channel for students to immerse with different people hailing from all sorts of countries and cultures. With the rising success of the program, it has become everyone’s smash hit within top universities of the world.

About Japanese Government: MEXT scholarships

As of September 2014, the Hokkaido University has been fortunate enough to be chosen as one of the top university of the Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Top Global University Project. Through this project, the nation hopes that it will promote diversity and positive changes within the Japanese education system – specifically within its universities. The project aims to strive for excellence, and to hopefully earn their spots within the top global rankings within the next 10-year period. One of the ways the project promotes this kind of initiative is by offering several scholarships towards well-deserving students.

Hokkaido University is currently offering Japanese Government MEXT Scholarships towards students coming from other countries who wish to pursue their education in Engineering. Under the E3 program, selected scholarship recipients will be awarded with the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enroll in the Graduate School of Engineering. Selected students will start their course on October 2020. While it’s still a long time from now, it’s best that candidates start preparing for the scholarships at this very moment.

For the October 2020 intake, only 4 scholarships will be given for the Master’s program, and 3 scholarships will be given for the Doctoral program. The MEXT Scholarships caters to all 13 study areas of Materials Sciences, Applied Physics, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Architecture and Design, and Environmental and Resource Engineering. However, once you are accepted into the university under the scholarship, all candidates will be required to study Cold Region Engineering, a special research course only provided by Hokkaido University.

Program Value

There are several generous benefits that are entailed to the MEXT Scholarship. The committee hopes that with the multiple values that are offered by the scholarship, international students will be highly motivated to give out their best throughout the entire period of their Master’s and Doctoral studies. The MEXT Scholarship benefits include fully-paid expenses for the students’ registration fee, admission fee, college tuition fees, airplane arrival and departure tickets, as well as a personal allowance for the grantees that will be given out on a monthly basis. For students enrolled in the Master’s course, they will receive 144,000 JPY per month. Whereas for students enrolled in the Doctoral course, the will receive 145,000 JPY per month. With these many benefits that are awarded, students must be able to prove their worth in order to be entitled to these rewards.

Eligibility

In order to apply for the Japanese Government MEXT Scholarships, all incoming candidates are required to meet the scholarship’s eligibility criteria. The purpose behind this is to make sure that all of their candidates have the bare minimum potential that would allow them to survive under the conditions of the scholarships. In addition, this will give the committee a much easier time as they try to fully-assess and evaluate all of the candidates’ striving potential. Failure to meet these qualifications may not necessarily get you disqualified from the scholarship application programme. However, it might just risk your chances of getting accepted by this wonderful opportunity. The Japanese Government MEXT Scholarships program eligibility criteria are:

• Incoming candidates must not be nationals of Japan. All of them must be students coming from overseas who originate from outside of Japan.
• Incoming candidates must be of a country that has diplomatic ties with the nation of Japan.
• Master’s Course Applicants: must hold at least a Bachelor’s degree and finished at least 16 years of education.
• Doctoral Course Applicants: mus hold at least a Master’s degree and finished at least 18 years of education.
• Applicants birthday has to be on or after the 2nd of April, 1985.
• Must have proven fluency of both spoken and written English – which can be proven by the use of written tests such as TOEIC, TOEFL iBT, and IELTS.
• Must be available throughout the entire duration of the scholarship. For Master’s course applicants, they have to finish their education within a period of 2 years. Whereas for Doctoral course applicants, they have to finish their education within a period of 3 years. If any Master’s degree graduates under the scholarship wish to extend their Doctoral course under the same scholarship, they can do so, but only for the E3 program that they have applied beforehand.

How to Apply

The Japanese Government MEXT Scholarships will consist of 2 different kinds of selection phases. The First Screening phase will required all of their candidates to upload the needed application documents onto the E3 Online System. These application documents include:

• Field of Study and Research Plan
• Abstracts of Graduation Thesis and Publications
• Academic Transcripts
• Graduation/Expected Graduation Certificates
• One Recommendation Letter
• Documents to Prove English Proficiency
• Photocopies of Your Passport
• Application for Japanese Government Scholarship

Shortlisted candidates that have passed the First Screening will then qualify to enter the Second Screening of the MEXT Scholarships applications. During this Second Screening, there will be an interview conducted by the committee. The shortlisted candidates will also be obliged to send in additional important documents that are asked of by the scholarship committee.

Important Dates

Before you sign up for the Japanese Government MEXT Scholarships, all candidates are required to take note of the application’s important dates. Please pay attention at all of these dates, as each screening has their own respective time frames. Kindly take a look below:

First Screening

• Application Documents Uploaded: Dec 16, 2019-Jan 5, 2020
• Announcements: Feb 14, 2020

Second Screening

• Interview: Feb 17 – 21 (conditional)
• Additional Documents Submissions: March 2, 2020
• Final Announcement: March 5, 2020

Application to the E3 Program of the Graduate School of Engineering: Mid-April 2020

Official Contact

• Address: English Engineering Education (e3) Program Office c/o International Affairs Office (A1-58) Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University Kita 13 Nishi 8, Kita ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan
• Email: eprogram@eng.hokudai.ac.jp
• Website: https://www.eng.hokudai.ac.jp/e3/scholarships/mext