The Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program

The Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program accepts applications for students from developing countries to enter one of the selected programs beginning on or around March before the admission deadline of April. Check out the explanation thoroughly in the following discussion.

About the Foundation

The World Bank Scholarships Program adds to the mission of the World Bank Group to create more innovative strategies for capacity building and exchange of expertise in developing countries.

It is a significant component of the Bank Group’s efforts to foster sustainable growth and mutual prosperity through investment in education and creation of the developing world’s human capital.

The system has helped to create a community of over six thousand well-trained and qualified development practitioners since 1982, changing their countries and affecting future generations in a constructive way.

World Bank Scholarship Program Overview

The Joint Japan / World Bank Scholarship Program is available to students from developing countries with related technical experience and a history of promoting the development activities of their countries who participate in a development-related subject for a Master’s degree program.

The Joint Japan / World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program offers grants for 30 Preferred Programs addressing a broad variety of development issues and 10 Partner Programs at universities in the United States, Europe and Japan in critical areas of growth, including economic policy management, tax policy and infrastructure management, subject to financing available.

Please notice that the partner and preferred programs for 2020 have been updated. You are not qualified to participate for a Joint Japan / World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program in 2020 if you are not accepted to one of the programs specified in the scheme.

Upon graduation, the developing world scholars commit to returning to their home world to use their acquired expertise and contribute to the social and economic growth of their countries.

An award for a Joint Japan / World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program includes tuition, monthly spending stipend, round-trip plane tickets, health care, and travel allowance. In details, the World Bank Graduate Scholarship provides the beneficiaries with the following awards:

• Economy class flights between your home country and the host university at the beginning of your study plan and right at the completion of the scholarship cycle. Winners will earn a US$ 500 travel payment for each flight, in addition to the two-way air fare.
• Tuition for your graduate program and the cost of basic medical insurance obtained through the university.
• A monthly support allowance to cover all the living expenses (housing, food, etc., including books) while on campus during the fellowship duration. The amount of the payment will vary depending on the country being host.

The scholarship doesn’t cover:

• Additional travel during the course of the study program;
• Courses that do not meet the minimum credits required to earn the graduate degree;
• Educational equipment such as computers;
• Expenses related to research, supplementary educational materials, field trips, participation in VISA application(s) costs
• Expenses to bring and/or support a scholar’s family members;
• Extra-curricular courses or training;
• Language training not provided by the graduate program;
• Resident permit fee; or
• Workshops/seminars, or internships.

Eligibility Criteria

Developing Country nationals must:

• Be a representative of a developing country member of the World Bank (which can be confirmed by checking this list)Afghanistan
  Albania
  Algeria
  Angola
  Armenia
  Azerbaijan
  Bangladesh
  Belize
  Benin
  Bhutan
  Bolivia
  Burkina Faso
  Burundi
  Cabo Verde
  Cambodia
  Cameroon
  Central African Rep.
  Chad
  Comoros
  Congo, Dem. Rep. of
  Congo, Rep. of
  Côte d’Ivoire
  Djibouti
  Dominica
  Egypt, Arab Rep.
  El Salvador
  Eritrea
  Eswatini
  Ethiopia
  Fiji
  Gambia, The
  Georgia
  Ghana
  Grenada
  Guatemala
  Guinea
  Guinea-Bissau
  Guyana
  Haiti
  Honduras
  India
  Indonesia
  Iran, Islamic Rep. of
  Iraq
  Jamaica
  Jordan
  Kenya
  Kiribati
  Kosovo, Republic of
  Kyrgyz Republic
  Lao People’s D.R.
  Lebanon
  Lesotho
  Liberia
  Libya
  Macedonia, FYR of
  Madagascar
  Malawi
  Maldives
  Mali
  Marshall Islands
  Mauritania
  Micronesia, F. S.
  Moldova
  Mongolia
  Morocco
  Mozambique
  Myanmar
  Namibia
  Nepal
  Nicaragua
  Niger
  Nigeria
  Pakistan
  Papua New Guinea
  Philippines
  Rwanda
  Samoa
  São Tomé and Principe
  Senegal
  Sierra Leone
  Solomon Islands
  Somalia
  South Sudan
  Sri Lanka
  St. Lucia
  St.Vincent & the Grenadines
  Sudan
  Suriname
  Syrian Arab Republic
  Tajikistan
  Tanzania
  Timor-Leste
  Togo
  Tonga
  Tunisia
  Tuvalu
  Uganda
  Ukraine
  Uzbekistan
  Vanuatu
  Venezuela, Rep. Bol. de
  Vietnam
  Yemen, Republic of
  Zambia
  Zimbabwe;
• Be in good health;
• At the time of submission of the scholarship application, be engaged in development-related employment in a paying full time job. The only exception to this requirement is for developing country nationals from a nation that will be on the revised list of Fragile and Conflict States given to applicants in the Guidelines for Applications for each scholarship call;
• Provided 3 years or more of recent development-related job experience after receiving a (or equivalent) Bachelor’s degree;
• Keep a Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) obtained at least 3 years before the deadline for applying;
• Do not have dual nationality in any developing country;
• Not be an Executive Director, his/her alternate, and/or staff of any type of appointment of the World Bank Group or a close relative of the aforementioned by blood or adoption with the term “close relative” defined as: Mother, Father, Sister, Half-sister, Brother, Half-brother, Son, Daughter, Aunt, Uncle, Niece, or Nephew;
• Upon or before the scholarship submission date, at least one of the Joint Japan / World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program programs selected university master programs shall be accepted unconditionally (except for funding) for the current academic year (which can be further checked in this list) located outside of the applicant’s country of citizenship and country of residence listed at the time the call for scholarship applications opens. The letter of admission must be uploaded before submitting the application. For details, see “How to Apply”.

Please note: It specifically adheres to all qualifying conditions. There are no exceptions. Eligibility requirements DO NEVER change in the context of an open application call. Nevertheless, after the closing of one approval cycle and the beginning of the next, this detail is subject to adjustment.

How to Apply for World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program

Applicants can apply to both Preferred and Partner Programs for a grant. The process for qualifying for a Preferred Program and a Partner Program varies greatly:

Scholarship to Attend a Preferred Program

The request for submissions to the Preferred Programs for a Joint Japan / World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program is now available until the April 23, 2020 deadline. Guidance for this call for applications, including the guidance and conditions for submitting an application, the applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria; and the screening process is laid out in the Submission Guidelines, FAQs and the full list of currently available JJ / WBGSP Preferred Master Degrees.

Before you begin your application please read these documents.

When you are familiar with the specifications and procedures of the program, click here to apply and link to “Access your online application” and “Navigate your online application” to learn how to view and manage the application online.

Scholarship to Attend a Partnership Program

Those pursuing a scholarship for the Joint Japan / World Bank Graduate Scholarship Partner Program must first apply for entry to one or more of the Partner Master’s Degree Program(s). Joint Japan / World Bank Graduate Scholarship Partner Program updates about when to apply for entry to their program are also posted on the right-hand column of their official website. A request will be made to the relevant institution about how to make an application for entry to a partner program.

After evaluating submitted applications, each Partner Master Degree Program will select a short list of qualifying applicants who are then invited to apply for a JJ/WBGSP scholarship by the JJWBGSP Secretariat. View the complete list of Joint Japan / World Bank Graduate Scholarship Partner master degrees offered in this list.

World Bank Graduate Scholarship Selection Process

The Joint Japan / World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program uses the following mechanism to review applicants from developing country nationals for qualifying scholarships in order to recognize candidates with the highest potential to influence their country’s growth after completing their graduate studies.

Two professional assessors evaluate each qualifying applicant separately and rate the applicant on a scale of 1 to 10 taking into account four key factors and the degree of compatibility between them:

• Quality of Professional Experience (30% weight)
• Quality of Professional Recommendations (30% weight)
• Quality of Commitment to your Home Country (30% weight)
• Quality of Education Background (10% weight)

The Secretariat applies the two assessors’ total scores and the following criteria to pick the finalists:

• Maintaining a reasonably wide geographical distribution of awards
• Maintaining a reasonable distribution of awards across gender
• Unusual circumstances/hardships, when assessing the employment experience and other aspects of an application;
• Giving scholarships to those applicants who, other things being equal, have limited access to financial resources for graduate studies abroad.

The Secretariat shall submit for approval to the JJ / WBG Steering Committee (composed of members of the Board of Directors and WB management of the World Bank) the candidates for the chosen program scholarship. The partnership scholarship candidates are submitted for rotating acceptance over the year, following the enrollment process of the JJWBGSP partner university. In both cases, recipients are told immediately after acceptance by the Steering Committee for the World Bank Graduate Scholarship.

Closing Date

The application for Joint Japan / World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program ends by April.

Contact Information

General Inquiries

Link to Official Website

Joint Japan / World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program