Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network

ASEANUniversity Network

Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network

AUN/SEED-Net

Implementation Guidelines

for

Doctoral Degree Program in Japan

For the Japanese Fiscal Year2013

August 9, 2012

AUN/SEED-NetProject

1. Introduction

The AUN/SEED-Net Project with support from Japan International Cooperation Agency(JICA) providesscholarships for prospective applicantsfromAUN-SEED/Net Member Institutions to pursue doctoral degreesin engineering at one of the following Japanese Supporting Universities: Hokkaido University, National Graduate Institute of Policy Studies, Keio University, Kyoto University, Kyushu University, Tokai University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Toyohashi University of Technology, University of Tokyo, Shibaura Institute of Technology, and Waseda University.

The fields of study that can be supported by the AUN/SEED-Net are as follows:

Civil Engineering (CE), Chemical Engineering (ChE), Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE), Environmental Engineering (EnvE), Geological Engineering (GeoE), Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Manufacturing Engineering (ManuE), Materials Engineering (MatE), and Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering (ME/AE).

Under the above 9 fundamental engineering fields, applicants, if interested, may also propose any research topic(s) related to the new five (5) interdisciplinary areas (Biotechnology, Disaster Mitigation, Environment, Natural Resources/Materials, and New/Renewable Energy).

Although studying outside ASEAN countries, students under the Doctoral Degree Program in Japanare encouraged to participate in AUN/SEED-Net’s network activities (e.g. AUN/SEED-Net Regional Conference, Collaborative Research activities, etc.)so as to create, maintain, and deepen the linkage with Member Institutions (student’s sending institution and/or student’s hosting institution when pursued master’s degree).

2. Objectives

(1) To increase the number of high quality doctoral degree holders in engineering at Member Institutions to contribute to a sustainable industrial development of ASEAN countries through conducting highly qualified education and researches.

(2) To strengthen human networking of teaching and research staff among Member Institutions andJapaneseSupportingUniversities.

3. Qualifications

(1) Applicants must have a research-based master’s degree in relevant engineering field or to be awarded the master’s degree before starting doctoral degree study.

(2) Applicantsshould be ranked within top 10% of the class for Bachelor’s Degree, in principle, (a certified document of class rank is required).

(3) Applicant shouldhave a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3 or more in the 4-scale grading system or at least 7.5 in the 10-scale grading system, with some English competency. (TOEFL score or equivalent test is required.)

(4) Applicants must be outstanding graduates of Master’s Degree Program of AUN/SEED-Net Project, or outstanding young teaching staff or research staff of Member Institutions, who are strongly motivated to have a professional career as teaching staff at Member Institutions.

(5) Applicants, in principle, should have at least one recent (not older than 2 years) research publication in refereed national or international journal.

(6) Applicants must beunder the age of 35 at the time of enrollment and capable of carrying out independent research.

4. Duration of Scholarships

The duration of the scholarship is strictlythree years.

5. Coverage of the Scholarships

Tuition fees, living expenses, health insurance, and a round-trip air ticket will be provided as per JICA regulations.

6. Application for Scholarships

The application procedure is as follows:

6.1 Application and screening process

(1)The applicants for the Doctoral Degree Program in Japan submit the AUN/SEED-Net’s Application Form for Scholarship along with other required documents (please refer to Application Form of the Doctoral Degree Program in Japan 2013, Item No. 12-13) to the contact person of the Member Institutions to which the applicants belong (sending institutions).(List of contact person at each Member Institution is given in Attachment 3.) Please note that at this stage, applicants are required to submit the names of their proposed Japanese advisors and Japanese Support Universities, but there is no need to submit application form of thoseuniversities.

(2)The contact person of each sending institution sends a collection of Application Forms endorsed by the Member Institution to the AUN/SEED-Net Project. Please note that individual applicationssent to AUN/SEED-Net Project will not be accepted. However, Sending Institutions could submit the collection of application forms more than once towards the Deadline.

(In case of applicants studying overseas, Application Forms as well as other required documents can be submitted directly to AUN/SEED-Net Project, provided that the applicants request the contact person of their respective Sending Institution to submit an endorsement letter to AUN/SEED-Net.)

(3)The AUN/SEED-Net Project will check all required documents and requestmissing documents from applicants through Sending Institutions, if necessary.

(4)The AUN/SEED-Net Project will conductinitial screeningand send the results to applicants’ sending institutions. At the same time, the AUN/SEED-Net Projectwill consult with concernedJapanese Supporting Universities for possibility of accepting the applicant in the event that the applicant is awarded a scholarship and passes the entrance examination.

*Applicants are encouraged to contact by themselves a prospective advisor of their preference at a Japanese Supporting University for consent on acceptance in the event the applicantsare awarded a scholarship and pass the entrance examination. It will be an advantage in the screening process if the applicant can obtain and enclose such consent letter (or copy of e-mail communication) from a prospective advisor in this application as it can fasten the screening process.

(5)After the communication with Japanese Supporting Universities, the AUN/SEED-Net Project prioritizes the applicantsand sends the result to JICA Headquarters. JICA Headquarters then make the decision on the selection of the successful applicants by April2013.

(6)The AUN/SEED-Net Project orJICA Office in each countryinformstheresults to the Member Institutions/Members countries officially to which the applicants belongin April2013.

(7)The process after sending the official notifications may be different in terms of countries or Japanese universities. AUN/SEED-Net Project, in cooperation with the JICA Office in the respective countries, will advise the scholarship awardees on the necessary procedures.

6.2. Official request from a member country to the Japanese Government

(1)JICA Headquarters will instruct JICAOffice in the member country of the successful candidate to submit the JICA Application Form. The Form should be prepared by the successful candidate with the endorsement of his/her Sending Institution and submitted to the Embassy of Japan or the JICA office in each country through the coordinating ministry of agency responsible for international cooperation in the country.

(2)When the JICA Application Form is endorsed by the Member Institution, a photocopy of the form should be sent directly to the AUN/SEED-Net Project prior to forwarding it.

(3)After receiving the JICA Application Form, JICA will examine the candidacyand send an official notice of acceptance or rejection to the government concerned.

(4)It is expected that the enrolment of successful candidates will take place between September 2013and March 2014.

7. Submission Deadline of the Application Form

Applications for the Doctoral Degree Program in Japan should be submitted both in soft copy and in printed form, byOctober 31(Wed), 2012to the AUN/SEED-Net Project. Theymust be signed by the Dean or the Representative of the AUN/SEED-Net Member Institution to which the applicantsoriginally belong.

8. Scholarship Allocation

The allocation policy of scholarships for each fiscal year is as follows. The high priority is given to the fresh graduates of Master’s Degree Program of AUN/SEED-Net Project. Among teaching staff of Member Institutions, the high priority is given to those who are in the host field of Host Institution.

9. Remarks

Applicants must submit the health check-up certificate before proposed departure date. Applicants who are pregnant or suffer from chronic diseases, e.g., respiratory illness, cardiac disease, metabolic disease (diabetes, etc.), renal dysfunction and immune insufficiency (systemic steroid administration, etc.) shall not be approved of the visit to Japan in principal.

Please submit the application to:
AUN/SEED-Net Project
(Doctoral Degree Program in Japan2013)
Faculty of Engineering, Bldg 2, Rm 109-110,
ChulalongkornUniversity
Bangkok10330, THAILAND
T. +662-218-6419-21
F. +662-218-6418
Email :

(ASEANUniversity Network / Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network)

APPLICATION FORM for AUN/SEED-Net Scholarship
Doctoral Degree Program in Japan 2013
Application form can be downloaded from and can be photocopied as needed. Please print or type all entries. Please submit both soft and hard copies of the Application Forms to the below address by October 31(Wed), 2012.
AUN/SEED-Net Project
(Doctoral Degree Program in Japan2013)Tel: (66 2)2186419, 2186420,
Faculty of Engineering Bld 2, Rm 109-1102186421
ChulalongkornUniversityFax: (66 2)2186418
Bangkok10330, THAILANDE-mail:
Program Guidelines
Applicants should read carefully the Implementation Guidelines of the Doctoral Degree Program in Japan 2013. It is advisable to provide detailed information and description for each item below, and attach supporting documents when necessary.
1 / Personal Information (I)
1.1 / Family Name
Given Name(s)
Full Name
(as appears in passport)
1.2 / Nationality
1.3 / Date of Birth / Date / Month / Year
1.4 / Age / (at the time of application)
1.5 / Gender (Please mark √) / Male / Female
1.6 / Current Status/Position
1.7 / Department/Faculty
1.8 / University/Organization
2 / Personal Information (II)
2.1 / Marital Status / Single / Married
2.2 / Office Address
Tel / Fax / Mobile
E-mail Address
2.3 / Home Address
Tel / Fax
When communication with applicants is needed, AUN/SEED-Net Project will contact mainly to your Sending Institution and/or to your e-mail address. Please make sure you keep contact with your institution and/or access to your given e-mail address. In case you do not have a regular e-mail address, please specify your preferred contact address below.
2.4 / Preferred Contact Address (please mark √ at your preference) / E-mail / Office / Home
Other
(Please give full details)
3 / Academic Qualifications (I)
A certified official certificate and transcript (with grade points) issued by the university and a certified letter of class rank signed by Dean or Registrar must be submitted with this application form. For graduating students, an official transcript with academic record up to the time of application must be submitted as an alternative.
3.1 / Bachelors’ Degree or Diploma
3.2 / Program/Faculty
3.3 / University
3.4 / Year of Completion
(or expected to) / Month / Year
3.5 / Grade Point Average (Honours, if any)
3.6 / Class Rank
(Please submit certified letter) / Placed at the rank of
Out of the total number of students of
In the Department/Program of
4 / Academic Qualifications (II)
4.1 / Master’s Degree
4.2 / Program/Faculty
4.3 / University
4.4 / Year of Completion
(or expected to) / Month / Year
4.5 / Grade Point Average (Honours, if any)
5 / Relevant Qualifications
Any honour, distinction, or certificate obtained in your academic career that is not indicated in the official statement should be mentioned in a separate statement. Relevant document should be attached to support your information stated below.
5.1 / English Language / TOEFL / Date taken
GRE / Date taken
Others
(i.e. institutional toefl)
(Please specify)
5.2 / Other Awards, Honours, Certificates
(Please give details)
6 / Employment Record
Please summarize any full-time employment experience, including name of employer, your position, job responsibility and period of work
7 / Research Experiences
Outline briefly Master’s thesis and other researches which you have done independently or collaboratively with others. You may attach document or use extra page if needed.
8 / Publications
List recent publications (not older than 2 years) in journals or conference proceedings in which you have published your research work. Required information for publications is ‘Name of the authors/co-authors’, Title of the paper, Name of the journal or conference, Volume number and year of the publication, and Page Number’. Please also state if the publication is your Master’s thesis research. You may attach a copy of your publication or use extra page if needed.
9 / Proposed Graduate Program
9.1 / Preferred Field of Study
(*Please circle one of the following 9fields. The abbreviation is shown on page 2) / CE / ChE / EEE / EnvE / GeoE
ICT / ManuE / MatE / ME / AE
9.2 / Proposed Research Areas or Topics (if any)
9.3 / Proposed Place of Study / Applicants can choose the maximum of two universities with priority.

• Applicants must fill out their proposed advisors and Japanese Supporting Universities.
• Consent letter or copy of e-mail communication from the prospective Japanese advisor at Japanese Supporting University stating his/her consent to accept the applicant will be an advantage.

(1) First Priority / University
Department
Program
Advisor’s name
Semester / Month / Year
(2) Second Priority / University
Department
Program
Advisor’s name
Semester / Month / Year
10 / Proposed Research
Outline the research you wish to conduct in your proposed study. Please use separate sheet if necessary. You may be requested to forward a copy of your Master’s Degree’s thesis for evaluation.
11 / Medical Record
Before you complete the Medical Record Questionnaire, you are hereby notified that a medical condition resulting from an undisclosed pre-existing condition may not be financially compensated and may result in termination of your Doctoral Degree Program in Japan.
11.1 / Please check “Yes” or “No” and provide an explanation for the following (when appropriate)
Yes / No / Explanation
Have you ever had a significant or serious illness or injury?
(If hospitalized, give place & dates.)
Have you had an operation or been advised by a physician to have an operation? (Give place & dates.)
Do you currently use any drugs for treatment of a medial condition? (Give name & dosage.)
Have you ever been a patient in a mental hospital or sanitarium, or been treated by a psychiatrist? (Give place & dates.)
11.2 / Do you now have or have you ever had the conditions listed below?
(Please indicate “Yes” or “No” for each item. If yes, circle the relevant condition.)
Conditions / Yes / No
1 / Asthma, emphysema, or other lung conditions
2 / Tuberculosis or in persistent contact with someone who has tuberculosis
3 / High blood pressure, heart disease
4 / Stomach, liver (hepatitis), gall bladder disease
5 / Kidney or bladder disease, stones or blood in urine
6 / Diabetes (sugar in the urine)
7 / Depression, excess worry, attempted suicide, or other psychological symptoms
8 / Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
9 / Tumor, abnormal growth, cyst, or cancer
10 / Bleeding disorder, blood disease (sickle cell anemia)
12 / Document Checklist : Compulsory
Please check (√) that your application is complete and that you have enclosed all documents listed below. These documents are compulsory and please note that AUN/SEED-Net will NOT consider any application with incomplete documents.
12.1 / This application, completed with photo & signature
12.2 / Official Bachelor’s Degree certificate (original or certified copy)
12.3 / Official Bachelor’s transcript with grade points (original or certified copy)
12.4 / Official Master’s Degree certificate (original or certified copy)
12.5 / Official Master’s transcript with grade points (original or certified copy)
12.6 / Abstract of Master’s thesis
12.7 / Certificate of English Proficiency , e.g. score of TOEFL or equivalent test
(In case it is difficult to submit this document, please submit the letter from the institution where you studied your master’s degree at, to certify the use of English language as medium of instruction.)
12.8 / Certified letter of Class Rank of the Bachelor’s study from the Dean or Registrar Office of your graduated institution (Form provided in attachment 1)
12.9 / Letter of endorsement from the Rector or Dean of Member Institution to which you belong with current status or position (in case you are a faculty staff)
12.10a / Letter of recommendation from your master’s thesis advisor(Form provided in attachment 2)
12.10b / Letter of recommendation from the Dean or Head of the Department to which you belong(Form provided in attachment 2)
13 / Document Checklist : Optional
Please check (√) if you have enclosed the documents listed below. These documents are not compulsory but may help support your qualifications.
13.1 / Copy of publication(s)
13.2 / Others (please specify):
14 / Declaration
I declare that all information supplied in this application as well as the attached documents are true and correct to the best of my knowledge. I acknowledge that the provision of incorrect information or supporting documents may result in cancellation of scholarship. If awarded the scholarship, I agree to abide by the rules and regulations of the AUN/SEED-Net Project and JICA.
Applicant
Signature
Date: / Rector / Dean of Member Institution
Signature
Date:

ATTACHMENT 1

Certified letter on academic standing

To Whom It May Concern:

This is to certify that ………………………………………….. is / was placed at the rank of ………….out of the class of …………… students in the department / program of …………………………………………., Faculty of …………………………………….. at ……………………………………………..

Signature …………………………………..

Name in print ……………………………...

Position……………………………………

Date ……………………………………….

ATTACHMENT 2

LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION

Two Letters of Recommendation are required. One must be completed by the master’s thesis advisor, and the other to be completed by the Dean or Head of the Department to which the applicant belongs. Each form must be completed, put into separated envelope, sealed, and signed over the seal by the referee him/herself, otherwise the recommendation will be invalid.

This part is to be completed by applicant.

Full Name: ______

Proposed Program of Study

1. Place of Study ______

Program applying ______

1. Place of Study ______

Program applying ______

TO THE PERSON EVALUATING THE APPLICANT:

The person whose name appears above is applying for the Graduate Degree Program of the AUN/SEED-Net. In processing applications, the AUN/SEED-Net places great emphasis on comments given by the applicant’s referees. The AUN/SEED-Net requires your submission of the completed Letter of Recommendation Form as part of our appraisal of the above-named applicant. We realize that considerable time and effort are needed to respond to this request. Your assistance is therefore greatly appreciated.