MEXT Scholarship 2015 (Research Students)

bcaapower said:
Hey P Yk Chong!

After several attempts I found out that the best option is also sending your CV, research aim and abstract of your student (diploma) thesis in attachments. Not a single professor replied me unless I added previously mentioned documents. Also, it is more than wise to check professor's available journals, publications and etc, also you can mention a connection to your research aim or thesis..

Though, this was my case, maybe others have different experiences. I also talked to Jap professor via phone, wonder if this is going to persuade examiners at embassy to choose me,lol
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Hey thank! I will do it after the screening process. Let's do our best to pass all the challenges. =D
 
P Yk Chong said:
Wow! You have been verbally accepted. I haven't started to think on it although i have made up my mind to get a try on several university (like todai or osaka) due to my research field? How are you approaching professors?

Also, anyone have past year questions from 2011 to 2013? kindly appreciated. =D
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- Do not bombard all the professors in a department with requests. Profs are humans too and have friends. They will know if a student is genuinely asking for their guidance or just trying their luck.
- Contact prospective supervisors EARLY. Last minute emails just look desperate.
- Read up on their research and see how you can contribute. Mention this when contacting them.
- Write POLITELY. Start the email with a greeting and end the email with a ﾂ'Best Regards' or something to that effect. Japanese culture places a lot of importance on politeness and civic-mindedness.
- Do not write essays. Keep your email concise and to the point. Refrain from asking too many questions in your FIRST email.
If you do not get a response, wait a while before trying again. Profs are really busy and often do a fair bit of travelling. If you started early, you have no worries.
- If you still do not get a response, try calling up the department office and asking if the professor is away.
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In my case (some time ago) I emailed 3 profs (2 from u of tokyo and 1 from tokyo institute of tech) with a brief intro of my research background and interests, a brief mention of what I would like to do and asked if they would be interested to have me as a student. As mentioned by another poster, I provided my CV as well, including my education history, work history and research publications. I got positive replies from all 3 and pursued further with 2 of them, eventually getting the nod from both.
 
mesolithic said:
In my case (some time ago) I emailed 3 profs (2 from u of tokyo and 1 from tokyo institute of tech) with a brief intro of my research background and interests, a brief mention of what I would like to do and asked if they would be interested to have me as a student. As mentioned by another poster, I provided my CV as well, including my education history, work history and research publications. I got positive replies from all 3 and pursued further with 2 of them, eventually getting the nod from both.
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Oh! Thank alot! It really helps me get into it.
 
If anyone of you is living in KL, you guys can go to the Japan Embassy to have a look at their past year papers collection.
 
Any shortlisted Malaysians got their letter yet about the examination?
 
mesolithic said:
In my case (some time ago) I emailed 3 profs (2 from u of tokyo and 1 from tokyo institute of tech) with a brief intro of my research background and interests, a brief mention of what I would like to do and asked if they would be interested to have me as a student. As mentioned by another poster, I provided my CV as well, including my education history, work history and research publications. I got positive replies from all 3 and pursued further with 2 of them, eventually getting the nod from both.
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Hi Mesolithic,

I have just received an email from a professor and have been informed that he's willing to take me in to his laboratory, however, he demands to have an interview by using skype with me on this week. As far as i know, this kind of process falls under university recommendation and application for both sides is not allowed; as per listed on the FAQ for Monbunkagakusho scholarship, applicants can only apply through either one recommendation at a time and if found out that the applicants applied for both, then the application will be disqualified. Do you happened to meet someone in the past who has the same situation like me? I'm confused whether to accept the interview or not.

I will try to email this professor to clarify on this so that he will not misunderstand on my request. Anyway, i hope someone can guide me further regarding this matter. Thanks in advance.
 
kokwai4869 said:
Hi Mesolithic,

I have just received an email from a professor and have been informed that he's willing to take me in to his laboratory, however, he demands to have an interview by using skype with me on this week. As far as i know, this kind of process falls under university recommendation and application for both sides is not allowed; as per listed on the FAQ for Monbunkagakusho scholarship, applicants can only apply through either one recommendation at a time and if found out that the applicants applied for both, then the application will be disqualified. Do you happened to meet someone in the past who has the same situation like me? I'm confused whether to accept the interview or not.

I will try to email this professor to clarify on this so that he will not misunderstand on my request. Anyway, i hope someone can guide me further regarding this matter. Thanks in advance.
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Hmmm I'm not 100% sure that he is thinking of recommending you from the university side. Perhaps he just wants to chat with you and have an idea of what kind of research you intend to do before promising to take you in upon successful application of the scholarship (by embassy recommendation).
 
mesolithic said:
Hmmm I'm not 100% sure that he is thinking of recommending you from the university side. Perhaps he just wants to chat with you and have an idea of what kind of research you intend to do before promising to take you in upon successful application of the scholarship (by embassy recommendation).
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Thank you for you reply Mesolithic.

I have sent him an email to clarify on this and since it will be an online interview, should i wear formally? XD this will be my first time via online. For your written examination, did you wear formal or casual on that day?
 
kokwai4869 said:
Thank you for you reply Mesolithic.

I have sent him an email to clarify on this and since it will be an online interview, should i wear formally? XD this will be my first time via online. For your written examination, did you wear formal or casual on that day?
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I don't think you need to dress very formally, maybe a polo tee would do, since he will only be able to see the top half of your body haha. When I took my written exam, I was already in the department as a kenkyuusei for about 4 months, I just wore casual clothes. However, for the interview with the professors in the department, I wore a suit.
 
mesolithic said:
I don't think you need to dress very formally, maybe a polo tee would do, since he will only be able to see the top half of your body haha. When I took my written exam, I was already in the department as a kenkyuusei for about 4 months, I just wore casual clothes. However, for the interview with the professors in the department, I wore a suit.
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Thank you and i guess i will just wear casual during the written examination, while for the online interview in formal since it will only last for 10-20minutes.. XD ^_^.
 
How long do you think is a considerate time before contacting again a professor who has not responded :(

I emailed 2 professors last week and neither has answered anything.

*sigh*
 
Sanos said:
How long do you think is a considerate time before contacting again a professor who has not responded :(

I emailed 2 professors last week and neither has answered anything.

*sigh*
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Hi Sanos,

i make another attempt to email them after a week when i did not receive any response from the professor. Honest speaking, it's all depending on you ^_^
 
Sanos said:
How long do you think is a considerate time before contacting again a professor who has not responded :(

I emailed 2 professors last week and neither has answered anything.

*sigh*
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Check their lab roster (usually can be found on their lab homepage) and see if they have any foreign students in the first place. Not all professors are fluent in English...
 
kokwai4869 said:
Thank you and i guess i will just wear casual during the written examination, while for the online interview in formal since it will only last for 10-20minutes.. XD ^_^.
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anyway just to clarify... when the written exam i was talking about was the one I did for entrance to the phd programme, not the one at the embassy... but anyway i wore casual for both. haha.
 
Thank you [MENTION=62192]kokwai4869[/MENTION], I will try again :)
[MENTION=62907]mesolithic[/MENTION] I haven't been able to find lab rosters for the topic I'm interested in, I suppose for humanities it not a formal "lab" they have. But I did see both of them studied the PhD at the USA, so I suppose they do speak English :p
 
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Hello minnasan,
I will apply the scholarship this year first time. I have a question. I'll be very glad if anyone can answer.

I'm very much confused about "Field of Study and Research Program Plan" form. For the 2nd (Your research theme after arrival in Japan) I described my research theme, its methods, what we can do with the results, and why this subject is important etc. For the 3rd one (Research program plan in Japan) I wrote that what I am planning to do in Japan (such as I am planning to enroll in a master's course, after that I'm thinking on PhD degree...).
Am I correct? Or should I not write about master's and PhD degrees? Because there is something like "the ultimate goal of your research". Is this mention my ultimate goal in Japan, or just the research theme's purpose?
 
I got an email yesterday saying that the written part of the test will be next Tuesday in my country! I am so nervous! :(

Well done to everyone who has already completed this in other countries! I can see that there are people who have already received their MEXT scholarship, but here the process is only just starting (through embassy recommendation).

Is anyone else still waiting to take the written test?
 
SiriusBlue said:
Hello minnasan,
I will apply the scholarship this year first time. I have a question. I'll be very glad if anyone can answer.

I'm very much confused about "Field of Study and Research Program Plan" form. For the 2nd (Your research theme after arrival in Japan) I described my research theme, its methods, what we can do with the results, and why this subject is important etc. For the 3rd one (Research program plan in Japan) I wrote that what I am planning to do in Japan (such as I am planning to enroll in a master's course, after that I'm thinking on PhD degree...).
Am I correct? Or should I not write about master's and PhD degrees? Because there is something like "the ultimate goal of your research". Is this mention my ultimate goal in Japan, or just the research theme's purpose?
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From my own personal application and experience:

While there is not only one way to complete this part of the application, there is certainly a lot more detail that you can put into it to make it sound more inviting. I think that your 2nd part is good, but for the 3rd one "Research program plan in japan", I think that you should write about how you plan on accomplishing your thesis. Where will you get the books? How will you approach the research? How will you analyze your results? The 3rd part is not about you, it is still about your thesis, but it's about the methods that you will use to accomplish it.

This is just from my experience, maybe other people will have more things to say. :)
 
AmiciaRai,
Thank you so much for your answer! I will correct that part.

Good luck for everyone~~ Minna, ganbatte ne!
 
guys, I have an urgent question!

this one professor that replied to my inquiry said that he can accept advisee only until academic year 2015 and he will be retired in March 2016.
is it possible that I would attend as a research student in September 2015 under his supervising (since 6 months earlier would be japanese studying phase) and then I will do the exam for master's degree admission and choose another professor to be my adviser?
 

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