The aim of JSPS’s RONPAKU (Dissertation PhD) Program is to provide tutorial and financial support to promising young researchers in Asia who wish to obtain their PhD degrees from Japanese universities through the submission of a dissertation without going through a doctoral course. Grantees under the program (RONPAKU Fellows) are given the opportunity to visit their Japanese advisor once a year to receive direct supervision at the Japanese university where they will submit their PhD thesis.

As a faculty at University of Aizu, Japan, I am interested to guide interested students through this program. Please note that Univ of Aizu is a computer science oriented university and the degree will be in computer science and engineering. Research topics of interest to me include.

1. Regional Weather/climate prediction research through dynamical modelling
2. Distributed Geophysical Visualisation algorithms and implementation using Ruby Language.
3. Application of Machine Learning to Climate and Weather Research.
4. Reconfigureable computing for high performance weather/climate modelling.

Saji N Hameed,
Associate Professor,
ARC-ENV, Center for Advanced Information Science and Technology,
University of Aizu, Tsuruga, Ikki-machi,
Aizuwakamatsu- shi, Fukushima 965-8580,
Japan

Tel: +81242 37-2736
email: saji@u-aizu.ac.jp
url: http://www.u-aizu.ac.jp

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From FY2010, this program is offered to researchers in the following countries

ASIA (including Middle East countries)

Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh*, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China*, Georgia, India, Indonesia*, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, South Korea*, Kuwait, Kyrgyz, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia*, Maldives, Mongolia*, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines*, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Thailand*, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkey, Turkmenistan, UAE, Uzbekistan, Vietnam*, and Yemen.

AFRICA

Algeria, Angora, Uganda, Egypt*, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Ghana, Cape Verde, Gabon, Cameroon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, Comoro, Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Djibouti, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Swaziland, Seychelles, Equatorial Guinea, Senegal, Somalia, Tanzania, Chad, Central African Republic, Tunisia, Togo, Nigeria, Namibia, Niger, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Benin, Botswana, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, South Africa, Mozambique, Mauritius, Mauritania, Morocco, Libya, Rwanda and Lesotho

* The ten countries marked with an asterisk（*）haveJSPS counterpart organizations that assist in applicant nomination and program implementation. Applicants whose home institution comes under one of these organizations submit a different set of forms than other applicants. Please refer to the Application Guidelines.

Eligibility

Each applicant for the Program must be a researcher who

• belongs to a university or research institute in the above-listed countries
• already holds a full-time position as a researcher in a university or research institution in his/her home country or will likely be appointed to such a position by 1 April of the starting year of the fellowship
• is under age 50 as of 1 of the starting year of the fellowship. Further eligibility requirements for this program are provided in the Application Guidelines.

Further eligibility requirements for this program are provided in the Application Guidelines.

Number of Fellowships

About 40 per year　(up to 30 from Asian countries and up to 10 from African countries

Duration of Fellowship

Up to 5 years

JSPS Support

• RONPAKU Fellows may visit their Japanese host university once a year for a maximum period of 90 days for the purpose of studying under the supervision of their Japanese advisor.
• JSPS provides RONPAKU Fellows with a roundtrip international air ticket (economy class), maintenance allowance and medical/accidental insurance, and covers expenses related to dissertation submission during their stays in Japan.
• The Japanese advisor may visit the RONPAKU fellow’s home university or research institution once a year for a maximum period of 30 days for the purpose of supervising RONPAKU Fellow’s study.
• JSPS provides Japanese Advisors with a roundtrip air ticket (economy class) and maintenance allowance, and covers their visa issuance fees and supervising expenses during their stays in the fellow’s country.
• During the fellow’s stay in Japan, JSPS provides the Japanese Advisor with an allowance for supervising his/her study at the host institution.

For more information on JSPS’s financial support, please see the Application Guidelines.

Please note: Being awarded a RONPAKU fellowship does not automatically guarantee the obtaining of a PhD degree. Each RONPAKU Fellow is responsible for making the necessary effort to succeed in his/her dissertation research.

Selection Procedure

Under JSPS’s RONPAKU Program, a two-step procedure is used for selecting RONPAKU Fellows. Applications are first screened through a document review. Taking into account these results, a category-based panel review is held on the applications.

Selection criteria for JSPS review:

1. Based on their record of scientific results, applicants must be seen as “mature” researchers.
2. The applicant’s research proposal should be suited to pursuing a PhD degree through submission of a dissertation without matriculating a doctoral course. The feasibility should be very high that the applicant will obtain a PhD degree within a maximum of 5 years.
3. The Japanese advisor must be suitable for supervising the Fellow’s research; sufficient advance communication must have been carried out between the advisor and the applicant; the research supervision plan must be well-prepared and specific

First step of selection procedure

In the first step of RONPAKU screening, JSPS has each application screened by three referees, chosen according to the applicant’s research area.

The first-step screening criteria are as follows: (1) Research ability, (2) Research plan, and (3) Japanese advisor’s suitability for supervising the RONAPKU Fellow.

Each referee scores applications by grades 5, 4, 3, 2 or 1.
5: Highest possibility that applicant can obtain PhD degree within the allotted tenure
4: High possibility that applicant can obtain PhD degree within the allotted tenure
3: Possibility that applicant can obtain PhD degree
2: Little possibility that applicant can obtain PhD degree
1: No possibility that the applicant can obtain PhD degree

Second step of selection procedure

As the second step, JSPS holds panel reviews on the applications. They are held in the following eight categories: Humanities and Social Sciences; Mathematical and Physical Sciences; Chemistry; Engineering Sciences; Biological Sciences; Agricultural Sciences; and Medical, Dental and Pharmaceutical Sciences. The number of applicants selected in each category is decided in proportion to the number of applications submitted.

Selection results are given to each applicant through his/her prospective Japanese advisor or the nominating organization in his/her home country.

Contact Information

Asian Program Division
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
6 Ichibancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8471 JAPAN
Telephone: +81.(0)3. 3263.2368　 Facsimile: +81.(0)3. 3234.3700
Email: ronpaku@jsps.go.jp

Official scholarship website:

http://www.jsps.go.jp/english/e-ronpaku/about.html