Japan - 2008 Komai Fellowship Program in Social and Cultural Science

Japan - 2008 Komai Fellowship Program in Social and Cultural Science

The Komai Fellowship Program was inaugurated under the auspices of late Mr. K. Komai, the first chairman of the Hitachi Scholarship Foundation, to encourage interactions between Southeast Asian countries and Japan in the field of social and cultural science. In this program, fellowships are offered to the scholars and researchers in Southeast Asian countries who have keen interest in conducting the research on Japan such as Japanese culture, Japanese economy and Japanese industry under the following conditions.

Term of Fellowship
Maximum three (3) months
* The fellowship begins on the day of the grantee’s arrival in Japan and ends on the day of departure from Japan. The fellowship cannot be extended.

Contents of Fellowship
The Foundation will support the following costs and expenses.

• Travel expenses: Economy class round-trip airfare between the nearest airport of the grantee’s university and the airport in Japan, the travel expenses between the airport in Japan and the place of grantee’s research affiliation, and the travel expenses to visit the office of the Foundation.
• Maintenance allowance: ¥17,000 a day
  * This rate is applied to the number of nights the grantee stays in Japan.
• Research travel allowance: At cost but up to ¥100,000
  * If the grantee wishes to receive this allowance, the travel plan and the recommendation letter of the Japanese host scientist should be submitted to the Foundation for review and approval in advance. This plan should relate to the proposed research.

Application and Selection

• Eligibility and qualification of applicants
• The faculty members who belong to the universities invited by the Foundation (see Eligible Universities listed below)
• Majoring in social and cultural science
• Research proposals have to be related wholly or in substantial part to Japan
• Firm position or profession in the university
• Below 45 years of age (as of November 30, 2007)
• Application procedure
  Application shall be endorsed by the President’s office of the university to which the Foundation has offered the fellowship award and submitted to the following address through the said office by November 30, 2007 using the registered mail. Neither personal nor direct application to the Foundation is accepted.

The Hitachi Scholarship Foundation
21F Akihabara UDX Building
14-1, Soto-Kanda 4-chome
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8010
Japan

Application shall be submitted with all the documents as required below and the application missing any of them will be automatically rejected. The Foundation reserves the right to request any other additional documents

• Documents required for application
  The research plan should be discussed in detail with the host scientist in Japan before making application and reflected to the proposal in the application form. The documents required are one (1) original and one (1) copy of
• Type written Application Form along with 3cm x 4cm size photograph
• Letter of recommendation from the head and/or dean of the faculty to which the applicant belongs
• Letter of acceptance from the host scientist
• List of publications by the applicant
• Proposed schedule for the research

* The Foundation reserves the right to distribute a copy of the above documents to any person for the purpose of evaluation and selection. A copy of the above documents will also be distributed to the proposed Japanese host scientists of the finally selected applicants.

• Method of selection

1. Preliminary selection
The Selection Committee of the Foundation will conduct preliminary selection based on the application documents.

2. Interview
The preliminary-selected applicants will be interviewed by the representative(s) of the Selection Committee of the Foundation at their universities.

3. Final selection
The Selection Committee of the Foundation will make final selection after the interview.

• Criteria of selection

• Support by the senior management of the applicant’s university on his/her research
• Academic performance and achievement by the applicant
• Proposed plan and significance of research
• Schedule of selection
  End of November –> Deadline to submit application
  December - January –> Preliminary selection based on the application documents
  February - March –> Interview of preliminary-selected applicants at their universities
  April - May –> Final selection
  * The result of selection will be informed to the applicant through the President’s office of his/her university in June 2008, and the successful applicant is requested to come to Japan by the date agreed with the host scientist in Japan.

Preparation for Entry to Japan
The grantee is required to obtain a valid entry visa from a Japanese embassy or consulate before coming to Japan. The Letter of Award issued by the Foundation is necessary to be attached to this application of visa.

Visit to the Foundation
The grantee is requested to drop by the office of the Foundation in Tokyo before going to the place of grantee’s research affiliation. He/she is also requested to come to the office of the Foundation to report the result of research briefly on the
way back to his/her university.

Accommodation
The grantee is responsible for finding his/her own accommodation. As some universities and institutions have their own accommodations, it is recommended to inquire the host scientist about their availability.

Bank Account
The grantee is requested to open an account at a Japanese bank upon his/her arrival and inform the Foundation of the bank account details sending a copy of bankbook.

Liaison
The grantee should keep in close contact with the Foundation and keep them informed of any change of his/her address or other pertinent matters.

Report
The grantee is required to submit to the Foundation a report on his/her research and activities in Japan within one (1) month after completion of the fellowship. When his/her research is presented for publication or dissemination, the Foundation’s support should be acknowledged in an appropriate way. A copy of such publication or offprint is requested to be sent to the Foundation.

Insurance
The Foundation will buy the following insurance for the period from the date of the grantee’s departure from his/her home country until the date of his/her return to his/her home country. However, illness contracted before the grantee’s arrival in Japan, chronic disease and dental care will not be covered.

• Death from injury: ¥15 million
• Treatment of injury: Up to ¥2 million
• Death from illness: ¥2 million
• Treatment of illness: Up to ¥2 million

Compliance with the Laws and Regulations
The grantee must abide by the laws and regulations of Japan.

Suspension or Termination of the Fellowship
The grantees of the Komai Fellowship Award must stay in Japan during the term of the fellowship and devote themselves full-time to their intended research. They shall not be employed in Japan with or without remuneration during the period of fellowship unless such employment has been specifically approved by the Foundation. The Foundation may withdraw this fellowship and terminate payments if it judges that the foregoing terms and conditions are not observed in good faith.

Eligible Universities

• Indonesia
• University of Indonesia
• Bandung Institute of Technology
• Gadjah Mada University
• Surabaya Institute of Technology
• Malaysia
• University of Malaya
• Malaysia University of Technology
• The Philippines
• University of the Philippines
• Singapore
• The National University of Singapore
• Thailand
• Chulalongkorn University
• Chiang Mai University
• Khon Kaen University
• King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang
• King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi
• Vietnam
• Hanoi University of Technology
• Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology

Komai Fellowship Application Form

Application deadline may vary, thus contact your university for further details about the fellowship.