Research Students (Kenkyusei)

The information in this section applies to the application procedures for self-supporting research students. Please note that application procedures for Monbukagakusho (Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) Scholarship research students and self-supporting research students are different. For more information, please contact the nearest Japanese embassy or consulate in your country.

Please read:
The information provided on this page is subject to change. for the most recent information, please refer to the information booklet Enrollment Guidebook for International Students, University of Tsukuba.

• Research Student Program
• Application
• Contacting the Academic Advisor
• Application Schedule
• Qualifications
• Entrance and Tuition Fees (subject to change)
• Application Forms
• Further Contact Information

Research Student Program

This program is for international students who seek to conduct their research under the guidance of academic advisors. Research students cannot earn credits or receive degrees. They need prior approval from the instructor of the courses they wish to audit. As the university does not offer courses in the Japanese language at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, international students must learn the necessary Japanese prior to admission. Admitted research students are required to have a well-prepared research and financial plan. In other words, research students should not have to rely on part-time work to survive.

Application

1. Selection is based on the submitted documents, so it is not necessary to come to Japan to apply.
2. Together with the application form, students must submit a "Communication Status with Prospective Academic Advisor Form " completed by the faculty member of this university. Students are required to contact the faculty member concerning their study plans and Japanese language proficiency, then obtain his/her advance approval concerning study plans and Japanese language proficiency before applying for research student status to the Division of International Students at the university.

Note:

1. Please contact the professors directly. For information regarding professors of University of Tsukuba, refer to "Enrollment Guidebook for International Students" or "Tsukuba Researchers Information Online System(TRIOS)", and home page of respective graduate school.
   If the professors are open to being contacted by email, their address will be on their website allowing you to contact them. Yet, if their email is not there, you should try contacting them by post.
2. The web page address of each program is available at the end of the "Enrollment Guidebook for International Students, University of Tsukuba", on the "Miscellaneous" page.
3. There were cases when applicants could not receive a reply from the professors they contacted; if you send an email from a "non-Japanese webmail service", such as Korean, Chinese etc, character mismatches may occur and professors will not be able to read your message even if you type it in Japanese. If you would like to send an email in Japanese from a webmail service, it is strongly recommended to make an account at a Japanese webmail service and send email messages through it.

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Contacting the Academic Advisor

Students should contact their prospective academic advisors. To avoid surprising their advisor, students should send a letter in advance including their curriculum vitae and other pertinent documents.

Normally, students are required to send the following documents:

1. Record of Academic History (from elementary school to university/graduate school)
2. Employment record
3. Statement of how they found out about their academic advisor
4. Statement of why the student would like the prospective professor as an academic advisor
5. Study plan
6. Statement of Intent regarding applying to graduate school in the future
7. Certification of financial resources during the student's stay in Japan
8. Copies of graduation certificates and academic records
9. A copy of a letter of recommendation from an academic advisor from the student's home university
10. An acceptable certificate of ability of Japanese language (Test scores of Japanese Language Examination or Certificates completed by Japanese teachers).

Several exchanges between the student and an academic advisor are usually necessary before acceptance by the academic advisor. Therefore, students are strongly advised to make their first contact with their desired academic advisor a few months before the application deadline.

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Application Schedule

Note:
Please understand that we follow the above schedule in order to secure sufficient time for making it possible for newly coming overseas students to complete all necessary procedures for obtaining the right type of visa. Especially if you would like to become a research student from April, please be aware that no application for the research student program can be made after the results for the February entrance examinations have been announced or after you have been informed that you will receive scholarship starting in April. Please note that the application for the research student program has to be made well in advance of the announcement of these results.

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Qualifications

1. Persons who have graduated from a Japanese university or are expected to graduate before the admission period.
2. Persons who have completed a 16-year school curriculum in a foreign country （or an 18-year school curriculum if they desire to enroll in the Doctoral Program in Life System Medical Sciences and the Doctoral Program in Clinical Sciences of the Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences）or will complete before the admission period.
3. Persons who have been judged by their intended graduate school at our university to have at least the same academic ability as university graduates.

Notes

• Applicants in this category c. must first undergo a pre-application screening procedure in order to obtain permission to apply. For this reason, they must inquire at the Division of International Students and submit the prescribed documents together with the Application Form for International Research Students during the designated period prior to the normal application period. (Please refer to the application guide for detailed information.)
  (In these cases, the application will be deferred until the screening for application permission is finished.)
• Persons who graduated from a special course called "zhuan ke", not a regular course, at a university in China will not be judged as having graduated from a university stipulated in b) above. They will need to undergo an advance screening mentioned above. For details, please inquire at the Division of International Students of the University of Tsukuba.

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Entrance and Tuition Fees (2011) (subject to change)

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Application Forms

Note: Information below may be subject to change. Please verify this information with the latest edition of the "Enrollment Guidebook for International Students" or with the Division of International Students.

Here below are the application forms etc. needed for 2012 Admission. To view PDF files, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Available here

1. University of Tsukuba Application Guide for International Research Students for 2012 Admission ( PDF File )
   

   Payment Options of Application fee
   From outside Japan	->Pay by Credet Card		To Payment Website
   	->Pay by Bank Wire Transfer Before you submit the application, you should go to a bank allowing foreign remittance (bank wire transfer) and transfer total amount including the application fee (9,800 yen), commissions (2,500 yen) and all service charges for the bank transfer into the prescribed bank account.		Refer to Application Guide
   From within Japan	If you download the application guide/forms from the website	->Pay at Convenience Store	To Payment Website
   	If you requested the paper application guide/forms by post	->Pay at Japan Post Bank	Refer to Application Guide

2. Form for Submission of Certificate of Payment of Application Fee ( PDF File )
3. University of Tsukuba Application Form for International Research Students for 2011 Admission ( PDF File / Word File )
4. Communication status with Prospective Academic Advisor Form ( PDF File / Word File )
5. Letter of Recommendation ( PDF File / Word File )
6. Address Label for Mailing Results ( PDF File / Word File )
7. Application Checklist for International Research Students for 2012 Admission ( PDF File / Word File )

-> Please click here for information on how to obtain an application package by post.

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Further Contact Information

-> Please click here for contact information.

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