For prospective international students
This policy applies only to applicants seeking university recommendation for the Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship.
It does not apply to self-funded students or applicants seeking embassy recommendation for the MEXT Scholarship.
I receive many emails from students seeking university recommendation for the MEXT Scholarship.
I do not reply to requests from applicants who have not thoroughly investigated our research.
In particular, I do not reply to emails that merely list a few keywords taken from my publications or web pages.
Our laboratory welcomes outstanding international students. However, admission usually develops through established academic relationships, rather than through unsolicited requests for admission or support for a recommendation by a university for the MEXT Scholarship.
Examples of successful paths
Eranga Pawani Witharana was one of our research collaborators overseas. She is now a graduate student in our laboratory. At first, she did not ask me for admission or for a recommendation by a university for the MEXT Scholarship. Her first request was for me to guide her research remotely over the internet. I guided her research over a period of time. This gave me the opportunity to assess her scientific ability, motivation, reliability, and future potential.
Her research ability was so outstanding that I eventually made a heartfelt and persistent effort to persuade her to study in Japan, out of deep respect for her talent.
I also personally helped pay her IELTS examination fee. She subsequently came to Japan to conduct research under my supervision.
This is one example of an ideal path: research comes first; once mutual academic trust has developed, opportunities for admission and scholarship recommendation may follow.
Another outstanding researcher, Myat Htoo San, joined my laboratory through a different route. She graduated from the University of Yangon, one of the leading universities in Myanmar. A professor whom I already knew and trusted contacted me directly to introduce and recommend her. It was this professor who first contacted me; she did not make that initial contact herself. The professor regarded her as an exceptionally talented young scientist. Her subsequent research achievements fully justified that recommendation. She now works as a full-time researcher at Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST).
What these examples illustrate
Applicants seeking a recommendation by a university for the MEXT Scholarship should understand that I normally consider candidates from overseas only when there is sufficient evidence for me to assess their ability and potential. This also applies to exceptionally strong candidates.
Simply sending a CV and asking for admission or a recommendation by a university for the MEXT Scholarship does not establish such a relationship.
If you contact me without thoroughly investigating the research actually conducted in our laboratory, please do not expect a reply.
Sending the same generic email to many professors is not an effective way to join our laboratory or to be considered for a recommendation by a university for the MEXT Scholarship.
I am always interested in working with genuinely talented and motivated young researchers. But the starting point should be science, not admission or a scholarship recommendation.