Joint Japan/World Bank Scholarship at Yokohama National University, Japan 2021-2023

THE APPLICATION GUIDELINE

Yokohama National University, with a grant funded by the Government of Japan and administered by the World Bank under the Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program (JJWBGSP), is now seeking prospective students for its inter-faculty Master’s Degree Program in Infrastructure Management (IMP). The program, which will begin in October 2021, is specifically designed for training infrastructure policy planners from World Bank member countries that are currently eligible to borrow.

Interested persons should apply for admission to the Graduate School of Urban Innovation (GSUI), Yokohama National University through the online system by 2 March 2021 and send printed document by 10 March 2021. After screening the records of qualified candidates, the GSUI Selection Committee will select specific number of nominees for admission to the program. The nominees should apply for final screening by the Word Bank (“Scholarship Application”) and several final passers will be accepted as IMP students and receive World Bank scholarships. Successful candidates will receive notification to that effect before July 2021 at the latest.

In applying for admission to the program, applicants should note that the IMP is oriented to training government officials with present or future management responsibility and an academic background in the field of engineering. Women are encouraged to apply.

ELIGIBILITY:

Applicants must:

• Be a national of a Bank member country that is eligible to receive Bank financing and not be a national of any country that is not eligible to receive the Bank financing;•Not hold dual citizenship of any developed country;
• Be in good health;
• Hold a Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent with superior academic achievement earned more than three (3) years before the Scholarship Application Deadline;
• Be employed in a paid and fulltime position at the time of the Scholarship Application Deadline unless the applicant is from a country identified in the World Bank’s “Harmonized List of Fragile Situations”; and
• Have, by the time of the Scholarship Application Deadline, at least three (3) years of recent fulltime paid professional experience acquired in development-related work after a Bachelor’s Degree or its equivalent in the applicant’s home country or in another developing country; If the applicant is from a country in the World Bank’s list of Fragile and Conflict States. at the time of the Scholarship Application Deadline, the recent professional experience does not have to be fulltime or paid.
• Not be an Executive Director, his/her alternate, and/or staff of any type of appointment of the World Bank Group or a close relative of the aforementioned by blood or adoption with the term “close relative” defined as: Mother, Father, Sister, Half-sister, Brother, Half-brother, Son, Daughter, Aunt, Uncle, Niece, or Nephew.

※ Priority Consideration will be given to applicants who:

(a) Are 35 years or younger;

(b) Can receive an official leave of absence during the period of study;

(c) Are planning to return to the equivalent position (including the current one) in their home country after s/he completes the program;

(d) Are recommended by appropriate government agencies; and

(f) Submit Official English proficiency Test Scores ,(TOEFL/IELTS)

N.B. It is strongly advised that successful candidates arrange for a leave of absence from their employer for the two-year period during which they are to participate in the program. This leave should assure their re-employment after completion of the program.

2. Because the entire program is carried out in English, applicants must provide evidence of a satisfactory level of English competence, either by enclosing the result of the official English proficiency examination or by proving that they have completed a university program conducted mainly in English. For English Proficiency Test Scores, only Original Official Certification issued by the Implementing Test Organs will be accepted instead of Photocopies and it must include your photograph.

3. Letters of reference or recommendation from two different people must be provided to support the application. One of these must be from a person who has supervised the applicant in a work situation and the other from a professor at the university from which the applicant graduated.

4. It is preferred that successful candidates arrange for a leave of absence from their employer for the two-year period during which they are to participate in the program. This leave should assure their re-employment after completion of the program.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

The Master’s Degree Program in Infrastructure Management at Yokohama National University (YNU) was established with a special fund from the Government of Japan, administered by the World Bank, for the purpose of training government officials from developing countries who have engineering backgrounds. The program focuses on such areas as economics, management, specialized engineering and law related to the development and management of infrastructure. In a changing global situation, if the government officials who are engaged in planning and implementing their nations’ infrastructure development policies are to make decisions consistent with the welfare of the people of their countries, it is vital that those officials have advanced knowledge of and experience in management, technological fields and macro-economics.

The YNU program, which is specifically designed to meet the needs of students from developing countries under a scholarship program funded by the World Bank, offers lectures and laboratory work in the fields of engineering, economics, management and law. Students are also provided with the opportunity to learn practical Japanese, mathematics, computer techniques and other basic subjects. After the initial six months of schooling, students engage in internship programs related to their area of study.

During the remainder of the two-year period, individual instruction and tutorials are given to students to help them consolidate their understanding of their courses and prepare a thesis, which is a requirement for the completion of the Master’s program.

The YNU program is organized and operated by an inter-faculty committee. The university committee consists of the Graduate School of Education, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences, Graduate School of International Social Sciences, and Graduate School of Urban Innovation of Yokohama National University.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Scholarships are allocated to the YNU program by the World Bank. Each scholarship provides a monthly allowance (most probably JPY150, 000 – JPY 170, 000) and a round-trip air ticket to Japan plus a travel allowance. The scholarship also covers tuition fees, the entrance examination fee, the admission fee, and the insurance.

Citizens of low and middle income World Bank member countries are eligible for the scholarships. Applicants must have at least three years of practical experience involving responsibility for infrastructure development and must also intend to pursue a career in the field of development.

HOUSING

Ooka International Residence is a quality housing complex for an international community of students, researchers, and faculty and administrative staff of YNU, which aims to promote multicultural exchange and understanding. This new residence, opened in September 2010, has 252 studio rooms for international students. The advantage of staying at Ooka International Residence is that the occupancy during the whole program period is guaranteed (students need not look for housing for the second year). University-affiliated housing facilities for accompanying family members are extremely limited. Students wishing to bring their families will be asked to make their own arrangements. It is advised that students who intend to bring family members wait until after the first semester of the program, when they become familiar with living conditions in Yokohama. Public daycare services are available for pre-school children, but they are extremely competitive, usually with a very long waiting list. Private childcare services (nannies, au pairs, etc.) are rare in Japan and if you can find them, they tend to be prohibitively expensive.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

The deadline of web applications for the 2021-2023 program is 2 March 2021.

Completed application form, Research Plan, and Signed checklist with completed return address labels must be printed out, and complete application packages, with all required material, must be postmarked no later than 10 March 2021 as follows.

When applying, applicants must submit the following documents to the Infrastructure Management Program Office, Graduate School of Urban Innovation through the online system:* Completed application form;* Official transcripts showing the applicant’s academic performance in his or her undergraduate program;* Certification of Graduation or Copies of Diploma which should be including the title of Bachelor;* Names and contact information of the recommenders;

Names of two different people must be provided to support the application. One of these must be a person who has supervised the applicant in a work situation and the other from a professor at the university from which the applicant graduated. We will later ask the two recommenders to provide a recommendation letter for the applicant electronically. For this purpose, the recommenders must use official email addresses of the professional institutions they are affiliated to. We will not accept recommendation letters from private addresses such as Gmail or Yahoo! Mail unless there is a compelling reason to do so.* Evidence of a satisfactory level of English competence; and

Because the entire program is carried out in English, applicants must provide evidence of a satisfactory level of English competence. If the applicants have completed a university program conducted mainly in English, enclose a certificate of English proficiency sufficient to prove the fact that the medium of instruction has been English and that the applicants have successfully completed the program. If the applicants choose to submit Official English Proficiency Test Scores (TOEFL/IELTS), the only documents we accept are official TOEFL scores sent directly by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) or official IELTS score sent directly by the British Council. Please refer to the TOEFL webpage at http://www.ets.org/toefl or the IELTS webpage at http://www.britishcouncil.org/exam

The applicants may be asked to be interviewed by YNU academic staff via Skype, primarily for the purpose of ascertaining their proficiency in English.* Research Plan (within 5 pages, including the abstract)

Your research plan should be within 5 pages in A4 size PDF/Word file.
Write an abstract in the first 1/3 portion of the first page.
Describe in detail and with specifics – particularly concerning the ultimate goal(s) of your research at YNU.
Your academic background and research methodology should be included.

If any forgery and false declaration is found in the application documents, the students will be subject to disciplinary action by YNU, which includes expulsion from the university, in which case the World Bank will be immediately notified and the student in question will lose all his/her scholarship entitlement, including the return airfare.

-Complete application packages, with all required material, must be submitted no later than 10 March 2021.

-Late applications will not be considered.

Mailing Address:
   Infrastructure Management Program
   Graduate School of Urban Innovation
   Yokohama National University
   79-5 Tokiwadai
   Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501
   Japan

-Applicants must apply through the online system first. Handwritten applications or applications only sent by post will not be accepted.

-Please do not send applications by fax or e-mail.

-Recommenders must use the forms provided by us for the 2021-2023 program.

-Please do not contact advisors for any questions.

Note: Completed applications and supplementary materials cannot be returned.

For the applicants, start applying to Infrastructure Management Program at the following YNU Web Application System.

*The online application will start from 6 Jan 2021.