Japan-IMF Scholarships for Asians

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The Japan-IMF Scholarship Program for Asia (JISPA) was first introduced in 1993. It is funded by the Government of Japan, administered by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and conducted at various graduate schools in Japan. Its objective is to contribute to institutional capacity building in economic policy-making to promote the sustainablegrowth of emerging and developing economies in Asia and the Pacific.

The partnership track of the JISPA allows scholars to study a specially designed graduate level course concentrating on macroeconomics at an IMF partnership university.

The open track of the JISPA provides support to scholars who wish to study graduate-level macroeconomics or a related field at either the master’s or PhD level at any leading university in Japan. It is geared towards highly motivated officials who are able to identify a course of  study in Japan suitable to their professional pursuits in the public sector and supportive of their future work as an economic policy maker.  See the brochure for complete information about open track subprogram of JISPA.

Host Institution(s):

In 2014-2015, the partnership universities that will be accepting scholars are:

• National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS): one-year and two-year programs
• Hitotsubashi University (HIT): two-year program
• International University of Japan (IUJ): two-year program
• University of Tokyo (UT): two-year program

Field of study:

The scholarship are towards graduate level courses concentrating on macroeconomics. See the 2014-2015 brochure  (see link below) for the complete course list under the program.

Number of Awards:

In 2014-15, a total of 36 new scholarships are available to candidates for the partnership track There is no fixed limit on new scholarships for the open track, but generally only a small number of scholarships are awarded.

Target group:

Currently, the JISPA is open to qualified candidates from the following countries:

Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao P.D.R., Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pacific Island Countries, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

The JISPA targets highly motivated government officials who may serve as future macroeconomic policy makers with the capacity and vision to contribute effectively to the economic development of their countries.

Scholarship value/inclusions:

Scholarships provide for tuition fees; a monthly stipend (including the housing allowance and medical/accident insurance); one round-trip economy class air-ticket; and a lump-sum allowance to cover visa application costs, testing fees (such as TOEFL), and book-shipping costs. The scholarship covers expenses incurred by the scholar only.

The scholarship covers one year. For the two-year master’s programs, the scholarship can be renewed for the second year based on academic performance and the university’s recommendation, together with nomination by a scholar’s sponsoring agency.

Eligibility:

Under current program guidelines, candidates must be a national of one of the eligible countries (see above).

Candidates should also currently work for one of the following or related agencies: central bank, ministry of economy, ministry of finance, ministry of planning/development, ministry of trade/commerce, tax administration, or national statistics bureau.

The program will also consider officials working in other areas of government that have a significant impact on the formulation or implementation of macroeconomic policy.

Candidates must have a Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent with at least 16 years of formal education. Names of schools and attending dates beginning from primary school must be listed in the application. In some cases, 15 years of formal education may be accepted if there is an official explanation (a country’s particular educational system or other exceptional circumstances).

Applicants must have an English language proficiency, which needs to be demonstrated as equivalent to or more than an official TOEFL score of 550, CBT213, or iBT79-80.  If TOEFL scores are not available, then an overall IELTS score of at least 6.0 can be substituted.

Applicants must be committed to contributing to the development of their home country, and if selected, are expected to return to their sponsoring agency upon completion of their studies under the JISPA Priority is given to applicants (1) whose age is below 40; and (2) who have not yet obtained a master’s degree from a university outside of their own country.

Important: In addition, each partner university has its own admission/eligibility requirements.

Application instructions:

For 2014-2015 AY, the deadline is 10 December 2013. There is no application deadline for the open track applications; applications are accepted and reviewed year-round.

It is important to read the 2014-2015 Scholarship Brochure and visit the official website (link found below) for detailed information on how to apply for this scholarship.

Website:

Official Scholarship Website:  http://www.imf.org/external/oap/schol.htm