University of Tsukuba Application Guide for International Non-Degree Research Students for AY 2019 Admission

University of Tsukuba Application Guide for International Non-Degree Research Students for AY 2019 Admission Research students are those persons who conduct research about a specific research topic under the guidance of an academic advisor. Upon receiving permission from their academic advisor or the instructor(s) in charge of courses, research students are allowed to attend courses related to their research topic, but they cannot earn credits nor are they eligible to receive Master s or Doctoral degrees. At our university, most research guidance and courses are conducted in Japanese. Therefore, those who are applying to become research students must have sufficient Japanese skills. In order to qualify for admission at our university, research students must be graduates of a university. Moreover, prior to application, applicants must obtain the informal consent of the academic advisor under whom they wish to study during their research period at our university. The selection is made by a screening of the application documents. The applicant is not required to come to Japan for the selection. Please note that in order to obtain a Master s or a Doctoral degree, you must be enrolled as a regular student at a graduate program. The admission procedure for a regular student is different from the selection process for research students, and in order to be a regular student, one must take an entrance examination of the graduate school. (You may inquire about graduate programs admission examinations at: Graduate Admission, Division of Educational Promotion, Department of Educational Promotion, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken, 305-8577 JAPAN e-mail address: dai.daigakuinka#@#un.tsukuba.ac.jp (Remove # from the e-mail address before sending the mail) I. Application Procedures for Research Students 1. Application 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 Biomedical and the Doctoral Program in Clinical of the Graduate School of Comprehensive Human ) or will complete before the admission period. (3) Persons who have been granted a degree corresponding to a bachelor s degree and persons who are expected to be granted a degree corresponding to a bachelor s degree in the relevant year by completing a program where the course term is 3 years or more (for Biomedical and Clinical of the Graduate School of Comprehensive Human, 5 years or more) in overseas universities or other overseas schools (in regard to the general situation of education and research activities, etc., limited to those designated separately by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology as those assessed by persons authorized by relevant overseas governments or institutions concerned or anything equivalent thereto) (4) Persons shown to have an equal or greater academic ability than graduates of a university by means of a screening on application qualification conducted in the graduate school of our university. Note: Persons who intend to apply as (4) of application qualifications will undergo the screening on application qualification. For this reason, they must inquire at the Division of Student Exchange, Department of Student Affairs in advance. (The acceptance of the application documents in this case will be deferred until the screening on the recognition of application qualification is finished.) 2. Admission timing and submission periods of application documents Admission timing Submission timing (Web application) Submission periods of the application documents April 2019 September 25 to October 12(15:00 JST), 2018 Must arrive between September 25 to October 19, 2018 October 2019 March 25 to April 12(15:00 JST), 2019 Must arrive between March 25 to April 19, 2019 December 2019 May 24 to June 7(15:00 JST), 2019 Must arrive between May 24 to June 14, 2019 3. Application method The application is an application online by the web entry system. The application is made from the following website. International non-degree research student website: http://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/en/study-tsukuba/research-students The web application is not complete with only entry in the entry system. Complete the application by downloading and submitting the application form and required documents to our university. In applying, you are required to get the informal consent of a faculty member of our university to be your prospective academic advisor in advance. Before applying, establish sufficient contact with the faculty member of our university about your research plan, Japanese language proficiency, etc. and get the informal consent of your prospective academic advisor. In giving his/her informal consent, the academic advisor will prepare and submit the Communication Status with Prospective Academic Advisor Form (Letter of Informal Consent of the Prospective Academic Advisor) describing the communication status with the applicant to the Division of Student Exchange in our university, together with notifying the applicant of the reference number. The number is required to be entered during the web application. The acquisition of the reference number requires time so make a point of asking your prospective academic advisor to acquire it with time to spare. Obtaining the reference number a. Before applying, establish sufficient contact with the faculty member you seek out for research guidance (prospective academic advisor) about your research plan, etc. in advance and get his/her informal consent. b. If you get his/her informal consent to be your prospective academic advisor, he/she will notify you of the reference number. 1

4. Application documents, etc. The selection of non-degree research students is made upon careful screening of documents. The admission application is prepared with online entry by the web entry system. After sending the application data, download and send all the required documents by post within the application submission period (strict observance of period). It is impossible to login to the Web entry site after the application period. We strongly recommend you to download the submitted application documents before the application period ends. Incomplete submitted documents are not accepted so be sure to organize your documents to prevent insufficient contents based on each entry example and checklist of documents, etc. to be submitted. Check documents required for application in (1) below of this section.. Personal information provided in application documents will be used for admissions purposes only. Moreover, the information of applicants who have completed the admission formalities will be used as part of the school registration data. (1) Application fee Admission timing Payment periods April 2019 September 10 to October 12, 2018 October 2019 March 11 to April 12, 2019 December 2019 May 13 to June 7, 2019 (A) Application from overseas <Payment from overseas by credit card> 1 Regarding the operating procedure, please refer to the website of How to Make a Payment of the Application Fee by Credit Card at http://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/admission/international/pdf/research-students_ccpayment.pdf and access the following site with your computer and apply. https://e-shiharai.net/english/ 2 Web application requires the entry of the application fee information. Please print out the Application Completed page in preparation for entry. The printed Application Completed page should also be submitted together with the other application documents. 3 The applicant must also bear any commission fees by him/herself. If you have a proxy (paying agent) in Japan The proxy should pay the application fee following the procedures listed under (B) below. Please write the proxy s name in the appropriate box on the Form for Submission of the Certificate of Payment for Application Fee. (B) Application from Japan <Payment at a convenience store> 1 After completing the application procedure from a dedicated website through a computer, cell phone or smart phone, please use the information terminal at the convenience store and make the payment. (Do not use the money transfer form.) 2 Regarding the operating procedure, please refer to the website of How to Make a Payment of the Application Fee at a Convenience Store at http://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/admission/international/pdf/research-students_cvpayment.pdf 3 Web application requires the entry of the application fee information. Keep the receipt and Certificate of Payment in preparation for entry. Please detach the Certificate of Payment (receipt) portion of the detailed statement of the handling of the entrance examination fee and selection fee (original), paste the Certificate of Payment (receipt) on the Form for Submission of the Certificate of Payment for Application Fee and submit it together with other application documents. 4 You must also bear any commission fees for the money transfer by yourself. Note: If you have downloaded this guide from the website, please follow the instructions <Payment at a convenience store> mentioned above. (C) Payment in cash or by demand draft is not accepted. (D) The application fee once paid will not be refunded. (E) The application fee may be subject to change. ⑵ Application Form (after sending the application data by the web entry system, download and print the PDF file 2 copies (A) The data of the ID photo to be uploaded for web application is limited to a clear photo in which the applicant must be facing forward and not be wearing headbands, caps, etc., taken with upper body, no more than 3 months prior to submission, and with a background that is plain and white (free of objects, designs, and shading). (It is possible to upload to a maximum of 500KB) The data of the uploaded photo will be used in the application form and used for the student ID preparation if you passed. (B) Please make sure to keep a photocopy of your application form as some Japanese embassies or consulates may request that you present a photocopy of your application form when you apply for the visa. ⑶ Certificate of Graduation/Completion from the university/graduate school you attended 1 original 1 photocopy (A) Applicants who have completed an undergraduate program should submit a Certificate of Graduation/Completion from their undergraduate university. (B) Applicants who have completed a graduate program should submit a Certificate of Graduation from their undergraduate university and a Certificate of Graduation from their graduate program university. (C) Applicants who have not yet finished their undergraduate or graduate studies must submit a document certifying their future graduation/completion or a Certificate of Enrollment. (D) In case the applicant comes from a country where the university s official language is something other than English or Japanese, the applicant must submit a Certificate of Graduation/Completion in English or in Japanese, formally issued by the university. 2

Notes It is preferable that the name of the degree that you earned be mentioned in the Certificate of Graduation/Completion. Applicants from countries that do not issue certificates of graduation/completion must submit the original of an attested copy of their Graduation/Completion Diploma with an original official seal (of the school that issued the document), signature or with an authorization stamp. Photocopies of the signature, official seal or authorization stamp will not be accepted as originals. As submitted documents will not be returned to the applicants, do not submit the Graduation Certificate or Diploma. ⑷ Transcript of Academic Record from university or graduate school 1 original 1 photocopy (A) Applicants who have completed a graduate program should submit a Transcript of Academic Record from their graduate program university as well as a Transcript of Academic Record from their undergraduate university. (B) The documents submitted as originals must contain the official signature/seal of the President, etc., of the university and/or graduate school. (C) Photocopies of the signature, official seal, authorization stamp will not be accepted as originals. (D) In case the applicant comes from a country where the university s official language is something other than English or Japanese, the applicant must submit a Certificate of Graduation/Completion in English or in Japanese, formally issued by the university. ⑸ Certificate attesting applicant s Japanese language proficiency 2 copies <Photocopies are acceptable> (A) Applicants who have taken the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), the Business Japanese Proficiency Test (BJT) or the J. TEST of Practical Japanese, etc., may submit any of their score reports that confirm the score (test results). (B) Those who cannot provide the certificates noted in (A) may submit the results of other official Japanese proficiency certification examinations conducted abroad. In case the documents are in a language other than English or Japanese, the applicant must submit a translation in English or Japanese. (C) Those applicants who cannot provide the documents noted in (A) or (B) should contact the Division of Student Exchange, Department of Student Affairs. ⑹ Certificate attesting applicant s English language proficiency 2 copies <Photocopies are acceptable> (A) Applicants who have taken TOEFL, TOEIC, or IELTS, etc. may submit any of their results (test results). (B) Those who cannot provide the certificates noted in (A) may submit the results of official English proficiency certification examinations conducted abroad. In case the documents are in a language other than English or Japanese, the applicant must submit a translation in English or Japanese. (C) Applicants who cannot provide the documents noted in (A) or (B) should contact the Division of Student Exchange, Department of Student Affairs. ⑺ Letter of Recommendation (from two recommending professors) (prescribed form) 1 original per recommending professor 1 photocopy per recommending professor <Submit 2 originals and 2 photocopies in total> (A) Two letters of recommendation written by two different professors (former academic advisors, etc.) from the applicant s home university (the university or graduate school the applicant has graduated from). Applicants who are presently employed by educational or research institutions may submit one letter of recommendation written by a professor from his/her home university and another one written by the head of the institution. (B) Please fill out the form in English or Japanese. ⑻ Official Document to Confirm Applicant s Nationality/Citizenship Applicants residing abroad should submit a passport (photocopy) showing nationality/citizenship of the applicant, an extract of the family register, a birth certificate, etc. issued by an official public institution of the applicant s home country. Note: It is preferable that the document shows your name in alphabetical letters. Applicants residing in Japan should submit a Residence Card (photocopy of both sides of the card). ⑼ Portfolio (Set of photographs of personal works or copy of Report of Achievements) (both in free form) To be submitted only by applicants for the Master s and Doctoral Program in Art and Design in the Graduate School of Comprehensive Human. These documents will not be returned to the applicant. 5. Application Submission Method If you submit the application documents by mail, you should send them as registered mail, EMS (Express Mail Service) or by any other method through which the application documents can be tracked, making sure they arrive at our university within the submission period of application documents noted above. Application documents arriving before or after the submission period will not be accepted. Notes: 1. Submitted application documents will not be returned to the applicants. 2. Application documents, etc. that are incomplete or insufficient will not be accepted. *The applicant should confirm the delivery status of the submitted documents through the EMS tracking system, etc. by him/herself. We will not entertain telephone calls or e-mail to confirm delivery. 6. Address for submission of application documents and contact information Division of Student Exchange (International Student Exchange), Department of Student Affairs, University of Tsukuba 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken, 305-8577 JAPAN Email: isc@un.tsukuba.ac.jp 3

7. Announcement of Selection Results For the announcement of selection results, the examinee number of successful applicants only will be posted to the website of international non-degree research students in the international student admission guide. Use the timing of the announcement of the selection results as a guide and check the results from Selection Results within the website noted above. 8. Research Period The initial research period cannot exceed the academic year for which the applicant was granted admission. At our university, the academic year begins in April and ends in March of the following year. Consequently, regardless of the date of admission (April, October or December) the initial research period will end in March of the following year of the year of admission regardless of the applicant s circumstances. If you wish to continue your research afterwards, you must apply for and obtain permission to extend your research period. The total research period cannot exceed two consecutive years. 9. Application Fee, Admission Fee, and Tuition (current as of AY 2018) The Admission Fee and Tuition (29,700 yen/month, for the period starting from the month for which the applicant was granted admission permission until the month when the applicant will complete his/her research) must be paid together at the time of the admission formalities. The Application Fee, Admission Fee and Tuition once paid will not be refunded. The Application Fee, the Admission Fee and the Tuition are subject to change. Application Fee Admission Fee Tuition 9,800 yen 84,600 yen 29,700 yen (per month) research period 10. Others Research students can conduct research about a specific research topic and attend Japanese language training courses offered at the Center for Education of Global Communication (CEGLOC) with the prescribed procedures. The start of Japanese language training courses is twice a year, in April and October. Please note that in the case of enrolling in December 2019, there are no Japanese language training courses open from December. 11. Visa if admitted as international non-degree research students To be admitted to our university by passing the selection of international non-degree research students, the visa if newly arrived is Student (hereinafter referred to as the Student visa ). The application for the issuance of the Student visa is filed in the Japanese embassy or consulate (hereinafter referred to as the Japanese diplomatic office ) nearest you and for the issuance of the Student visa by the Japanese diplomatic office to move swiftly, there is a need to obtain the Certificate of Eligibility (hereinafter referred to as COE ). The application for COE is filed in the Regional Immigration Bureau of the Ministry of Justice of Japan and because of the inability to apply directly from overseas, our university will apply on your behalf. After passing the selection as international non-degree research students, to facilitate the application for the COE to the Immigration Bureau from our university, send the required documents for the application for the COE together with the application documents for research students at the time of application for international non-degree research students within the time limit of submission of application documents. Required documents for the application for COE are not the documents for the selection of research students. Additionally, if you do not pass the selection as an international non-degree research student, the submitted documents, etc. together with the selection results will be returned. The required documents for COE are in the following table so check the entries. Please take note that if it was found that you made a false report in the entries of the submitted documents, our university cannot file the proxy application. The application for COE can also be filed on your behalf by a relative or a person who will pay your school and living expenses if he/she resides in Japan so after the announcement of the selection results, inform the following contact information. If you are already residing in Japan and if you will change your present visa to the Student visa or need to extend the period of stay of your Student visa, also inform the following contact information accordingly. Note: Refer to 6. in this page (contact information and address for submission of required documents). 4

Required documents, etc. if a proxy application for the Certificate of Eligibility is filed by our university Name of required documents Required number 1. Checklist of Certificate of Eligibility Required Documents (attached form) 2. Request Form for Proxy for Certificate of Eligibility Application (attached form) 3. APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY (attached Immigration Bureau prescribed form) 4. Photo (Black and white or Colored, taken no more than 3 months prior to research student application, showing the upper body and uncovered head against a blank background, 40mm (height) 30mm(width), Put your name and nationality on the back. Submit without pasting to the APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY.) 5. A copy of your passport (only the page displaying your name, photo, passport number, and expiration. Submit the same copy as research student application document (8).) 6. A copy of Certificate of Completion (or Certificate of Enrollment) and Academic transcript (to certify each your attendance) for those who have studied at a university or Japanese language school in Japan before enrolling in our university. 7. A copy of Certificate of your Japanese language proficiency, for those who have taken tests, such as Japanese Language Proficiency Test. (Submit the same copy as research student application document (5).) 8. Documents proving your ability to cover expenses while studying in Japan Submit all the documents from (a) to (e), if you have a financial supporter (a) Written Oath for Defraying Expenses prepared by the supporter (attached form) (Containing how it led to his/her defraying expenses. Refer to attached entry example) (b) Documents to certify the relationship between the supporter and the applicant. e.g. Notarial Certificate A copy of Household Register is not acceptable. Submit the original document authorized with the official seal or signature. (c) The supporter s Certificate of Bank Balance (The latest one. Investment or Stock Certificates will not be accepted.) (d) The Supporter s Certificate of Annual Income. Submit i) or ii), i) The latest Income Certificate or Withholding Slip containing the total annual income issued by the company that the supporter belongs to. ii) The Certificate of Tax Payment containing the total annual income issued by the Tax Office (If the supporter is self-employed, submit ii). Applicants who are nationals of China, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Nepal should submit the certificates over the past 3 years. (e) The Supporter s Certificate of Employment Issued by the affiliated company, etc., to which the supporter belongs to. If the supporter is self-employed, submit a copy of the Operating License. In case the applicant will cover his/her school and living expenses Submit (c) the Applicant s Certificate of Bank Balance, (d) the Applicant s Certificate of Annual Income and (e) the Applicant s Certificate of Employment Limited to the applicants who have had jobs with stable income. If the applicant is a student or unemployed and financially supported by others, he/she should appoint someone else as his/her supporter. each In case the applicants are scholarship recipients (f) Certificate of Scholarship issued by the scholarship foundation containing the scholarship period and scholarship amount) 9. Other materials (Documents other than listed above might be required by the Immigration Bureau. We ll contact you in that occasion.) Note: All documents should be prepared in Japanese or English. If in a language other than these, it must be accompanied by their Japanese or English translation. If there are corrections, do not use correction fluid, etc., prepare another document by redownloading. Please note that if you enter into Japan by the Student visa based on the letter of acceptance for research students of our university will be punished under the Immigration Control Act if admission procedures as a research student were not completed. 12. Links University of Tsukuba: http://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/en/ Researcher Research System (TRIOS): http://www.trios.tsukuba.ac.jp/en/node Enrollment Guidebook for International Students: http://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/en/study-tsukuba/enrollment-guidebook International Non-Degree Research student website: http://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/en/study-tsukuba/research-students 5

Undergraduate Programs Schools Colleges Schools Colleges School of Humanities and Culture School of Social and International Studies College of Humanities College of Comparative Culture College of Japanese Language and Culture College of Social College of International Studies School of Science and Engineering College of Mathematics College of Physics College of Chemistry College of Engineering College of Engineering Systems College of Education College of Policy and Planning School of Human College of Psychology College of Information Science College of Disability School of Informatics College of Media Arts, Science and Technology School of Life and Environmental College of Biological College of Agro-Biological Resource College of Geoscience School of Medicine and Medical College of Knowledge and Library School of Medicine School of Nursing School of Medical School of Health and Physical Education - School of Art and Design - 6

Master s Programs Graduate School Program Graduate School Program Master's Program in Education School Leadership and Professional Development incl.1-yr program for professionals Secondary Education incl.1-yr Education (International program for Education) professionals Humanities and Social Comprehensive Human International Area Studies Medical Doctoral Programs Graduate School Program Graduate School Program 5-yr Doctoral Program 5-yr Doctoral Program Master's Program Doctoral Program Master's Program Doctoral Program Philosophy Appropriate Technology and for Sustainable Development Humanities and Social Agro-Bioresources Science Biosphere Resource History and Anthropology Science and Technology Life and and Technology Life and Literature and Linguistics Environmental Bioengineering Modern Languages and Cultures Modern Languages and Cultures Bioindustrial International Public Policy International Public Policy Environmental International and Advanced Japanese Studies International and Advanced Japanese Studies Sustainable Environmental Studies Advanced Agricultural Technology and Mathematics Mathematics Education Education Physics Physics School Education Chemistry Chemistry Psychology Psychology Pure and Applied Applied Physics Nano-Science and Nano-Technology Disability Disability Applied Physics Kansei, Behavioral and Brain Kansei, Behavioral and Brain Materials Science Materials Science Nursing Nursing Materials Science and Engineering Health and Sport Physical Education, Health and Sport Systems and Information Engineering Life and Environmental Policy and Planning Policy and Planning Comprehensive Art and Design Art and Design Human World Cultural Risk Engineering Risk Engineering World Heritage Studies Heritage Studies Computer Science Computer Science Human Care Science and Energy and Energy and Energy And Energy Integrative Environment and Biomass Geosciences Biological Geoenvironmental Earth Evolution Biological Library, Information and Media Studies Library, Information and Media Studies Sports Medicine Coaching Science Joint Doctoral Program in Advanced Physical Education and Sports for Higher Education Biomedical Clinical Library, Information and Media Studies Because international non-degree research students cannot apply for programs offered at TOKYO campus conducted in the evening etc., they are not listed. 7