The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Japanese government, in cooperation with the Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech) established the United Nations/Japan Long-term Fellowship Programme in 2013. Since then, the programme has focused on developing nano-satellite technologies for nationals of developing countries or non-space-faring nations. Thus, the programme will provide extensive research opportunities in nano-satellite systems through the nano-satellite development and testing facilities available at Kyutech.
About the Fellowship Programme
Every year the Post-graduate study on Nano-Satellite Technologies (PNST) fellowship programme accepts up to three students in the Master’s Programme (three years duration) and up to three students in the Doctoral Programme (three years duration). Successful participants will receive a master’s or doctoral degree after a successful thesis defence. In addition, successful candidates will also enrol in the Space Engineering International Course (SEIC). However, this will be after passing an official entrance examination. The Graduate School of Kyushu Institute of Technology will organise and conduct the examination.
Furthermore, selected candidates will each receive a grant from the Japanese government with support from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT scholarship). The scholarship for research students is approximately 144,000 JPY (USD 1,054) per month for the duration of their fellowship study. This amount will cover housing, food, local transportation, and other expenses.
In addition, each candidate will receive an economy-class air ticket according to his/her itinerary and route as designated by MEXT. The flight will be between an international airport in the country of his/her nationality and an international airport in Japan used on the normal route to the accepting university. Furthermore, Kyutech will pay the fees for matriculation, tuition and entrance examinations.
Purpose of Fellowship Programme
The fellowship’s purpose is to help non-space-faring nations join the community of space-faring nations. Consequently, PNST Fellows have an immense moral obligation to return to their home country and contribute. This is the central expectation of both UNOOSA and Kyutech.
Eligibility
- Candidates must be nationals of developing countries or non-space-faring nations (countries without an established substantial capability to develop space technology/launch space objects);
- Candidates must be duly nominated by their institutions;
- Candidates must be born on or after 2 April 1988;
- Candidates should have the academic and professional background as required by the fellowship programme;
- Candidates enrolling for a Master’s degree are expected to have completed studies ending with a Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent in engineering-related subjects;
- Candidates enrolling for a Doctorate are expected to have completed studies ending with a Master’s Degree or equivalent engineering-related subjects.
Timeline of the Selection Process
The timeline anticipated for the selection process of the Fellowship Programme is as follows:
- August 2022: Dissemination of information on the Fellowship Programme to potential candidates worldwide and the application period;
- 9 January 2023 (23:00 JST): Submission deadline – all application documents must be received by PNST;
- Late January 2023: After the first round of selection based on the application documents, the selected candidates will be notified regarding interviews about two weeks after the submission deadline;
- February 2023: The first interview will be held. The second interview (if necessary) will be held after the first interview and they will be conducted remotely. In addition, the applicants must make themselves available for these days as the outcome of the remote interviews will involve the selection of six persons who will be offered PNST scholarships;
- March 2023: After the interviews, all PNST applicants will be informed about the outcome of their applications;
- February – June 2023: Discussion and finalisation of research and study plan between the successful candidates and their supervisors;
- Late February – early March 2023: Selected candidates must send all the required documents, including original certificates of graduation, original transcripts, and original English test scores with an explanation of transcripts to Kyutech using a reliable express mailing service. If documents are written in languages other than English, official certified translations are also required. For the details of the required documents, please refer to the checklist;
- July 2023: Official entrance exam to Kyutech: Formal admission and administration to obtain a student visa;
- August 2023: Travel arrangements for the candidates to Japan;
- September 2023: Arrival in Japan and finding accommodation. Official enrollment procedures at Kyutech;
- October 2023: Commencement of the Fellowship Programme at Kyutech.
Application Submission Procedure
- The fully completed application form and other required documents, except for the referee report forms, shall be submitted in electronic format (.doc or .pdf or.xls) at the Web address in the confirmation email received after registering above;
- For file names, do not use any non-English characters. Each character must be a one-byte type of character;
- Do not use spaces in the file names as the file server will not handle such data correctly. Use “_” (under bar) or “-” (hyphen) instead, e.g. “01_Tom_Smith_2022.12.24”;
- The referee report forms should be sent by email to the Post-graduate study on Nano-Satellite Technologies (PNST) (pnst [at] space-kyutech.net) email address by the referees themselves.
For any further questions regarding the PNST, click here
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