Guidelines for Special Research Student Applications ｜NARA Institute of Science and Technology

Guidelines for Special Research Student (Request for Supervision of Research)

The Special Research Student program has been established to allow master's and doctoral students from other universities pursue their research at NAIST under the direction of a NAIST faculty member.
In the case of a request for placement of a student from another graduate university as a Special Research Student at our institute, permission is granted by the Dean of the graduate school concerned based on consultations between the two universities and faculty meetings.
Please note that students must be enrolled as master's or doctoral students at their home institute throughout their planned period of study at NAIST. Those who will graduate can apply as a research student.

IMPORTANT NOTE: All international students are REQUIRED TO SUBMIT A COMPLETED PRE-APPLICATION FORM at least 5 months prior to the planned starting date of studies at NAIST.

Application Procedures

Please follow the pre-application procedure.
The students will be notified after the possibility of their acceptance at the desired laboratory has been determined. If the acceptance is possible, NAIST will send you a letter of provisional acceptance and inform you of the required documents for the application.
The candidate shall submit a Special Research Student Application to International Student Affairs Section (ryugaku[at]ad.naist.jp).
After receiving admission approval from the faculty meeting at NAIST, we will issue an acceptation letter to your institution and start preparing COE (Certificate of Eligibility for Regional Immigration Bureau, Japan) documents for getting a visa. *This takes about a month and a half.
NAIST will send the COE to the student by express mail. (Usually about a week)
The student applies for the visa with the COE at Japanese embassy in your country. (Receiving the visa takes up to 1 week.)
Welcome to Japan! NAIST will offer a brief orientation upon your arrival.
*Please note that while NAIST has had no serious problems concerning the visa process in the past, we cannot guarantee all applications will be approved or that they will be processed within a certain time frame, due to the Japanese Immigration Bureau's independent processing standards, etc.

Term of Research

Ordinarily the term of research is one year or less. However, in the case of a doctoral student with special requirements with regard to their research, extension may be granted based on a request from the student's graduate university. Extensions cannot be granted to master's students.

Enrollment timing

There are two semesters for regular course students at NAIST, the spring semester starting in April and the fall semester starting in October, and most students are accepted according to these semesters, as of April 1st or October 1st. Students may be accepted at other times throughout the academic year, but registration at the beginning of the month may ensure smooth matriculation and use of facilities. Also, tuition is charged on a monthly basis, so please consider this when deciding your period of study at NAIST.

Housing

Due to housing limitations, Special Research Students are not given priority for the student dormitories. Additionally, rooms at the on-campus guesthouse are limited. Make sure to contact your accepting laboratory in advance to discuss housing arrangements.

Student Identification Card

Please submit a digital photo (JPEG) showing your face clearly once your application has been approved.

Tuition Fees

29,700 yen per month
* Students who meet one of the following may have their tuition fee exempted. Please contact us for further details.

Students from universities that have an academic exchange agreement with NAIST.
Students from national universities in Japan.

Examination and Entrance Fees

No examination or entrance fees are charged.

Bringing biological resources to NAIST

If you plan to bring biological resources from outside Japan (including your country) to NAIST, please inform the following contact point in advance. Procedures are necessary for the transfer of samples to Japan in compliance with any applicable national legislation and international treaties and conventions, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity. (Email: ip-3f[at]ip.naist.jp)