The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and the Government of Japan in cooperation with the Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech) have established a United Nations/Japan Long-term Fellowship Programme on Nano-Satellite Technologies for nationals of developing countries or non-space-faring nations.
Every year this “Post-graduate study on Nano-Satellite Technologies (PNST)” Fellowship Program will accept up to three students in the Masters course (2 years duration) and up to three students in the Doctorate course (3 years duration). Successful participants will be awarded a master or doctorate degree after successful thesis defence. The successful candidates will enroll in the Space Engineering International Course (SEIC) after passing an official entrance examination by the Graduate School of Kyushu Institute of Technology.
The Program will provide extensive research opportunities in nano-satellite systems through the use of the nano-satellite development and testing facilities available at Kyutech.
Benefits
The selected candidates will each receive a grant under Japanese government (Monbukagakusho: MEXT) scholarship (Research Students) of about 144,000 yen per month for the duration of their fellowship study (2 or 3 years) to cover housing, food, local transportation, and other expenses (actual scholarship amount is subject to change). Each candidate will be provided, according to his/her itinerary and route as designated by MEXT, an economy class air ticket between an international airport in the country of his/her nationality and Narita International Airport or Fukuoka International Airport. Fees for matriculation, tuition and entrance examinations will be paid by Kyutech.
Courses
- Nano-Satellite Technologies (PNST)
Requirements
Candidates should:
- Be nationals of developing countries or non-space-faring nations (countries without an established substantial capability to develop space technology/launch space objects);
- Be duly nominated by their institutions;
- Be born on or after 2 April 1989;
- Have the academic and professional background required by the specific fellowship programme. Candidates seeking a Master degree are expected to have completed studies ending with a Bachelor Degree or equivalent (4 year university degree) in engineering-related subjects. Candidates seeking a Doctorate degree are expected to have completed studies ending with a Master Degree or equivalent (5 years university degree) in engineering-related subjects. Degrees in different technological fields can be considered by the Doctor Commission;and
- Be able to make professional use of the experience gained in the fellowship programme.
The timeline anticipated for the selection process of the Fellowship Programme is as follows:
- From November 2023: Dissemination of information on the Fellowship Programme to potential candidates worldwide and application period.
- 5 January 2024 (Friday, 23:59 JST): Submission deadline – all application documents must be received by PNST
- Mid-January 2024: After the first round of selection based on the application documents, the remaining candidates will be notified regarding interviews about two weeks after the submission deadline.
- Late-January 2024: The first interview will be held in late January2024. The second interview (if necessary) will be held after the first interview. The interviews will be conducted remotely. All the applicants shall make themselves available for these days. The outcome of the remote interviews is the selection of six persons who will be offered PNST scholarships.
- March 2024: After the interviews, all PNST applicants will be informed about the outcome of their applications to PNST. We will contact you. Please do not contact us.
- February-June 2024: Discussion and finalization of research and study plan between the successful candidates and their supervisors.
- Late January- early February 2024: Selected candidates must send all the required documents including original certificates of graduation, original transcripts, and original English test score with explanation of transcripts to Kyutech using a reliable express mailing service. If any documents are written in any language other than English, official certified translations are also required. For the details of the required documents, please refer to the Checklist.
- July 2024: Official entrance exam to Kyutech. Formal admission and administration to obtain student visa.
- August 2024: Travel arrangements for the candidates to Japan.
- September 2024: Arrival in Japan and finding accommodation. Official enrollment procedures at Kyutech.
- October 2024: Beginning of the Fellowship Programme at Kyutech.
Method of Application
- The fully completed application form and other required documents except the referee report forms shall be submitted in electronic format (.doc or .pdf or.xls) at the Web address that is in the confirmation e-mail you will receive after registering above, by no later than 5 January 2024 (Friday, 23:59 JST). If not fully completed at the time of the deadline, the application will be deemed to be not qualifying.
- Note: For file a name, do not use any non-English characters. Moreover, each character must be a one-byte type of character. As well, do not use spaces in your file names as the file server will not handle such data correctly. Use “_” (under bar) or “-” (hyphen) instead, e.g. “01_Tom_Smith_2023.12.24”.
- The Referee report forms should be sent by uploading to the designated URL by the referees themselves by no later than 5 January 2024 (Friday, 23:59 JST).
WEBINAR
Monday 11 December 2023 1 PM CET Register from here.
- Introduction to the Access to Space for All initiative and PNST by UNOOSA
- Introduction to PNST and SEIC (Space Engineering International Course) by Kyutech
- Lightning Talks from Current and Past Fellows
- Q and A
For any further questions regarding the PNST, please contact pnst@unoosa.org.
For More Information,
Visit the Official Webpage
Application Deadline: January 5, 2024.
