I know two people who have just received the 2008 Monbusho Award, and they both are now in Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST), the very same gakko (school) I visited just last March.

One is my former professor from the Ateneo de Zamboanga University, Ms. Erlyn Manguilimotan. I remember she was applying for the Monbusho award last year just as I was applying for my Masters in Ateneo de Manila University. I am so happy that she finally got her dream, she was accepted at NAIST (Computational Linguistics Lab, wow!) and is now undergoing Japanese language training at Osaka before heading on to her PhD at NAIST.

The other person is Eng (I forgot her last name) from the Ateneo de Manila University. I met her very briefly a few months back when I was visiting the Engineering department because I was interested in doing a collaboration with them for my thesis project. She is also at NAIST, under Professor Minato (Biomedical Imaging and Informatics).

The Monbusho Scholarship is again open for Filipino applicants. There are 6 kinds of scholarships:

• Teacher Training Scholarship
• open to teachers (elementary / high school) or academic staff/members at a teacher training institution
• must be under 35 years of age and have at least 5 years of experience
• Japanese Studies Scholarship
• 1-year period of studying Japanese language, life and culture
• must be between 18 to 29 years of age and at least in their 3rd year of majoring in Japanese Studies
• Undergraduate Scholarship
• undergraduate-level studies in humanities, natural sciences or social sciences
• must be between 17 to 21 years of age (as of April 1, 2009)
• Research Scholarship (may lead to a Master’s degree or a Ph.D.)
• research in a field related to what was previously studied within the scope of humanities, natural sciences or social sciences
• must be under 35 years of age
• Professional Training School (Senshu-Gakko) Scholarship
• 3-year non-degree program at a Japanese vocational school in the following fields: Civil Engineering, Architecture, Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Telecommunications, Nutrition, Infant Education, Secretarial Studies, Hotel Management, Tourism, Fashion / Dressmaking, Design, Photography, etc.
• must be between 17 to 21 years of age
• College of Technology Scholarship
• 4-year non-degree program at a Japanese school in one of the following fields: Mechanical Engineering; Electrical and Electronic Engineering; Information, Communication and Network Engineering; Materials Engineering; Architecture and Civil Engineering; Maritime Engineering; etc.
• must be between 17 to 21 years of age

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