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How to Apply

Philippines

How to Apply

1. Applicant Eligibility

Nationality	Citizens of the Republic of the Philippines
Age	Between 22 and 39 as of April 1st, 2020 (Born on/after April 2nd, 1980 and born on/before April 1st, 1998)
Occupation	Must be an employee in the Philippine Governments and not a member of the military
Work Experience	Currently employed in the Philippine Government Have permanent status Have at least 2 (two) years of work experience, particularly in work relevant to the selected Component, at the time of application
Performance Rating	Have a performance rating of at least ‘Very Satisfactory’ from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019 in the organization
Academic Background	Possess a Bachelor Degree relevant to the target fields English Proficiency: TOEFL PBT 550/ iBT 79-80 or IELTS 6.5 or higher 16 years of formal education is required (in principle), however, relevant academic/research career or working experience can be considered as the alternative to meet the requirement.
Degree	Have not been awarded any other foreign scholarships for obtaining a master’s degree
Responsibilities of JDS Fellow	When selected as a final successful candidate, he/she is required: 1. To sign and submit the pledge to follow the conditions deemed necessary as a JDS Fellow. (If the Fellow violates any articles of the pledge, the scholarship may be cancelled). 2. To submit a copy of Scholarship Service Contract (referred to the Executive Order 161) to the JDS Operating Committee for record/monitoring purpose 3. To attend the pre-departure orientation in Manila (about 2 weeks in July-August 2020) 4. To fully participate in briefings/orientations in Japan (August-September 2020) 5. To contribute to the socio-economic development of the Philippines with the acquired knowledge upon return to the Philippines 6. To follow the JDS rules and regulations 7. To be in a good condition physically and mentally during the stay in Japan as an ODA scholar. If there is a drastic change in a Fellow’s health condition before and during his/her stay in Japan, or/and if the accepting university considers his/her condition is not fit for the pursuit of academic goals, the scholarship is subject to cancellation, based on the decision/guidance of the university and the JDS Operating Committee of the Philippines.

2. Selection Procedures

1) Promotion Seminars

Promotion Seminars are scheduled to provide more detailed information on JDS Project and how to prepare application documents for prospective applicants as follows:

1. Date: November 18th, 2019 at 13:00 - 16:00
Venue: Civil Service Commission (Quezon City)
2. Date: November 21st, 2019 at 9:00 - 12:00
Venue: Civil Service Commission (Quezon City)
3. Date: November 25th, 2019 at 13:30 - 16:00
Venue: NEDA Regional Office IV-a (Calamba Laguna City)
4. Date: November 28th, 2019 at 13:30 - 16:00
Venue: SBMA Board Room Building 229 Waterfront Road, Subic Bay Freeport Zone (Olongapo City)
5. Date: December 3rd, 2019 at 14:00 - 17:00
Venue: JICA Philippine Office (Makati City)

2) Application Deadline

Deadline for Application: December 6 (Fri.), 2019

Application documents will not be returned for any reason. Late submission and incomplete application documents shall NOT be accepted.

3) Tentative Schedule *for master’s degree program

Schedule	Steps	Description
Until Dec. 6, 2019	Application	Closing Date: December 6 (Friday), 2019 To the department in charge of JDS Project at each Philippine Government

Dec., 2019	Academic Aptitude Test	TOEFL-ITP and Math tests (if required). The test results will be used as references by the universities in later selection stages (Test fees are covered by JDS).

Jan. 8 - 25, 2020	1st Selection	Document Screening: Application Documents and research plan will be examined by the Japanese universities.

Feb., 2020	Health Checkup	Health checkup will be arranged at a designated hospital in Manila.

Feb. 19-20, 2020	2nd Selection	Technical Interview: Faculty members of the Japanese Universities will visit to Manila to conduct their interview exams.

Early Mar., 2020	3rd Selection	Comprehensive Interview: The Operating Committee members will conduct their interview exams.

Middle of March, 2020	Approval by the OC	Successful candidates will be approved and notified.

Mar. – Apr., 2020	Application Procedure	JICE will support candidates' application for each university.
July – Aug., 2020	Orientations	Provided by NEDA, CSC, DFA, JICA and JICE.
Aug., 2020	Departure for Japan	JICE will arrange air-ticket, visa, and also support JDS Fellows after the arrival in Japan.

* Tentative selection schedule of the doctoral degree program is explained in its application guidelines.

<Important Notice>

All the selection costs will be covered by JDS Project.
Limited transportation and accommodation allowance will be provided to candidates coming from provincial areas for the selections.
Application Documents will not be returned (Please keep a copy of your documents)
Application Documents with false statements or plagiarism will be immediately disqualified
A result of each selection will be announced only to successful candidates by JICE JDS Project Office.
Applicants are required to take the exam on the designated date. No adjustment of changing the test date can be accepted. The date of the academic aptitude test will be announced on the web when it is fixed.
In principle, reasons of the selection-results will not be disclosed.

3. Download of Application Guidelines and Application Documents

Please refer to the Application Guidelines and submit a full set of application documents by the deadline.

A. Application Guidelines
B. Application Documents

4. Note

Research Plan

In the JDS selections, each candidate will be evaluated on her/his academic abilities enough to pursue the master’s degree program in Japan as well as the potential of the future contribution to the country. Thus, it is highly recommended to explain that the objective of your research plan be in connection with the development issues under applying Component, and to rationalize how the study will be addressed in accordance with the career path, corresponding to the current position and responsibility in the belonging organization.
It is also recommended to study your applying university to make sure if the curriculums of the university and fields of specialization of faculty members are relevant to your research.
Remember that plagiarize from somebody’s work or websites are strongly prohibited.
Please refer to ‘Tips on Application and Selection (Reference)’ and ‘Guideline for Writing a Research Plan’ in the Application Guideline for more information.

English & Math Exam

Every qualified applicant will be required to take English proficiency test (ITP-TOEFL) as well as math test in Manila in late November to early December, 2019. The exact date and time will be announced to the applicants. Note: The cost of the said tests will be covered by the JDS Project.

TOEFL consists of 3 parts with 'Listening Comprehension (50 questions)' for about 35 minutes, 'Structure and Written Expression (40 questions)' for 25 minutes, and 'Reading Comprehension (50 questions)' for 55 minutes. Sample questions from the link http://www.ets.org/toefl_itp/content/sample_questions/
Math test of around 60 minutes consists of Arithmetic operations, Solving fractions, Equations, Inequality, Matrix, Basic quadratic functions, Basic operations of exponential and logarithmic functions, Basic Integral and Differentiation, etc.
※Past Math test sample can be also downloaded here.

The scores will be reviewed at the 1st selection by the accepting universities. Universities may require the applicants to have good command of English skill (TOEFL score of 550 or higher) and numeracy skills. Please be well prepared for the exams.