Nationality	Citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan
Age	Between 22 and 39 years old as of July 31st, 2023 (Born on/after August 1, 1983 and born on/before July 31, 2001)
Academic Background	Possess a Bachelor Degree from universities authorized by the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan or other countries
	Other requirements or desirability of academic background Some accepting universities have other requirements or desirable academic background. Check “Accepting University”, [Information of Each Component] and [University information]
Work Experience	Currently employed in one of the Target Organizations with permanent status.* Have at least 2 (two) years of work experience in the said organization as of July 31st, 2023, particularly in work relevant to the selected Component.
English Proficiency	Have a good command of both written and spoken English. TOEFL –ITP score of 500 or higher is preferable
Health Condition	Mentally and physically in good health. To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must be in good condition physically and mentally from the time of application to the time of return to the home country after completion of his/her course in Japan. In case there is a drastic change in Fellow’s health condition before his/her departure to Japan, and if the university which the Fellow goes to considers his/her condition not suitable for the pursuit of academic goal, the scholarship may be cancelled, based on the decision/guidance of the university.
Ineligibility	A person corresponds to the followings is not eligible to apply Those who are currently receiving (or is scheduled to receive) another scholarship (including other scholarships of Japan). Those who have obtained a master’s or higher degrees overseas under the support of foreign scholarship. Military personnel and military civilian employees registered on the active list, and also personnel on temporary leave from the active list
Others	JDS Fellows are obliged to return to the Republic of Tajikistan on their graduation in order to make a contribution to the development of the Republic of Tajikistan through their work in the organizations where they work before their departure to Japan for at least five (5) years. The Government of the Republic of Tajikistan requests the successful candidates to sign a pledge letter on the conditions deemed necessary as scholarship fellows under the JDS Project. In case that they should violate the pledge, the scholarship will be automatically terminated and other necessary steps shall be taken.

* Target Organizations 2022【ENG】【RUS】

1) Explanatory Meeting

Explanatory meetings will be organized by JICE JDS Tajikistan office from December. Detail information such as the date and venue will be informed through ACS to JDS target organizations and It will be updated on Tajikistan web page of JDS website as well.

Information Sessions by Universities

Information Sessions were conducted to provide more detailed information on JDS Project and Accepting University for prospective applicants. To request the recorded data of the information session, please fill out the form below.

https://forms.office.com/r/0m7ZWz0Gaw

2) Application Deadline

Deadline for Application:

16:00 PM on February 3 (Friday), 2023 To JDS Tajikistan office

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

3) Tentative Schedule for Master course

Schedule	Steps	Description
December 2022 ～ February 3, 2023	Application	Closing Date: February 3 (Fri), 2023 Further details → P6“Application Documents”
February 4 –19, 2023	TOEFL English course	Provided by JICE. Only those who can fully attend and complete the course. For previous takers, only if there is a vacancy.
February 25, 2023	Academic aptitude test	TOEFL-ITP and Math tests. The test results will be used as references by the universities in later selection stages
March 2023	1st Selection	Document Screening: Application Documents and research plan will be examined by the Japanese universities.
Early April 2023	2nd Selection	Technical Interview: Faculty members of the Japanese universities will visit Dushanbe to conduct interviews. (Due to Covid-19 situation, Interview exams might be conducted by way of On-line.)
Early April 2023	Health Checkup	The health checkup will be arranged at a hospital in Dushanbe
Late April 2023	3rd Selection	Comprehensive Interview: The Operating Committee members will conduct the interview exams.
Late April 2023	Approval by the OC	Successful candidates will be approved and notified

May 2023	Application Procedure	JICE will support application for each university
May – August 2023	Orientations Training Course	Provided by JICA and JICE. Japanese Lessons/ English Academic writing & Math course are mandatory.
August 2023	Departure for Japan	JICE will arrange air-ticket, visa, and also support after the arrival in Japan

This schedule is subject to change.

1 TOEFL-ITP score 500 or higher is preferable in order to apply JDS program. The applicants who would like to use the score of TOEFL-ITP taken under the project last year, or the one of TOEFL-iBT or IELTS obtained within 2 years as of June 30th, 2023 by themselves, can be exempted from the English exam based on their request to JICE JDS Project Office in Tajikistan. For those who need to take Math test, refer to the chart of “Academic aptitude test” above.

2 Math tests is necessary for CP1-1 Ritsumeikan and IUJ, CP2-1 IUJ, and Akita

<Important Notes>

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

In the JDS selections, each candidate will be evaluated on her/his academic abilities enough to pursue the master 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 learn 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 P11 ‘Guideline for Writing a Research Plan’ in Application Guideline for more information.

How to write a research plan [27 min]

Tips for the selection [20 min]

Every qualified applicant will be required to take English proficiency test (ITP-TOEFL) as well as math test in Dushanbe. The scores will be reviewed on the 1st selection by the accepting universities. Universities may require the applicants to have good command of English skill (TOEFL score of 500 or higher) and numeracy skills. Please be well prepared for the exams.

• English Training Course
  The qualified applicants who have never participated in the course can take part in English training course provided by the Project. Due to limited class seats, only those who can fully attend all lessons can apply for it. The course will be conducted after the application deadline till February 19th 2023. (Ex. 3hours on Sat. and Sun.) The locations are Dushanbe, Khojand, Bokhtar and Khorog. There is possibility of on-line course or cancellation in case the minimum number of people will not apply for the course. For more information, please contact to JDS Tajikistan Office.

• 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.

IMPORTANT Past Math test sample can be also downloaded here.