In a previous post (link), I shared the steps for applying to the NIMS-GRA (National Institute for Materials Science – Graduate Research Assistantship). In this post, I will continue sharing my experience after submitting the application for the NIMS-GRA program.
Applying for NIMS-GRA
Confirmation Email
After applying, you will receive a confirmation email regarding the receipt of your documents, which will soon enter the document screening stage. At the very least, you’ll get a notification that your application has been received, and from there, you’ll just need to wait for the results.
Announcement of Passing the First Selection
At the end of June, you will receive an announcement on whether or not you passed this screening stage. At that time, I also received news that I had received the travel award, which included airfare and hotel accommodation for the university entrance exam. The flight ticket provided is a round-trip ticket from Indonesia to Japan in economy class. In 2019, there was no upper limit on the price for an economy class ticket.
Unfortunately, the announcement for the NIMS-GRA program takes quite a while. The information regarding passing or failing the NIMS-GRA was only announced in February. As a result, for those who pass the exam in August, the decision from NIMS will only come a few months later, in February. This announcement timeline applies when I applied as a Master’s student. As for Doctoral students, the NIMS-GRA announcement came in September, right after the announcement of Doctoral student admissions. If you do not receive an announcement by September, it’s likely that the quota for the following year is limited, or NIMS is looking for more suitable candidates to receive the NIMS-GRA and your result is on hold.
Additional Information
For those of you residing abroad and passing the entrance exam in August, you will generally be offered the opportunity to come to Japan earlier to start your research. This can help you adjust to the research environment you’ll be in for the next few years.
Based on my experience, after being accepted into the Master’s program in September, I received a message at the end of October offering the chance to come to Japan earlier. I decided to arrive at the end of January, which allowed me to start my research two months ahead of schedule. I also felt fortunate to be allowed to come earlier, considering that at that time, the COVID-19 outbreak was beginning to escalate, and Japan soon enforced a lockdown.