There are two types of university recommendation at Saitama University.

1) University Recommendation <Special Program>

At Saitama University, the following three programs of the Graduate School of Science and Engineering have been adopted by MEXT as <Special Program>  (as of 2025).

Applications are taken on each program, so please check each program’s website for details.

1-International Graduate Program on Civil and Environmental Engineering on Civil and Environmental Engineering

2-Energy System･Information Technology Innovation International Professional Program

3-Highly-skilled professionals for stable socio-economic development through sustainable resource management (This program is not currently accepting applications from the general public)

2) University Recommendation <General Program>

If you wish to enroll in a research field other than those listed above in the Graduate School of Science and Engineering, or in the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, you may be able to receive a recommendation in the ＜General Program＞.
*The Graduate School of Education at Saitama University is a Professional School for Teacher Education and does not recommend MEXT scholarship students basically.

<General Program> is a type of selection in which a university selects overseas applicants seeking admission to its master’s or doctoral programs as scholarship candidates to MEXT. No restrictions are placed on applicants’ research fields (as long as it is a field that can be studied at Saitama University), but the nationalities of applicants are limited to only those designated by the MEXT. It must be noted that the maximum number of recommended candidates is very few, annually limited to only 3 candidates.

The application process for the university recommendation must always go through the applicant’s prospective academic advisor. First of all, applicants are required to contact their prospective academic advisor via email to ask if they can be recommended as MEXT scholarship candidates. If the academic advisor is willing to recommend the applicant as a candidate for university selection, they will discuss further procedures.

After the application guidelines of the MEXT scholarship is published around mid-November or December, please get your documents ready as per the instructions by the prospective academic advisor.

<How to contact a prospective academic advisor>

Please find an academic advisor whom you wish to supervise on our website. If the faculty member’s contact information is not listed on the website, please contact the graduate school administration in which you wish to enroll.

Saitama University Researcher List

Graduate School of Sciencce and Engineering   *Administration : rikou(a)gr.saitama-u.ac.jp   (note: (a) is @)

Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences   *Administration : jinsha(a)gr.saitama-u.ac.jp   (note: (a) is @)

Saitama University Web Syllabus

＜General Schedule＞

For reference, some of the past requirements are listed below. Please be sure to check the latest requirements when applying.

◎Eligibility 

Applicants must ; 

-have the nationality of a country that has diplomatic relations with Japan.

-be under 35 years of age as of April 1st of the year  of admission

-have a certain level of English or Japanese language proficiency ; Equivalent to IELTS 5.5 or higher in all 4 skills-listening, reading, writing and speaking / JLPT N2 or above

(Test scores must be obtained within two years of the start of the public offering to be valid / If Applicants completed school curriculums that meet the conditions for admission in masters’ or doctoral courses at a Japanese graduate school by using English or Japanese as the main language and are able to provide such certification, they are considered to have capabilities equivalent to the above)

-have a CGPA equal to or higher than 2.30 out of 3.00 for current degree program as calculated by MEXT’s formula (or most recently attended degree program for persons not currently enrolled)

◎Required documents

MEXT application form, Copy of passport, Academic transcripts, Certificate of (expected) graduation, Research plan, Recommendation letter issued by applicant’s home university, Summary of thesis, Documents proving language skills, etc.

Reference : About Japanese Government Scholarship (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology)