The Nippon Foundation and the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation are pleased to announce the Sasakawa Japanese Studies Postgraduate Studentship Programme, a five-year grant programme launched in 2014 under which the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation is providing further support to the development of Japanese Studies in the UK.

Wholly funded by The Nippon Foundation, the Programme is offering up to 30 postgraduate studentships per year (each worth £10,000) on the study of Japan over the period 2014 – 2019. Applications for the Programme’s fifth year (October 2018 – September 2019) will be welcomed later this year.

The Programme has been designed to build upon The Nippon Foundation funded Sasakawa Lectureship Programme which operated between 2008 and 2013 and provided for 13 full-time lectureships in Japanese studies at 12 UK universities. It did much to strengthen the study of Japan generally in the UK and was crucial in encouraging the establishment of new and active departments with innovative Japanese language and Japanese studies programmes, both at undergraduate and at postgraduate level. The 13 lectureships have themselves helped to create new Japan-related courses and have introduced subject areas within Japanese studies hitherto little taught and/or researched. Not only have the universities established new postgraduate courses but some have also been able to increase their scope and provision for doctoral supervision.

It is hoped that the Studentship Programme will make a difference in encouraging the study of Japan at masters and at PhD level by giving institutions the opportunity to offer studentships to their brightest and most promising students.

Funding under the Programme is being directed towards existing and emerging departments/programmes within those UK universities and institutes of higher education that are involved in the teaching and study of Japan/Japanese.

Institutions are expected to make the studentships available to postgraduates whose study/research is wholly, or for the most part, on Japan.

The programme is for application from institutions only e.g. UK universities and institutes of higher education.

Those institutions interested in applying should in the first instance contact the Foundation for further information and to confirm their eligibility.

The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, Dilke House, 1 Malet Street, London WC1E 7JN
Tel: 020 7436 9042
E-mail: grants@gbsf.org.uk