Application for Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship 2027 - Research Program NOW OPEN! (Deadline: May 22, 2026)

2026/4/20

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan offers scholarships to students who wish to study at the Japanese universities as Research Students under the Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship Program.

Research Students:

Applicants must have UAE nationality. (Those who have other nationalities should contact the Embassy of Japan in their respective countries of nationalities.)

Please read through the Application Guidelines fully and carefully. The Application Guidlines is available HERE

Selection Schedule for MEXT Scholarship 2027
The selection will be conducted in two stages. The first screening will be handled by the Embassy of Japan in the UAE and the second by MEXT.

<First Screening by the Embassy>

- Application deadline: Friday, May 22, 2026.

- By end of May: Announcement of the document screening results by email and/or phone. (Only successful candidates will be informed to attend the written exam.)

- Written Exams: Saturday, June 13, 2026

- Interview: Saturday, June 27, 2026 (Candidates who passed the written exam will be informed to attend the interview.)

- By early July: Announcement of the results by email and/or phone

<Second Screening by MEXT>

- By mid-February 2027: MEXT will announce the final screening results.

Required Documents

Applicants must submit the following documents to the Japanese Embassy by the designated deadline. The necessary document are available HERE

No.	Documents	1 original	2 copies	Remarks
1	Application Form	○	○	Use the 2027 Application Form from the link above.
2	Placement Preference Application Form	○		Use the 2027 form. (From the link above)
3	Field of Study and Research Plan	○	○	Use the 2027 form. (From the link above)
4	Academic transcript for all academic year of university attended	○	○	A transcript issued either by the university attended or by the applicant's national government (With a live stamp)
5	Certification of graduation or degree certificate of the university attended	○	○	If the applicant has not yet graduated, submit a certificate of prospective graduation from the university (With a live stamp)
6	Recommendation letter from the president/dean or the academic advisor at the current or last university attended	○	○	Free format or a sample format is available in the above link
7	Medical certificate	○	○	Use the 2027 certificate form. (From the link above)
8	Abstracts of theses	●	●	Submit if the applicant has written theses.
9	Certificate of language proficiency		● (3 copies)	Only in case the applicant has documents attesting to competency in Japanese or English; submit 3 copies. No original document necessary. The date of issue of the certificates should be no earlier than two years from the date of application to the Japanese diplomatic mission.
10	Recommendation letter from the present employer	●	●	Submit if the applicant is currently employed. (Free format. A sample format is available in the link above)
11	Photograph(s) showing applicant's own works of art or a digitally recorded media of musical performance	●	●	Submit if the applicant is to major in fine arts or music.

Important Notes:

· Documents indicated by the white circle (○) must be submitted by all the applicants. Documents indicated by the black circle (●) should be submitted only if applicable.

· Please include clear colored passport copy.

· An application will not be examined unless all the documents mentioned in the guidelines are fully and correctly completed. Incomplete applications will NOT be considered under any circumstances.

· Grade Transcript and Graduation Certificate must carry live academic stamp. (Please bring hard copy to the school to stamp)

· Online application is NOT available. Please send the documents as per the above guidelines to the mailing address below by courier, or deliver them to the Embassy by hand. On the envelope, please write “MEXT Scholarship 2027”.

· Samples on previous Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship Applicant Qualifying Examinations (Research Students) are available HERE

<The Mailing Address of the Embassy of Japan>
Cultural Affairs and Public Relations Section, Embassy of Japan in the UAE
Villa #633, Mubarak bin Mohammed St., Abu Dhabi

<Hand-submission Accepting Hours>
8:30 am to 3:00 pm, from Monday to Thursday
8:30 am to 11:00 pm on Friday

<Contacts>
If you have any questions, please contact Cultural Affairs and Public Relations Section, Embassy of Japan in the UAE at 02-4435696.