Monthly Archives: June 2025

awards, Events, Opportunities, other events, PhD/post doctoral

BRITISH COUNCIL 90TH ANNIVERSARY RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH

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Application Deadline: 28 July 2025 at 23:59 UK time. 

LOCATION: United Kingdom

The British Council celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2024.  They are delighted to announce a research partnership between the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Edinburgh and the British Council.

They are awarding two 12-month fellowships starting in January 2026—open to postdoctoral researchers based in any ODA-recipient country where the British Council operates (see list of countries on page 139 of their Annual Report or the list below).

Fellows will spend the first ten months of their fellowships at IASH, followed by up to two months based in their home countries focused on knowledge exchange and dissemination in collaboration with the British Council.

ELIGIBILITY:

Applicants must be based in an ODA-recipient country where the British Council operates and be qualified to undertake postdoctoral level research for this early career Fellowship, meaning they must have a PhD, completed within the last seven years (factoring in career breaks, e.g. periods of parental leave or time away from academia). For the the full list of eligible countries, check program website.

Research topics should be relevant to the areas of priority across Arts, Education and the English language that are outlined in our strategy, and to areas of cross-cutting strategic British Council interest such as international relations and soft power, international development and peace building, and cultural relations and cultural diplomacy.

Within this broad thematic remit, the specific research focus of each Fellowship can be shaped by the expertise and interests of the applicant. However, Fellowship proposals should include plans for outputs that are relevant to Official Development Assistance (ODA) policy or practice, and which have potential to advance knowledge or engage stakeholders or audiences in the Fellow’s home country or region.

They warmly welcome applications from ODA-recipient countries where the British Council operates (see the list above). Applicants must also have been awarded a doctorate at the time of application, and normally within the last seven years (i.e. you should have graduated between 2018 and 2025, although earlier graduates may be eligible if they have taken significant career breaks since completing their doctorate; if you have not yet graduated, you must be able to produce a transcript, testamur, or a letter of completion/eligibility to graduate as part of your application, showing that your viva examination has been successfully completed and all necessary corrections made to your thesis; you do not need to have actually graduated at the time you apply). You should not have held a permanent position at a university, or a previous fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities. Those who have held temporary, recurring, and/or short-term appointments are eligible to apply. If you have taken parental leave or other time away from academia, this will not count towards the three-year limit, but we ask that you provide brief details of why and for how long you were not working.

The closing date for the receipt of the next round of applications (for visits from January 2026) is 28 July 2025 at 23:59 UK time. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered. Decisions will be communicated in September. Please ensure that you supply a valid email address so that you can be contacted quickly after decisions are made.

Applications for 2026 are now open – apply here.
Any additional supporting documents connected with an application should be emailed to iash@ed.ac.uk.

BENEFIT:

The 2026 British Council 90th Anniversary Research Fellowship provides:

Research visit at the University of Edinburgh for ten months, followed by up to two months based in their home countries focused on knowledge exchange and dissemination

Bursary of £2,500 per month for 12 months

Dedicated office space, University e-mail and library access

A University mentor from an area relevant to the Fellows’ research interests

Weekly Fellows’ Lunch to build community

Collegial work-in-progress seminar series for testing new ideas

Calendar of engaging events at the Institute and College

Opportunities to participate in and design funded workshops, colloquia, etc., at the Institute

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master's, Opportunities, PhD/post doctoral, Scholarships

2026 UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO FULLY FUNDED UNIVERSITY RECOMMENDED JAPANESE GOVERNMENT (MEXT) SCHOLARSHIP

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Application Deadline: From October 15 to October 31, 2025, Japan Standard Time. The electronic application must be submitted within the application period.

LOCATION: Japan

The Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, accepts applications from international students for study in Japan who satisfy the following qualifications and conditions. Its aim is to foster human resources who will become bridges of friendship between the recipient’s country and Japan through study in Japan and who will contribute to the development of both countries and the wider world.

ELIGIBILITY:

International students with outstanding academic records who wish to enter Japan in October 2026 as new students and study in the Master’s or Doctoral Program at the Graduate School of Science. Additionally, applicants who have completed their admission application for entering the Master’s/Doctoral Program following the “Instructions for International Students applying to the Graduate School of Science (Special Selection for International Applicants)”

Applicants who have already graduated from their latest degree program should have a final grade point of 2.30 or higher, while current students should have a grade point of 2.30 or higher for their current courses, and both should be expected to maintain the same academic standards during the course of the scholarship program.

Grade points shall be calculated according to a formula specified by MEXT. Furthermore, students must meet one of the criteria given under “(7) Language Proficiency” given below.

Applicants must have the nationality of a country with diplomatic relations with the Japanese government. Applicants who have Japanese nationality at the time of application are ineligible. However, Japanese nationals that reside outside of Japan at the time of application, holding dual nationality with another country, and plan to renounce their Japanese nationality before arrival (equivalent to the time when they enroll as a student at a Japanese university) may apply.

In principle, applicants must be born on or after April 2, 1991.

Applicants must have the necessary qualifications to be admitted to the Graduate School of Science at the University of Tokyo as a Master’s or a Doctoral Program student.

Applicants should apply for the field of study that they studied at their previous university or a related field. Applicants should select a field that they are able to research at their chosen host university in Japan.

Applicants must meet one of the language requirements in either English or in Japanese as described below:

English: Holds an English proficiency test score equivalent to B2 or above on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale (e.g. TOEFL iBT 72 or above, IELTS 5.5 or above).
To see what counts as “B2 or above on the CEFR scale”, please refer to the CEFR Equivalency Chart.

Has completed an educational program whose primary language of instruction is English that satisfies the entrance requirements to the Master’s Program or Doctoral Program at the Graduate School of Science, the University of Tokyo.

Japanese: Has passed the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) with a score of N2 or higher.

Has completed an educational program whose primary language of instruction is Japanese that satisfies the entrance requirements to the Master’s Program or Doctoral Program at the Graduate School of Science, the University of Tokyo.

Applicants must be physically and mentally healthy enough to pursue their studies in Japan.

For a recipient who will enroll in a Master’s Program or Doctoral Program, the scholarship will be payable for the standard period of time necessary for the recipient to complete his or her program (standard course term), starting from October 2026.

Master’s Program = October, 2026 – September, 2028 (2years)

Doctoral Program = October, 2026 – September, 2029 (3years)

BENEFIT:

AY2025 actual amounts: 144,000 yen/month (for a student of a Master’s Program), or 145,000 yen/month (for a student of a Doctoral Program)
(an additional monthly stipend of 2,000 or 3,000 yen may be added to those students undertaking study or research in some designated regions of the country.)

The scholarship will not be paid to a recipient during a leave of absence or a long absence from his or her university.

Transportation to Japan: MEXT will stipulate the travel schedule and route and provide an airline ticket for recipients who arrive in Japan during the designated period specified in “1.(9) Arrival in Japan“. The airline ticket will be an economy-class ticket for the flight from the international airport closest to the recipient’s residence (in principle, the country of nationality) to an international airport in Japan used on the normal route to the accepting university. 

School Fees: Enrollment and tuition fees will be exempted.

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