On April 28, Okayama University held the 2022 Okayama University Science, Technology, and Innovation Creation Fellowship (OU Fellowship) Award Ceremony.
Not only does the OU Fellowship provide recipients research encouragement funding (in the form of scholarships), research budget (between 400,000 yen to 1.1 million yen a year) and support to cover living expenses (up to 1.8 million yen per year), but it also offers research and career support.

Okayama University established the fellowship after being selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) for its “Project for Establishing University Fellowships for the Creation of Innovation and Technology” in February 2021 and by the Japan Science and Technology Agency for its “Support Program for Pioneering Research Initiated by the Next Generation”.

This year, 26 new research fellows were chosen among 77 applicants, who submitted applications between September and October last year before going through a selection process that included document screening and an interview.

The ceremony was held in a hybrid format, with all of the research fellows attending either in person or online. Okayama University President MAKINO Hirofumi presented representatives with certificates, then addressed the new research fellows, saying, “The university considers all students in the doctoral and postdoctoral programs at the graduate school as important members of its research community and endeavors to provide a research environment that enables them to pursue challenging research. We hope that you will take advantage of this environment, engage in friendly competition with your colleagues, and grow into engaging pioneers who work independently and constantly strive for improvement”.

After the ceremony, the research fellows formed two circles and engaged in interactive dialogues moderated by Okayama University Organization for Research Strategy and Development Professor OHTSUKA Aiji, who will oversee research support for the research fellows, and Okayama University Institute for Education and Campus Life Associate Professor MACHIDA Hisashi, who will oversee career support for the research fellows. President Makino also joined the discussions, and participants had the opportunity to give a one-minute flash presentation about their research interests.

○ The OU fellowship is scheduled to run in 2023. Applications for 2023 will open around October 2022. From 2022, research fellows will be eligible for tuition exemption.
Please see here for details on the fellowship.