UNESCO/Japan Young Researchers’ Fellowships Programme 2026 (up to $10,000) – YOA

Deadline: September 30, 2026

Applications are open for the UNESCO/Japan Young Researchers’ Fellowships Programme 2026. Established in 2001 beneath the Japanese Funds-in-Trust for the Capacity-Building of Human Resources, the UNESCO/Japan Young Researchers’ Fellowships Programme, often known as the UNESCO/Keizo Obuchi Research Fellowships Programme, is a protracted-standing initiative supported by the Government of Japan to strengthen analysis capacities and promote worldwide data change in areas aligned with UNESCO’s mandate.

Since its institution, the Programme has enabled 291 younger researchers from 101 international locations world wide to pursue postgraduate analysis, contributing to tutorial cooperation, capability-constructing and the event of information in fields of shared international significance.

Under the 2026 cycle, UNESCO and the Government of Japan will award 10 fellowships to extremely certified younger researchers from Africa, Small Island Developing States, Ukraine and Türkiye. The fellowships will help modern and excessive-high quality postgraduate analysis associated to heritage conservation and administration, sustainable growth and synthetic intelligence, with specific consideration to interdisciplinary analysis connecting these themes with social, moral, governance and contextual dimensions. Through analysis stays in Japanese universities and analysis establishments, fellows could have the OPPORTUNITY to additional develop their work and interact with Japan’s tutorial and analysis neighborhood.

Benefits

Selected fellows could obtain a fellowship grant of up to US$10,000. The grant might be supplied as a lump-sum contribution and is meant to cowl prices instantly associated to the authorised analysis keep in Japan.

The grant could cowl:

• worldwide and home journey for the authorised itinerary;
• lodging;
• medical insurance coverage;
• private subsistence in Japan, together with meals, native transportation and incidental bills;
• different analysis-associated bills, the place relevant.

Eligibility

Applicants should:

• be nationals of one of many invited Member States or Associate Members;
• be not more than 40 years outdated on the time of application;
• maintain at the very least a Master’s diploma or equal in a area related to the proposed analysis and reveal sturdy tutorial and analysis potential;
• reveal adequate proficiency in studying and writing within the language of instruction or supervision on the proposed host establishment in Japan;
• have obtained acceptance from a tutorial supervisor at a Japanese college or analysis establishment, who will oversee the proposed analysis.

Application

• Step 1: Read fastidiously the Application Guide to perceive the necessities for eligible candidatures and the procedures for the submission of application.
• Step 2: Contact the National Commission for UNESCO of your home nation to enquire concerning the application procedures on the nationwide stage. Click here for the contact data of the National Commissions for UNESCO.
• Step 3: Prepare all required paperwork, together with the application kind (Annex 3), tutorial paperwork, suggestion letter, host establishment acceptance letter, language certificates and analysis proposal (Annex 4). 
• Step 4: Submit your application to the National Commission for UNESCO of your home nation, at the very least 2 weeks earlier than the required deadline.
• Step 5: As quickly as you might be knowledgeable by the National Commission for UNESCO of your nation that you’re nominated as a candidate for this programme, you need to talk your the net application kind and the supporting paperwork to [email protected].
  • Note: Only functions nominated by the National Commission might be accepted by UNESCO. 
• Step 6: Letters of nomination, together with all of the application paperwork needs to be submitted to UNESCO by the National Commissions no later than 30 September 2026, midnight Paris time. Candidates who submit incomplete functions, or submit the net functions past this deadline received’t be thought-about.

For extra data, go to UNESCO/Japan Young Researchers’ Fellowships.