Yoshinori Ohsumi Scholarship to include category for female students

Tokyo Tech established the Yoshinori Ohsumi Scholarship in academic year 2018 with the aim of attracting outstanding students to the Institute and developing Japan's future leaders of science and technology. This scholarship will soon include a category dedicated to female students, for which applications open in October 2023.

Until now, the Yoshinori Ohsumi Scholarship has been granted to applicants in two categories — the Regional Area category for students for whom commuting from their homes outside Tokyo and the three surrounding prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba is difficult, and the First Generation category for students whose parents never graduated from a four-year university program.

As its name implies, the Female Student category of the Yoshinori Ohsumi Scholarship is reserved for female students only. The new category, which aims to expand the scope of support for female students, forms a part of the various diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives promoted by Tokyo Tech.

The category will be open to new students who intend to enter one of Tokyo Tech's bachelor's degree programs in April 2024. The Institute will begin accepting applications in October 2023. Received applications will be screened, and scholarship offers will be made to candidates prior to their enrollment at the Institute. Scholarships will be officially granted to those who receive an offer after they enroll at Tokyo Tech.

Approximately 30, including Female Student, First Generation, and Regional Area categories

JPY 50,000 per month

In principle, the duration of the scholarship is the standard period of study for a bachelor's degree program at Tokyo Tech. However, if a recipient meets certain requirements and enrolls in a Tokyo Tech master's degree program after graduating from a bachelor's degree program, the scholarship will be continued, upon application, to cover the standard period of study for the master's program.

More details regarding applications for academic year 2024 can be found in Japanese on the Yoshinori Ohsumi Scholarship page.

Tokyo Tech established the Yoshinori Ohsumi Fund after Honorary Professor Yoshinori Ohsumi was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy. The fund provides financial aid to Tokyo Tech students through efforts such as the Yoshinori Ohsumi Scholarship and the Ohsumi Journal Award, and supports early-career scientists engaged in fundamental research with the Yoshinori Ohsumi Fund for Fundamental Research.