Japan Africa Dream Scholarship (JADS) Program 2021/2022 for African Students

The Japan Africa Dream Scholarship Programme is open to applicants from AfDB member countries with relevant professional experience and a history of supporting their countries’ development efforts who are applying to a graduate degree program in energy development and related discipline.  The Japan Africa Dream Scholarship provide scholarships to any other graduate degree program.

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Japan Africa Dream Scholarship (JADS) Program

The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) Affiliates Membership Programme aims to stimulate and nurture the spirit of scientific discovery and technological innovation in Africa in order to promote sustainable development on the continent through research and development. It is intended to fill a gap in the professional growth of young and early-to-mid career professionals who intend to develop into research leaders in their home countries. Many countries and organisations are implementing PhD programmes to meet the teaching and research needs of higher education and research institutions.  Most of these scholars train in well-established northern institutions or a few relatively well set-up African PhD training centres, but when they return to their home institutions they face significant challenges in developing as independent thinkers and leaders. Supportive/nurturing research environments and opportunities that   enable them to generate new ideas, knowledge and innovative solutions to Africa’s problems are limited.

While African states and their sub-regional institutions have the responsibility to attract and retain well trained researchers, pan-African organisations like the AAS can play a catalytic and supportive role in inspiring and providing tangible support to such cohorts.

Japan Africa Dream Scholarship (JADS) Program Eligibility

The program is open to those who have gained admission to an approved Masters degree course at a Japanese partner university. Candidates should be 35 years old or younger; in good health; with a Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent in the energy area or related area; and have a superior academic record. Upon completion of their study programs, scholars are expected to return to their home country to contribute to its economic and social development.

Details on Eligibility Criteria are provided in that call’s Application Guidelines, and these detailed eligibility criteria are strictly adhered to. No exceptions are made.

Broadly speaking, nationals of African countries must:

  • Be a national of a AfDB member country;
  • Be in good health;
  • Hold a Bachelor (or equivalent) degree in the energy area (or related field) earned at least 1 years prior to the application deadline date;
  • Have 1 years or more of recent development-related experience after earning a Bachelor (or equivalent) degree;
  • Be accepted unconditionally to enroll in the upcoming academic year in at least one of the JADS partner universities for a Master’s degree;
  • Applicants living or working in a country other than his or her home country are not eligible for scholarships.
  • JADS does not support applicants who are already enrolled in graduate degree programs.
  • Not be an Executive Director, his/her alternate, and/or staff of all types of appointments of the African Development Bank Group or a close relative of the aforementioned by blood or adoption with the term “close relative” defined as: Mother, Father, Sister, Half-sister, Brother, Half-brother, Son, Daughter, Aunt, Uncle, Niece, or Nephew.

*Please note: All eligibility criteria are strictly adhered to. No exceptions are made. Eligibility criteria will notchange during an open call for applications. However, this information is subject to change between the close of one application process and the opening of the next.

Selection Criteria: 

The Japan Africa Dream Scholarship programme uses the following four main factors and the degree of cohesion, to review eligible scholarship applications, with the aim of identifying the candidates with the highest potential, after completion of their graduate studies, to impact the development of their countries.

  1. Quality of Education Background
  2. Quality of Professional Recommendations
  3. Quality of Professional Experience
  4. Quality of Commitment to your Home Country
  5. Quality of Statement of Purpose

Japan Africa Dream Scholarship (JADS) awards scholarships to applicants who have had at least 1 year of paid employment in the applicant’s home country or in other African countries acquired after receiving the first Bachelors (or equivalent university) degree within the past 3 years.

The JADS Secretariat uses the following criteria to select the finalists:

  • Maintaining a reasonably wide geographical distribution of awards, that takes into account the geographic distribution of eligible applications;
  • Maintaining a reasonable distribution of awards across gender that takes into account the distribution of eligible applications across gender;
  • Giving scholarships to those applicants who, other things being equal, appear to have limited financial resources
  • Unusual circumstances / hardships, when assessing the employment experience and other aspects of an application.

Worth of Scholarship

The scholarship program provides tuition, a monthly living stipend, round-trip airfare, health insurance, and travel allowance.

How to Apply for Japan Africa Dream Scholarship (JADS) Program

  1. Applicant completes JADS application form
  2. Applicant sends documents (application form, university transcripts and certificate, CV, professional references and research proposal), to the JADS Secretariat for first screening through JADS@AFDB.ORG
  3. JADS Secretariat sends shortlist of candidates to selected Japanese universities
  4. Universities does second screening and share selected students with JADS Secretariat
  5. JADS Secretariat recommends awardees based on its selection criteria to the Japanese Executive Director for approval.
  6. AfDB contacts selected awardees, and informs partner universities.

For more information, visit the Japan Africa Dream Scholarship (JADS) Program.

Application Deadline: Application deadline for September 2021/April 2022 Intake: August 31, 2021​​

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