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NII International Internship Program - 2021 1st Call On-line - Guideline for Candidates

NII Internship Program: special priority for on-line internship students.

New: Students who successfully complete an On-line NII International Internship will be given special priority for subsequent applications with the same NII supervisor for the On-site Internship Program. Note that acceptance into NII International Internship Programs is subject to the general conditions on eligibility, and in particular requires the approval of the NII supervising researcher.

The NII International Internship Program is an exchange activity with students from institutions with which NII has concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreement. This incentive program aims at giving interns the opportunity for professional and personal development by engaging in research activities under the guidance and supervision of NII researchers.

In early 2020, the Program was suspended due to the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. As a way of maintaining our engagement with our partner institutions during this period of travel restrictions, NII has launched a new initiative by which students can work remotely on research projects under the management of NII supervisors.

In this call, we outline the application procedures for internships to be managed entirely on-line until the first half of the 2022 Japanese academic year For those students interested in applying for internships to be held on-site at NII after pandemic-related travel restrictions have been lifted, please see here for details.

1. Target candidates:

The NII Internship Program is open to Master's and PhD students who are currently enrolled at one of the partner institutions that have signed an MOU agreement with NII.

Students who have already obtained the Doctor of Philosophy degree are ineligible for the NII International Internship Program. If accepted, candidates are expected to maintain their enrollment status at their home institutions for the full duration of their Internships.

2. Preparation of applications:

Students interested in the NII International On-line Internship Program should:

Refer to the list of available research topics. Interested students are encouraged to check this list regularly, since topics may be added or withdrawn at any time. Questions regarding any of these topics should be directed only to the NII project supervisor who proposed them. At this stage students should limit themselves to requests for clarification concerning the topics. For other questions, please contact your home institution or the NII International Affairs and Education Support Team. Students should not send NII supervisors their CVs or other personal information until invited to do so by NII.
Consult your supervisor and your home institution as to their own internal procedures for handling applications, and inform them of your intention to apply.
NII On-line Internships are not recommended for students looking for projects or co-supervision arrangements as a means of fulfilling their own institution's degree requirements.

3. Application procedure:

Lodging your application:

Candidates

Choose up to three topics out of the list of available research projects.
Fill out the NII International Internship Program application form.
Attach your CV, indicating clearly any and all past employment and educational history.
Submit your application through the contact person designated by your home institution.
Candidates may not submit their applications directly to NII.

If your application is supported by your home institution, it is then forwarded to NII:

Your application is screened by NII for eligibility, and then shown to the NII supervisors nominated by you.
Any NII supervisors who express an interest in the application are then put in direct contact with you via e-mail.
After discussion with NII supervisors, please send us again your application form with your final order of preference of the projects you have applied for. Your new topic ranking is then used for the final assessment of your application.

Please note that the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) maintains a list of foreign entities with which it has security concerns. Candidates currently or formerly associated with institutions or companies on this list will be subject to additional screening, which could result in their being deemed inadmissible to the program.

https://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2020/0508_002.html

Partner institutions

Over the course of the current combined call for NII Internships (on-line and hosted at Tokyo), your home institution may propose to NII a total of at most four different students meeting the institution's best standards of academic performance and research potential.
Students wishing to apply for both an on-line internship and an on-site internship may do so. Although they would count as one applicant towards the limit of four, they must nevertheless submit two applications: one for each type of internship.
For this call, your home institution is encouraged to forward applications to NII as they are received. However, your institution may choose to accumulate applications for a certain period before forwarding a ranked list of candidates.
Note that NII researchers may not necessarily give priority to the top-ranked candidates when deciding which interns they are willing to supervise. Other reasons for non-selection could include the ineligibility of a candidate due to government restrictions, competitive selection, or other limits on the total number of interns that NII is prepared to receive.

4. Application deadline:

Applications must be received at NII by 17:00 JST on ~~January 31, 2022~~ March 31, 2022. Your home institution may set an earlier internal deadline for submissions. Please consult your home institution for details.

5. Selection process at NII:

For this call, NII will process applications as soon as they are received, in the order that they are received. Initial screening of candidates is conducted by each NII supervisor. Final selection is then made by the NII Global Liaison Office and the NII directorship.

6. Notification:

Successful candidates will be notified shortly after the final selection decision, through the contact person at their home institutions.

Important: acceptance as an NII Internship student is subject to the condition that the student works on the approved project topic, and complies with NII and Japanese government regulations. In the event that these conditions are not respected, NII may take appropriate action that may include the termination of their internship.

7. Funding:

No remuneration is provided for on-line internships.

8. Final evaluation:

At the end of their internship, students are expected to submit an NII International Internship Program Report outlining the outcomes of their project. In writing their reports, interns should take care to respect any restrictions on confidential information or on intellectual property that may have been required by NII or their home institution. After the completion of the internship period and the submission of their report, NII will issue a certificate of completion.

9. Time frame:

On-line internships may begin at any date after acceptance, subject to the agreement of the NII supervisor, however all internships offered in this call should begin by ~~March 31, 2022~~ March 31, 2023. Any exceptional circumstances should be discussed beforehand with your NII supervisor and with the NII International Team. The duration of the internship should also be confirmed with your NII supervisor after acceptance. Internship activities should ideally be for a period of 2 to 6 months. Students must be able to commit to a minimum period of 2 months.