2020 Kyoto University Amgen Scholars Program with Financial support

Complete information: http://www.opir.kyoto-u.ac.jp/study/en/curriculum/amgenscholars/

Key Dates

Application period opens
3 p.m. on November 1, 2019 (UTC+9 hours)
Application deadline
3 p.m. on February 3, 2020 (UTC+9 hours)
Notification of results
Early April 2020
Arrival (in Japan)
June 8, 2020
Program period
June 9 – August 8, 2020 (*)
Symposium (in Singapore)
August 6 – August 8, 2020
Departure (from Singapore)
August 9, 2020

*The program period includes the dates of the symposium.

Program Overview

Program Dates

June 9 – August 8, 2020

Number of Participants

15 students

Research Work

The Amgen Scholars Program at Kyoto University is eight weeks of intensive research in the sciences. Amgen Scholars will be assigned to one of several Kyoto University departments or interdisciplinary areas that traditionally support science and biotechnology research. These areas may include: biochemistry, bioengineering, biotechnology, chemistry, immunology, microbiology, molecular genetics, and neuroscience.

Placements will be made based on student interests and available spaces. While each Amgen Scholar will be assigned for supervision by a specific Kyoto University faculty member, supervision and guidance may also be provided by other persons associated with the supervising professor’s lab, including graduate students and post-doctoral associates. All placements are full time (approximately 40 hours per week).

Educational Activities

In addition to full-time research positions, Amgen Scholars also take part in a variety of educational activities, including:

  • A seminar series in which faculty will give presentations on relevant research areas and critical professional issues. The seminars will be designed to expose students to cutting-edge research and broaden their understanding of opportunities in their graduate school and scientific careers.
  • A poster session at the end of the program in which the participants will share their summer research projects with a larger audience.

General Eligibility

The Amgen Scholars Program at Kyoto University aims to support international and domestic students so they can study at Kyoto University as vacation scholars.

In accordance with an instruction from the Amgen Foundation, Kyoto University selects half of the annual participants from colleges and universities throughout Asia*, while the other half may come from colleges and universities across the globe.

Amgen Scholars Asia Program applicants must be undergraduate students who are:

  • Enrolled in colleges or universities worldwide that award a bachelor’s degree (or its equivalent); and
  • At minimum, have completed their first year of undergraduate study at the time the summer program begins, and
  • Are not graduating before the summer program begins, and after the summer program ends will resume undergraduate studies for at least 1 semester or quarter

Asia Program applicants must also have:

  • A strong record of academic performance; and,
  • A good working knowledge of English, demonstrated by a minimum TOEFL (iBT) score of 72, IELTS overall band score of 5.5, Cambridge English FCE, TOEIC score of 1095, TOEIC L&R score of 785, or TOEIC S&W score of 310, if not a native English speaker or English is not your first language, and
  • An interest in pursuing a Ph.D.

*) Asia is defined based on the ‘Classification of Countries by Region’ by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs / Population Division World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision. This currently includes the following 51 countries/areas. Note that Russia is also included in Asia.

  • Eastern Asia
    China; China, Hong Kong SAR; China, Macao SAR; China, Taiwan Province of China; Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; Japan; Mongolia; Republic of Korea
  • South-Eastern Asia
    Brunei Darussalam; Cambodia; Indonesia; Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Malaysia; Myanmar; Philippines; Singapore; Thailand; Timor-Leste; Viet Nam
  • Central Asia
    Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; Tajikistan; Turkmenistan; Uzbekistan; Afghanistan; Bangladesh; Bhutan; India; Iran (Islamic Republic of); Maldives; Nepal; Pakistan; Sri Lanka
  • Western Asia
    Armenia; Azerbaijan; Bahrain; Cyprus; Georgia; Iraq; Israel; Jordan; Kuwait; Lebanon; Oman; Qatar; Saudi Arabia; State of Palestine; Syrian Arab Republic; Turkey; United Arab Emirates; Yemen

More information: http://www.opir.kyoto-u.ac.jp/study/en/curriculum/amgenscholars/