Scholarship

Swiss-Japan Scholarship Fund - powered by SCCIJ and SJCC

Scholarship

Regulations & Guidelines

The Swiss-Japan Scholarship Fund is guided by the general objective of encouraging and supporting young residents of Japan in their efforts to acquire a thorough knowledge of Switzerland, its culture, languages, economy, social and business environments.

Property

The Scholarship Fund represents part of the activities and assets of the SCCIJ and SJCC. It is thus a non-profit organization and its officers will not receive financial compensation; however.

Objectives

The Swiss-Japan Scholarship Fund offers encouragement, financial and other pertinent assistance to qualified graduates, students and professionals who are willing to add a “Year in Switzerland” to their education. The emphasis of their Switzerland commitment will have to focus on
• achieving a good working level of one national language of Switzerland – both spoken and written – especially but not exclusively by attending 3-6 months’ intensive language courses at local schools
• gaining in-depth experience in working with Swiss colleagues during 6-9 months’ internships in local Swiss or international companies and institutions
• thus being better prepared for an international business career.
In a broad sense, the scholarship program is expected to contribute to the needs of Japanese, Swiss and/or international enterprises for qualified employees with “Swiss /Europe competence” as well as to a further development of bilateral trade and cultural relations between Japan and Switzerland.

Finances

The ceiling for individual grants to scholarship recipients has presently been set at CHF 10’000; subject to change should donations be drastically reduced and/or the value of the Yen vs. CHF rise beyond annual average levels experienced for the past 3 years. SCCIJ and SJCC will solicit donations from sponsors in support of its scholarship program.

Selection of Grantees

Essentially, applicants qualified for a scholarship have an educational background in sciences, economics, business administration, engineering, informatics, law, international affairs or similar. They will have a sound education, for example from a university or vocational college.
In addition, they will already have acquired sufficient basic knowledge of one national language of Switzerland – which, on average, may require approximately 150 lessons. Candidates should be under the age of 32 years when leaving for Switzerland.
Whereas non-Japanese citizens will in principle be welcome as candidates, they should be long-term residents of Japan and have a strong attachment to our country. Likewise, they must enjoy a good reputation and be willing to accept and be firmly committed to meet the objectives.
Based on thorough evaluation of the scholarship candidates which will include personal interviews, examination of their educational and/or professional qualifications, their demonstrated commitment and motivation as well as their personalities, the Committee of the Scholarship Fund will – at its discretion – make the final selection of candidates.

Applications

Application forms (available here) will have to be submitted by email to info@sccij.jp (subject: “Year in Switzerland”), together with the following supporting documents:
• Curriculum vitae
• Copies of graduation and/or other relevant certificates
• Recommendation letter(s) by principal teacher(s) and/or employer(s)
• Declaration of the financial status and means available for supporting the applicant’s Swiss training program (listing also grants from other Foundations – if any)
• Statement of Motivation describing in some detail personal objectives regarding the “Year in Switzerland” and how they are expected to contribute to the future career development of the applicant.

Scholarships

In principle, the amount granted by the Scholarship Fund should cover discount return airfares to Switzerland, tuition and related fees for the intensive language course as well as a fair contribution towards the total living cost during the whole year in Switzerland including accommodation and commuting, etc.
In deciding the exact scholarship amount, consideration is given to the financial status of the candidate, compensation and fringe benefits received as intern as well as other income from third parties. In any case, however, the candidate is expected to share in the cost of his “Year in Switzerland”.
As a rule, payments to the grantee will be made in CHF in two equal installments, 50% during Q 1 (after arrival and opening a local bank account) and during early Q 3 of his/her Switzerland training (after having submitted a midterm report).

Additional Assistance

Whereas the Scholarship Fund assumes that applicants for a grant will make their own arrangements for accommodation, language training and internship in Switzerland, it will – upon request – provide advice and make its best efforts to assist them in their respective endeavors.

Reporting by Scholarship Recipients

The grantees undertake to submit mid and end term reports on their training, other pertinent activities and experiences during their “Year in Switzerland”. Their observations and recommendations will help the Scholarship Fund to better focus and continuously improve its assistance to new applicants. In addition, selected reports will be published on the SCCIJ and SJCC websites, for the benefit of new candidates and SCCIJ and SJCC members etc. provided writers agree. After return to Japan, there will – if possible – be a final interview and discussion with the person in charge.

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