How a Nigerian Mechanical Engineering Graduate Secured the Fully Funded MEXT Scholarship to Pursue a Master’s Degree in Robotics and AI at Tohoku University, Japan

Hi! My name is Sarah Akinkunmi, and I am from Nigeria. I am presently a research student, and after that, I will proceed to my Master’s degree in Robotics and AI at the Human-Informatics laboratory at Tohoku University, Japan. My master’s research is going to focus on the application of Reinforced learning to disaster response. It has been a dream of mine to study this field since I took elective courses on Robotics and Mechatronics during my undergraduate.

MEXT Scholarship Details

I won the MEXT (Monbukagakusho) Embassy-path Scholarship last year in 2024. Tohoku University was my only choice. The scholarship offers full tuition, a monthly stipend of ¥ 145,000 for research students, ¥ 146,000 for master’s students, and a flight to Japan and back to your country after graduation.

Educational Background

I studied Mechanical Engineering at Covenant University, Nigeria, and graduated with a 4.43/ 5.0 CGPA. After graduation, I got into Software Engineering, then Data Science and Analytics. My background was a great help in my application because the scholarship looks into your past studies or work background. I applied thrice for this scholarship – the first time was a rush, and I had not fully prepared, so I did not get past the first stage, and the second time I applied through the university-recommended path, but the laboratory I wanted to get into was full. The last time, I started preparing documents months before and researching even past the first stage of the process. I had already taken the IELTS exams about a year before my first application because other scholarships required it. It is not necessary to have an English proficiency test for the MEXT application, but I believe everything counts. Even though the English language is Nigeria’s official language, and I was already confident about my language skills, I studied for the exam with a textbook and practice tests.

How Did You Prepare to Apply for the MEXT Scholarship?

The major thing in the application process I did was to always prepare for the next stage ahead. To prepare for the scholarship, I went to the Embassy of Japan’s webpage and downloaded the guidelines and past questions for the second stage. I went through the guidelines, noted the documents I needed, and started preparing them. There’s a lot demanded in the first stage, and I wanted to ensure I got past it. Once I had everything and confirmed there were no mistakes in the forms I filled out or the other documents, I sent them to the embassy.

Afterwards, I immediately started preparing for the second stage, which is exams. Here, we are tested in the English and Japanese languages. I was not familiar with Japanese, so I had to make sure my English score was not below 90%, in case I was considered still. I think it is better to start studying Japanese early, as it is a great advantage at this stage. Once I had written the exams, I began researching my university and laboratory choices. There is a short time for each stage but a long wait time, so I used the wait times to my advantage.

By the time the next stage came for getting supervisors and University acceptance letters, I was more than prepared, and before it was over, I got my letters. For the interviews, I researched possible questions and practised with my sister. I would definitely do the same thing I did if I were to apply again, and I encourage future applicants to do the same. For the people interested: be patient, prepare early, try to get in touch with people who went through the same process, and practice a lot.