The Watanabe Trust Fund at the University of Iceland calls for applications from students who wish to obtain scholarships for studies abroad in Iceland or Japan. The fund also supports visits for post-docs, teaching staff, and research scholars. Both undergraduate students and graduate students can apply; but the fund also aims at strengthening teacher exchanges. Students and staff from all of the University schools are eligible to apply for the grants.
The Watanabe Trust Fund has provided its grantees with a unique opportunity to study and/or conduct research in Iceland or in Japan making this is the ninth allocation from the fund. Sixteen students and scholars received in total 11 million Icelandic krona at the last allocation.
The application deadline is 15 January 2019.
Students who are registered at the University of Iceland and intend to carry out part of their studies at a Japanese university are eligible for scholarships. Furthermore, students at Japanese universities who wish to carry out part of their studies at the University of Iceland are eligible as well. Scholars working at the University of Iceland or Japanese universities or research institutes can also apply. The choice of grantees is in the hands of the trust’s board.
The awarded grants will be in the form of monthly allowances for living expenses; or 210.000 ISK per month for a Japanese student in Iceland and 150.000 JPY per month for an Icelandic student in Japan. Scholarship recipients staying more than one month can also receive up to 200.000 ISK travel support. University fees and other expenses are covered by the scholarship. Post-doctoral researchers, university teachers, and other academics can also apply for up to 500.000 ISK scholarships for shorter visits relating to their academic work or research collaboration with University of Iceland or universities in Japan.
Eligible applicants can apply for up to 9 month’s support. The period of stay shall be during the academic year 2018-2019.
Applications shall be submitted no later than 15 January 2018, written in English and sent electronically to ask@hi.is.
Final reports of previous scholarships recipients can also be found on the website.
About the Watanabe Trust Fund
The Watanabe Trust Fund was established at the University of Iceland in 2008 and plays a significant part in strengthening the academic ties between Iceland and Japan. The fund gives Icelandic students and academics a unique chance to study and work at a Japanese university, and equally Japanese students and academics get the chance to study and work in Iceland, at the University of Iceland.
Mr. Toshizo Watanabe, who donated the founding contribution for the fund, is the founder of The Toshizo Watanabe Foundation and chairman emeritus of Nikken, a successful international wellness products company, with its headquarters in the United States. As a young man, he was an exchange student at the Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, where he made the acquaintance of ex-Prime Minister, Geir H. Haarde. Mr. Watanabe was able to study in the United States due to a scholarship he received and was eternally grateful to those who granted him this opportunity. Watanabe wanted to show his gratitude for the assistance he received by setting up a fund himself to encourage and assist students to study abroad. He contacted Geir H. Haarde, his former fellow student, with the intention to set up a trust fund at an Icelandic University.
Current board members are: Professor Már Másson, chairman of the board, Mr Toshizo “Tom” Watanabe, and Dr. Kristín Ingvarsdóttir.
Further information and application forms can be found on the Watanabe website.