Kyoto University Amgen Scholars Program 2025 (Fully Funded International Research Opportunity)

The Amgen Scholars Program at Kyoto University aims to support international and domestic students so they can study at Kyoto University as vacation scholars. The Amgen Scholars Program at Kyoto University is eight weeks of intensive research in the sciences. Amgen Scholars will be assigned to one of Kyoto University departments or interdisciplinary areas that traditionally support science and biotechnology research.

These areas may include:
Biochemistry / Bioengineering / Bioinformatics/Cheminformatics / Biopsychology / Biotechnology / Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering / Chemistry / Immunology /Medical Pharmacology / Microbiology / Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology / Molecular Genetics / Molecular Medicine / Molecular Pharmacology /Neurobiology / Neuroscience / Pathology / Physiological Psychology / Physiological Science / Statistics / Toxicology

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).

Program Period: June 6, 2025 – August 7, 2025

Number of Participants: Approximately 10 students

Educational Activities:

In addition to full-time research positions, Amgen Scholars also take part in a variety of educational activities. Below are some examples of past activities:

• Seminars and lab visits in which faculty will give presentations on relevant research areas and critical professional issues. These activities 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.

* Activities and other details are subject to change.

General Eligibility:

In accordance with an instruction from the Amgen Foundation, Kyoto University selects the participants from colleges and universities throughout Asia including Eastern, South-Eastern, Central, Southern and Western Asia (*).

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

• Enrolled in colleges or universities in Asia 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.

In addition, the applicants must agree that.

• the program may be changed or deferred if holding the program safely and smoothly seems difficult due to the pandemics or other circumstances.
• a vaccine passport may be required to participate in the program.

*) 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 2022 Revision. This currently includes the following countries/areas.

• 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
• Southern Asia
  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

Financial Support

Travel Costs

Kyoto University stipulates the travel schedule and route and provides an economy-class airline ticket. If the student cannot arrive in Japan on the specified dates for personal reasons, no travel expenses will be provided.

• For students from universities outside Japan
  Airline tickets are provided for flights between the nearest airport to the student’s university and Osaka by the most direct and economical route.
• For students from universities in Japan (excluding Kyoto University students)
  A round-trip ticket is provided for travel between the nearest airport to the student’s university and Osaka, or between nearest train station to the student’s university and Kyoto.

Accommodation

All Amgen Scholars (excluding Kyoto University students) will be accommodated in Kyoto.
The payment for accommodation will be made directly to the real estate agency by Kyoto University.

Scholarship

180,000 yen will be provided to Amgen Scholars.
Scholars will receive:

• 90,000 yen at the beginning of the program
• 90,000 yen in the middle of July

Amgen Scholars Asia Symposium

The Amgen Scholars Asia Symposium will take place in-person in Kyoto during the program period. In either case, attendance at the Asia Symposium is obligatory for those enrolled in the Amgen Scholars Program.

Note: Health Insurance/Liability Insurance

All students must arrange their own private health insurance. Please be aware that neither the Amgen Foundation nor the Kyoto University can provide health insurance.
All students must also enroll in Kyoto University’s “Co-op Liability Insurance” upon arrival.