Overview
UNESCO and the Government of Japan are accepting nominations for 10 Keizo Obuchi research fellowships supporting eligible young researchers from invited countries, including Rwanda and Saint Kitts and Nevis, for postgraduate research stays in Japan.
Complete fellowship details
The 2026 cycle offers research stays of three to nine months in Japan beginning from February 2027 and completed no later than December 2027. Eligible research areas include heritage conservation and management, AI for natural resources and climate action, ethical and human-centred AI, AI for sustainable cities and resilience, and AI and education. Applications must proceed through the applicant's home-country National Commission for UNESCO.
Eligibility requirements
Applicants must be nationals of an invited UNESCO Member State or Associate Member, be no more than 40 years old at application, hold at least a master's degree or equivalent in a relevant field, demonstrate sufficient language proficiency for the proposed host institution, and have acceptance from an academic supervisor at a Japanese university or research institution. Rwanda and Saint Kitts and Nevis are explicitly included in the 2026 invited-country list.
Tips for this fellowship
Practical Job and Scholarship guidance. These tips do not replace official rules or create new eligibility requirements.
- Check eligibility, funding coverage, study/project level and every required document before investing time in the application.
- Prepare transcripts, references, language tests, proposal/motivation statement and proof documents early.
- Separate the scholarship deadline from any university/program admission deadline; they may be different.
- Treat “fully funded” as a source fact only when the official provider explicitly confirms the covered costs.
Verification notes
Verified on UNESCO's official Cycle 2026 page, which states that applications are open, 10 fellowships are available, the grant is up to US$10,000, research stays last 3–9 months, and nominations are due 30 September 2026 at 'midnight Paris time'. Because the phrase 'midnight' can be interpreted differently at a date boundary, deadline_date is stored without inventing a UTC instant. UNESCO instructs candidates to submit to their National Commission at least two weeks before its deadline and accepts only nominated applications.
Job and Scholarship is the discovery and verification layer. Confirm eligibility, dates, salary/funding and application instructions on the original source before submitting anything.
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