UNESCO/Japan Young Researchers Fellowships 2027 Deadline Extended

Could your research help protect cultural heritage, improve climate decisions or make artificial intelligence more useful to society? The UNESCO/Keizo Obuchi Research Fellowships Programme offers 10 researchers up to US$10,000 each to work at a Japanese university or research institution during 2027.

You need a relevant master’s degree or equivalent, must be no more than 40 years old, and must hold an eligible nationality. If you meet those conditions, your next tasks are to secure a Japanese research supervisor and obtain nomination from your country’s National Commission for UNESCO.

Who can apply for the Keizo Obuchi Fellowship?

You can apply if your nationality is listed below, you meet the academic and age requirements, and you have acceptance from a Japanese academic supervisor. Eligibility is based on nationality; studying or living in an eligible country does not by itself qualify you.

• Africa: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
• Arab States: Bahrain.
• Asia and the Pacific: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, Niue, New Caledonia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
• Latin America and the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Maarten, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago.
• Europe: Türkiye and Ukraine.

Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Nepal are not eligible for this cycle. A strong research profile cannot override the nationality restriction.

You must hold at least a master’s degree or equivalent relevant to your research and demonstrate strong academic and research potential. A bachelor’s degree alone does not meet the stated requirement. This is a short research fellowship, rather than funding for an entire master’s or PhD degree.

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Which research projects fit the UNESCO/Japan call?

Your project must fit one of five research areas, and your proposal must identify the specific topic within that area. The five areas are:

• Heritage conservation and management: cultural tourism, conflict recovery or digital documentary heritage.
• AI for natural resources and climate action: water forecasting, biodiversity or environmental decisions.
• Ethical and inclusive AI: fairness, governance, algorithmic bias or the rule of law.
• AI for sustainable cities and resilience: pollution monitoring, hazard prediction or urban services.
• AI and education: teaching, competencies, education policy or sustainability learning.

These themes accommodate social science and policy questions as well as technical work. Choose a focused problem that your proposed host can help you investigate within the available months.

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Build a Japan budget within the grant ceiling

The fellowship provides a capped research contribution, with no separate monthly stipend announced. Eligible spending includes approved travel, accommodation, subsistence and relevant research expenses. Tuition, equipment purchases and publication costs are excluded. Conference participation requires justification as an integral, significant part of the research.

UNESCO arranges mandatory medical insurance and deducts its cost before paying the balance. A longer stay therefore needs careful budgeting: obtain accommodation and travel estimates before choosing nine months simply because the rules allow it.

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Prepare your documents and language evidence

You need a complete research application, including host acceptance and proof that you can work in the language used for supervision. Prepare these documents before requesting national nomination:

• Fellowship application form: complete UNESCO’s form in English or French.
• Certified diplomas and academic transcripts: obtain these from your university. Documents in other languages require notarized English or French translations.
• Recommendation letter: ask someone familiar with your research or professional work to explain your suitability.
• Japanese host acceptance: obtain a letter confirming that the institution will receive you and provide supervision and research facilities.
• Research proposal: use UNESCO’s proposal form, with a maximum of three pages covering your research, expected results, implementation plan and budget in US dollars. Identify the main research area and corresponding topic.
• Language evidence: provide a recognized certificate appropriate to the supervision language, such as IELTS, TOEFL or JLPT. If you do not have one, use UNESCO’s Certificate of Language Knowledge, completed, signed and stamped by a certified language institution or language tutor.

IELTS is not universally compulsory, but language evidence is required. No universal minimum test score is stated. Confirm with your Japanese host which language you will use and whether it requires additional proof.

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Apply through your National Commission for UNESCO

Your country’s National Commission must nominate you before UNESCO can consider your application. Each invited country or territory may nominate up to two candidates, at least one of whom should be a woman.

1. Confirm that national nominations are still open. Find your country’s contact in the UNESCO National Commissions directory. Ask for the local deadline, submission method and selection requirements. Do this immediately: a national deadline can be earlier than UNESCO’s deadline.
2. Secure your Japanese supervisor. Identify a university or research institution working on your topic. Send a focused request explaining your proposed research, qualifications, intended dates and the supervision you need. Obtain the written host acceptance for your application.
3. Complete the application documents. Download the application form, research proposal form and, if needed, the language certificate form from the official Keizo Obuchi Fellowship page. Prepare the documents listed above and keep the total requested budget within US$10,000. No fellowship application fee is stated.
4. Submit your complete dossier for national selection. Send it to your National Commission using its required channel. Ask when nomination decisions will be communicated so you can complete the next step in time.
5. Finish the nominated submission. Once your Commission confirms nomination, send your completed application and supporting documents to [email protected] as instructed by UNESCO. Your Commission must also send the nomination letter and complete application documents. An independent email without national nomination is insufficient.

The selection considers your academic merits and the quality, relevance and originality of the proposed research. Build your application around a clear question, a feasible method and a convincing reason for working with the chosen Japanese host.

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Application deadline: The last date to apply for the UNESCO/Keizo Obuchi Research Fellowships Programme, 2026 cycle, is 15 October 2026, midnight Paris time, verified on 3 October 2026. This extension replaces the original 30 September deadline.

UNESCO advises submitting to your National Commission at least two weeks before the final deadline; that point has already passed, so confirm immediately whether your Commission can still consider and nominate you. Host acceptance, supporting documents and national nomination must reach UNESCO by the final deadline. No separate financial-assistance deadline is announced.