It is really a great honour and privilege for me to have served AUN/SEED-Net and all its members in the capacity as the Executive Director since the beginning of the Network for four years and seven months.

To my delight, the AUN/SEED-Net has significantly contributed to upgrading of academic staff in some Member Institutions. Also, enhancement or even initiation of international graduate programs has been affected in some Host Institutions. The Network aims to upgrade Host Institutions to be regional hubs in respective fields with a self-reliance in human resource development as the ultimate goal.

Undoubtedly the sustainability of the Network would be beneficial for the sustainability of international graduate programs in several Host Institutions. Considerable efforts have been made by the Secretariat, the JICA executives, the Steering Committee members, the Member Institutions, and the high ranking government officials in charge of higher education in some countries. Some ground work has been laid but the task is still far from completion. Nevertheless the past year has seen the beginning of cost-sharing contributed by some Host Institutions, and we really appreciate all the contributions from them.

Now, how should we change AUN/SEED-Net for the future? Undoubtedly, we need the Network to be self reliant. By this, all Member Institutions need to work hard to strengthen and upgrade the level of engineering education to the international level. To be self-reliant or to upgrade to the international level, we rely heavily on the contribution and support of the Japanese Supporting Universities (JSUs) and we are really grate ful for them.

We want AUN/SEED-Net to be a friendly network. With sincerity and friendliness comes the power of human networking. In the present era of information technology, we should also start to think about IT-based network, making full use of IT for communication for the benefits of the Member Institutions and graduate students. Additionally, we have been talking about industrial linkage but we have not yet started anything on this. I hope the new Executive Director, who has had good contact with the industry, will have some initiatives on this matter in the future.

The present state of the Network is attained through concerted efforts of all the stakeholders involved. On behalf of AUN/SEED-Net Secretariat, I would like to express once again my sincere gratitude for the financial support of JICA, the technical support of JSUC, the partial funding of ASEAN Foundation, the support of ASEAN Secretariat and AUN, as well as concerning authorities of the government of Japan and ASEAN countries.

I hope that you will lend full support to the new Executive Director; and with that I thank you very much for your cooperation and support.

Professor Dr. Panitan Lukkunaprasit

The Doctoral Degree Program in Japan is the most competitive among all graduate programs of AUN/SEED-Net, which grants only nine scholarships each year to very outstanding AUN/SEED-Net Master’s graduates and young teaching staff of Member Institutions. One scholarship per field is awarded to successful candidates to study in PhD level for 3 years in any of Japanese Supporting Universities, namely: Hokkaido University, Keio University, Kyoto University, Kyushu University, National Graduate Institute for Policy Science, Shibaura Institute of Technology, Tokai University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Toyohashi Un iversity of Technology, University of Tokyo, and Waseda University.

Since 2002 this program has awarded 25 scholarships to ASEAN scholars: 3 in 2002, 4 in 2003, 9 in 2004, and 9 in 2005. Surprisingly, all successful scholars of 2005 are AUN/SEED-Net Master’s graduates! This is a good sign of high quality academics we have produced during the past years, and that the scholarship of the Doctoral Degree Program in Japan is within reach for AUN/SEED-Net students.

Why AUN/SEED-Net?

Mr. Wawan Budianta, successful candidate in Environmental Engineering from Gadjah Mada University to Tokyo Institute of Technology, chose the AUN/SEED-Net Ph.D. Program in Japan because he knew that this program gives priority to former AUN/SEED-Net students and allows him to be in one of the best academic network in ASEAN and Japan. Mr. Tran Khanh Duong, successful candidate in Mechanical/Aeronautical Engineering from Hanoi University of Technology to Toyohashi University of Technology, added that AUN/SEED-Net always supports students in their study and provides them with the best conditions among other scholarship programs.

Tips to Success

For those who wish to follow the tracks of these successful students, let’s consider their suggestions here:

Plan Ahead: Many students plan ahead for Ph.D. study since the early days of Master’s study. They seek advice from surrounding people including thesis advisors at Host Institutions, lecturers at Sending Institutions, Japanese co-investigators, and senior students, and find a prospective advisor in advance. Mr. Rinlee Butch Cervara, successful candidate in Materials Engineering from University of the Philippines - Diliman to University of Tokyo, or example, contacted and asked a Japanese professor to be his prospective advisor before applying for the program.

Study Hard: All students should study hard in both coursework and thesis research if they would like to succeed. According to Ms. Nguyen Kim Phoung, successful candidate in Geological Engineering from Ho Chi Minh University of Technology to Kyushu University, the main factors of her success were good result in Master course and high appreciation from lecturers, which could be obtained by hard working and studying.

Make Relationship: Relationship makes life easier. This also goes well with continuation of study in higher degree level. Mr. Adha Imam Cahyadi, successful candidate in Information Communication Technology (ICT) from Gadjah Mada University to Tokai University, advised future applicants to try to make good relationship with thesis advisors as well as Japanese co-advisors, especially during fieldwise seminars.

Publish Works: Future applicants should have at least one paper published in international journals or conferences, as this is one of the requirements of the PhD Program in Japan. In view of publications, Mr. Budianta believed that his thesis publication in an international conference in Singapore was a key point to his success in application for this program.

Student’s Life in Japan

For those going to study in Japan, Mr. Rachmat Sriwijaya’s story would be worth reading. Mr. Sriwijaya is our PhD scholar from Gadjah Mada University to Tokyo Institute of Technology (TIT) since October 2004.

“I met Prof. Kunio Takahashi from Tokyo Institute of Technology, who later becomes my supervisor, and AUN/SEED-Net officers from Thailand office during a fieldwise seminar, and found out information about the AUN/SEED-Net Scholarship Program for Doctoral Degree in Japan. I decided to apply for this program to Tokyo Tech.

Since students from different countries were thrown together in a strange country where we did not speak and could not understand the language, we needed a good strategy to mitigate the problems we faced in our daily lives. The solution is friends. During your stay in Japan it is the best to take the full opportunity to meet people and make friends. The friendship between students of my dormitory is so strong even though we come from very different cultural, traditional and religious backgrounds. We have Japanese friends who help us with everything that matters under Japanese sun. I have got many friends in Japan, Japanese and non-Japanese, and their friendship is the most valuable thing I am taking back home.

For most international students, coming to Japan is an opportunity to learn more about not only Japanese latest technology but also Japanese culture, history, economy, government and politics. JICA organizes a very interesting and very useful program which is JICA Scholarship Seminar. In this program I met many friends from many different countries, and learned many topics such as Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) policy, cross-cultural understanding, etc.

I was overjoyed to join Tokyo Tech because this university is a leading research university in science and technology. Education and research of Tokyo Tech is well organized. And the curriculum is unique and well planned. In addition, Tokyo Tech has several facilities.

The early days of my study were very difficult. I was not only studying something new in research, but also had new education culture. Fortunately, in the first year, my supervisor gave me a tutor to help my study and daily life in Tokyo Tech.

The academic envir onment in my lab is excellent. The facilities for research are very supporting to my research. Every student in the lab has their own personal computer. I can access many articles from many online journals and I can use equipments for doing my research any time. The lab consists of bachelor, master and doctoral students from China, Spain, Brazil, Laos, Korea, Indonesia and Japan. They are very friendly and very cooperative. We usually discuss about problems in our researches, and try to give solutions for them. In weekly meeting, all of the lab members will present their research progress. The students can ask about their research problems to the advisor, who will help find a way to solve those problems. I was truly able to derive the benefits from these discussions because we were able to exchange thoughts and ideas on topic discussed.

In my opinion, the AUN/SEED-Net scholarship program is very useful to contribute to develop the latest technology in my country and to strengthen human networking of teaching and research staff between my institution and Tokyo Institute of Technology and understanding between people in my country and Japanese.”

AUN/SEED-Net has already announced the PhD Program in Japan for JFY2006 for enrolment during September 2006—March 2007. Interested applicants can download the Implementation Guidelines and Application Form from www.seed-net.org/application_form.html. All applications must be submitted in printed form through the Contact Person of your Sending Institution within October 31, 2005.