In 2010 the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is again offering the chance for PhD students to enhance their research with time in Japan.

Opportunities now exist for a number of PhD students, currently funded by the AHRC, to undertake short-term placements with the National Institutes for the Humanities (NIHU), Japan, during 2010 as part of a joint UK/Japan Short-term Fellowship Programme.

Thanks to the AHRC/NIHU Memorandum of Understanding AHRC-funded postgraduates can have access to the world-class facilities that exist in NIHU institutions. The scholarships can last between three and six months, depending on the time required to complete the proposed research.  Each fellowship needs to take place between 1 October 2010 and 30 September 2011.

The successful applicants will receive a contribution towards their flights costs and a monthly allowance in addition to their normal monthly stipend paid as part of their award holder funding.

NIHU consists of six Inter-University Research Institutes that support comprehensive academic research on culture and the humanities. They are:

• National Museum of Japanese History
• National Institute of Japanese Literature
• International Research Centre for Japanese Studies
• Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
• National Museum of Ethnology
• National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics

These institutes offer high quality research facilities for scholars with an interest in exploiting the extensive collections they hold. Previous successful researchers have used their time in Japan to study:

• Interpreting Japan: Central European Architecture and Design 1920-1940
• The Influence of Japanese Culture on Roland Barthes' Photobiographies
• The Deutsche Werkbund: Historicism, Classicism and Aesthetic Experience in Modernity
• HIV/AIDS in Japan - A Health Promotion Perspective

Please see our website for further details, including awarded projects and application materials.

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AHRC Media Contact Jake Gilmore j.gilmore@ahrc.ac.uk  Tel: 0797 099 4586

Notes to Editors
 
Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC):  Each year the AHRC provides approximately £102 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,350 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK

The National Institutes for the Humanities (NIHU) Japan, is one of the Inter-University Research Institute Corporations, was established in 2004. It consists of six research institutes, namely the National Museum of Japanese History, the National Institute of Japanese Literature, the International Research Center for Japanese Studies, the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, the National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics and the National Museum of Ethnology. These six research institutes have transcended their traditional fields of study and joined together, and by also bringing nature and environment into view, formed the center of a comprehensive research program on culture and the humanities. By creating a new paradigm from such cooperation, NIHU is trying to deal with the difficult issue of the 21st century in which nature and the historical actions of mankind have become inextricably linked on a global scale.