Apply Now (UTRIP 2027)

Eligibility & Requirements

Applicants for UTRIP must:

• Have completed at least one full year in a Bachelor's degree program at the time of application.
• Be enrolled in and, after participating in UTRIP, be expected to return to, a Bachelor's degree program (or a Bachelor's-equivalent year of an integrated Bachelor's-Master's degree program) at a university outside of Japan. (At selection, the priority for nomination is given to applicants currently in their third year of a four-year Bachelor's degree program and to applicants expected to be in their second year of a three-year Bachelor's degree program. Students in other years are also encouraged to apply.)
• Be enrolled in a natural science or related field.
• Be thinking of pursuing long-term career goals in a scientific area.
• Be planning to commit to the entire six consecutive weeks of the UTRIP program on a full-time basis.
• Be able to present coverage of a health insurance plan that is effective during the internship program before arriving in Japan.
• English proficiency: test scores of TOEFL or an equivalent English proficiency test (such as IELTS) are required if English is not your first language. Test scores that have already expired are accepted, as long as the applicant is still able to produce proof of the test scores upon request by the UTRIP office. Students who have received an English-medium education continuously for the past 8 years are exempted from submitting English proficiency test scores.

Application procedure

All required documents (1.～5. below) are required to be submitted online. Please note that original official transcripts will be required for enrollment purposes if applicants are successfully selected for UTRIP. Please contact us if you have any technical difficulties.

1. Application information
   Prior to submitting your application, make sure to review the list of Hosting Labs & Project Topics / Faculty Members & Topics to identify a hosting lab and project of your interest. The applicant selects up to two hosting labs and indicates the order of preference in the online application.
   See project reports of the past programs, which demonstrate the depth and level of achievement made by former participants, in our archives under “Past UTRIP”.
2. Personal information
   You are required to state general information in your profile. As we rely mainly on email to communicate with all applicants, please include a current email address on your application and be sure to promptly respond to all correspondence. Please also note that the Corresponding Address will be used for important and time-sensitive matters, so you should enter an address where you can be sure to receive shipments throughout March to June, 2027.
3. Personal statement
   Address the following topics in 700 - 1000 words in total:
   • Your reasons for selecting the particular research project(s) in the UTRIP program, and what you hope to gain from this experience
   • What makes you qualified for the particular research project(s), briefly highlighting your skills and experience when they are specifically required by the faculty member(s) of your choice, or when they appear to be helpful to conduct research in the laboratory(ies) that you have selected
   • Whether you are thinking of applying to the Graduate School of Science at the University of Tokyo after you graduate from your current university, citing your reasons
4. Educational background and qualifications

   Resume / CV
   This should include in-depth descriptions of any work experience, responsibilities or projects relevant to the research topic on which you wish to work during the program. It should also list recent schools attended (high school, university, etc.) together with year/month of entrance and completion for each, and briefly explain courses you have taken or will take as well as prizes and awards relevant to the research topic, if you have any.

   Scanned copy of academic transcript
   Submit a scanned copy of the official university transcript(s). A transcript must include:

   • Your name
   • University name
   • Year of admission
   • List of courses completed (Course titles, grades and credits should be included)
   • Legend (An official explanation of the grading system provided by the university; if this is not included in the official transcript, you may scan in together a separate official document to supplement your transcript.)
   When applying, please submit a scanned or electronic copy of your academic transcript. We will request an official academic record in its original copy (with an official stamp affixed and authorized signature) after your acceptance into the UTRIP program.

   GPA
   Applicants whose universities provide official GPA scores must write those scores.
   If your university does not provide an official GPA score, you are required to calculate your own GPA and then describe the calculation in the "Notes" section.

   English language qualifications
   Applicants who speak English as their first language OR those that have received an English-medium education continuously for the past 8 years are exempted from submitting the test scores.

   All other applicants must fill in their test scores of TOEFL or an equivalent English proficiency test (such as IELTS), and submit a scanned copy of the official test score certificate. Test scores that have already expired are accepted, as long as the applicant is still able to produce an original-copy proof of the test scores upon request by the UTRIP office.

5. Supporting documents
   Recommender information
   You are required to submit one recommendation letter issued by a professor who knows your educational background in the field of natural science and your academic performance and can make an informed judgment on your suitability for the research project with which you wish to work. Talk to your recommender BEFORE you submit your application and ask them to write a recommendation letter for you. When you send in your online application, a notification email will be automatically sent to your recommender, asking them to send us their recommendation letter through another online submission page. Make sure to check in with your recommender to confirm that they have received this link, as an automated email can often be mistakenly sorted by a spam filter. For your application to become valid, your recommender also needs to complete the online recommendation form by 17:00 Japan Standard Time (GMT+0900) on December 25, 2026. Recommendation letters sent by email will not be accepted. In case of technical difficulties, recommenders must contact us in time for us to send them an alternative method of recommendation form submission.

Online Application Form

Make sure that you have all the above information and materials ready at hand when you submit your online application. There are no "save" functions on this application system. Note that each applicant is responsible for the completeness of his or her own application. We cannot respond to any inquiries asking whether any specific applications submitted on our system have been judged to be valid.

The system closes at 17:00 Japan Standard Time (GMT+0900) on December 25, 2026.

Selection

Selection will be made based on all of your submitted documents.

Selected students will receive a notification from the UTRIP office around mid-to-late March, asking them to confirm their willingness to participate in the UTRIP program by a specified date. Make sure that you check your emails regularly, and that emails from are not treated as spam by your spam filter.

Contact

All matters related to UTRIP application should be addressed to:

Before asking questions, please first read through our Frequently Asked Questions page, which may give you your answers right away.

*Note that, due to the large number of emails we receive and our limited capacity, we will only reply to inquiries related to applications and recommendations that arrive before noon Japan Standard Time (GMT+0900) on Wednesday, December 23, 2026.