Vulcanus in Japan

The Vulcanus in Japan programme is an industry-oriented student exchange program for EU students. It was established in 1997 by the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation, a joint venture between the European Commission and the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Its main objective is to promote industrial cooperation between European and Japanese companies.

Not to be confused with Volcanoes in Japan.

Goals

The Vulcanus in Japan programme consists of industrial placements for EU students. The participants are selected from among the best applicants (about 40 out of more than 1000 applicants each year). To be eligible, students must be in the last year of their undergraduate studies or following a postgraduate course in the fields of Engineering, Science or Architecture. The final objective is to train a pool of future executives capable of interacting socially and professionally with Japanese people, by familiarizing them with the Japanese corporate culture.

Students

The table shows the number of participants for each year by country, as well as the total number of participants, since the beginning of the Vulcanus in Japan programme.

Number of participants per year and country
Country1997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015 2016Total
Austria Austria 0001110001201000000 07
Belgium Belgium 1100131121100000314 222
Bulgaria Bulgaria 0000000000100001013 17
Croatia Croatia 0000000000000000031 37
Cyprus Cyprus 0000000000000000010 01
Czech Republic Czech Republic 0000000120002110110 09
Denmark Denmark 1010010000000000001 04
Estonia Estonia 0000000000011010000 03
Finland Finland 1101111032111010112 019
France France 2222134755225200113 150
Germany Germany 0022014011210030033 326
Greece Greece 1101110000100120011 212
Hungary Hungary 0000000011111012101 010
Republic of Ireland Ireland 2110000000100000001 06
Italy Italy 110231322791010831147 378
Latvia Latvia 0000000010000010010 03
Lithuania Lithuania 0000000212102122011 015
Malta Malta 0000000010000100001 03
Netherlands Netherlands 1213000001100010001 213
North Macedonia North Macedonia 000000000000000000011
Poland Poland 00000003346810358295 571
Portugal Portugal 1100011113100201022 118
Romania Romania 0000000000003242111 115
Slovakia Slovakia 0000000103200001300 010
Slovenia Slovenia 0000000000000101012 16
Spain Spain 12222210586710103219114 6103
Sweden Sweden 1112222100000000100 114
Turkey Turkey 000000000000000000011
United Kingdom United Kingdom 1200000003110430111 018
European Union Total 14151016121726243140403546293020254445 34553

Requirements

To be eligible, students must meet the following requirements:

  • be an EU citizen;
  • be registered at an EU university on a postgraduate or undergraduate course in at least the fourth year;
  • be able to take a year out;
  • be a student in one of the following fields:

High proficiency in the English language is a sine qua non-requirement for applicants.

None of the work performed by a participant in a hosting company, even related to research activities, can be used as thesis material.

Application and selection

The selection of participants is performed in two steps:

First, around 120 preselected students (out of 1000+) will be chosen based on the documents provided (see below). In the second phase, the final decisions are taken by the host companies.

The first selection is performed by judging the following documents, which are required for the application:

Students' international profiles, motivation and technical skills will be the critical information in the above list of documents.

After the first selection is performed, the students are given a list of host companies from which they may pick one or two — one being already chosen by the judging board. Then the applicants must write a dedicated motivation letter for each of the host companies, which will be sent directly to the human resource department of the company. These companies perform the final selection.

Content of the programme

All the participants in the Vulcanus in Japan programme follow:

  • A four-month intensive Japanese language course, which is supplemented by
  • seminars related to Japan (culture, society, economy, history, etc.)
  • company and factory visits
  • cultural activities
  • an eight-month internship in a Japanese company

Japanese language course

As Japanese language proficiency is not a requirement for the applicants (even if appreciated), the first part of the Vulcanus in Japan programme consists of a four-month intensive Japanese language course, at the rate of 5–6 hours per day, five days a week, taught by the teachers of a private Japanese language school. Participants who have never learned Japanese are provided with the basic knowledge useful for daily life in Japan and basic communication in a Japanese company. During the language course, students learn about the language and Japanese culture, history, living habits, etc.

Participants with some Japanese language skills follow classes adapted to their level.

Seminars

During the first four months of the program, participants follow seminars of about 3 hours each, led by teachers from renowned universities or companies. These seminars are related to Japanese culture, society, economy and history, and help the participants to understand the country better.

Company and factory visits

Depending on the programme year, visits to leading companies are organized by the program for the participants to study and learn about the Japanese industry. Here is a non-exhaustive list of the companies and factories visited in the past:

Cultural activities

Some of the cultural activities are organized by the EU-Japan Centre, and some by the schools organizing the language courses. They include:

Activities vary depending on the year of participation, but they are intended for participants to learn more about Japanese culture.

Internship

The internships start in January and last till August. Placement, accommodation, tasks and schedules vary greatly and depend on the hosting company. During the internship students are required to write monthly reports to keep track of their records.

All participants receive information on local Japanese language schools, but the continuation of language studies is voluntary.

Scholarship

Each participant is awarded a scholarship. Until 2008/2009, the amount was €15,000 for one year. After the economic crisis, from 2009/2010 the scholarship is given in yen, and the amount has been set at ¥2,000,000. Starting with the 2013/2014 session, the scholarship amount has been reduced to ¥1,900,000. It covers the round-trip plane ticket to Japan and living expenses.

Housing is provided and financed by the hosting company for the whole duration of the program. The Japanese language course is financed by the programme.

See also
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.