Comparison of Masters in Japan and India - Part 3
Rahul Maroju Updated in November 2023

In this final column comparing Masters in my alma mater, I would like to provide details about the scholarships, research, evaluation, and jobs.

IIT Hyderabad Mess Building
Photo: Rahul Maroju

Scholarship:

In India IITH (India Institute of Technology Hyderabad), generally there is only one type of scholarship for Masters – TA/RA stipend which will be provided to all the students by MHRD (Ministry of Human Resource Development). In exceptional cases if the student receives another financial aid, this MHRD funding shall be stopped.
In UTokyo (University of Tokyo), the student must apply for a scholarship on their own. There are various scholarships in the university, department, laboratory, as well as external scholarships.

Grading:

In IITH, there are several levels of grades from 4 to 10 points. A grade point average will be calculated at the end and mentioned in the transcript.
In UTokyo, there are only 3 grades – A, B and C with 3, 2 and 1 points respectively. Only the individual grades of the courses will be displayed without the grade point average. Japanese schools give less importance to grades right from their early education!

Research:

In both these universities, a great emphasis is laid on the quality of research. Most of the laboratories are well equipped to not hinder the research progress. Additional requirements can be accommodated by obtaining consent from the supervisor. A good proportion of master’s students succeed in publishing their work in reputed journals or conferences. Generally, their expenses will be paid by the university or laboratory to encourage students to showcase their research.

Student exchange programs:

In IITH, exchange programs for master’s students are extremely rare. However, due to collaborative programs between Indian and Japanese universities, some students from IITH visit Japanese universities, including UTokyo to pursue internships during their vacation.
In UTokyo, there are some opportunities for “Study Abroad Programs” with various countries, especially in Asia. Many of them are conducted during the vacation to not interrupt the classes.

University jobs:

In IITH, as a part of MHRD TA funding, the student is expected to work as a teaching assistant for few courses.
In UTokyo, getting an opportunity to work as a teaching assistant in English is rare. There will be some vacancy information posted on notice boards and emails. Mostly, these are for undergraduate courses in Japanese. However, there will be some opportunities to participate in research surveys which shall be paid.

Evaluation:

In IITH and UTokyo, a final presentation should be given to a panel of Professors, who evaluate and submit their final grade. The supervisor provides necessary support for this preparation. Also, a thesis must be submitted to complete the program.

Jobs after study:

In IITH, all students including the master’s students are eligible to participate in the university placement activities. Companies come to hire students directly from the university after conducting written tests and interviews.
In UTokyo, companies don’t come to the university directly to hire students. However, many reputed organizations conduct job fairs where they provide all the necessary details for the students to apply. After that, it is the student’s responsibility to apply for the jobs and cooperate with the respective companies.

University of Tokyo Gate
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