By FUMIO MASUTANI/ Senior Staff Writer
March 31, 2022 at 18:04 JST
Yasuda Auditorium of the University of Tokyo in the capital’s Bunkyo Ward (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
The University of Tokyo will temporarily accept and offer financial assistance to students and researchers who cannot continue their studies and work because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The national university said it expects to accept dozens of people escaping the conflict through the end of March next year as its first step in offering help.
The program, announced on March 30, will cover students and researchers of any nationality who cannot secure a safe place to study because of the war in Ukraine.
“I hope that our effort will prompt many other universities to take concrete actions (to help them),” said Teruo Fujii, the university’s president.
The students will be considered non-regular university learners and will be instructed by the university’s teaching personnel. But they will not be given academic degrees.
Researchers will be unpaid but will receive assistance so they can continue to work on their current study projects.
The students and researchers can apply for graduate courses or special programs offered by research institutes, which are posted on the university’s website. If their applications pass through the screening, they can join the aid program.
The university will cover the cost of traveling to Japan as well as living expenses of about 80,000 yen ($656) per month for up to one year to those accepted into the program. It will also offer its dormitory rooms to them free of charge.
The university also aims to provide them with opportunities to learn the Japanese language and receive counseling.
It said that it will need as much as 100 million yen, possibly more, for the program.
The university is planning to use its own financial resources for the time being, but it has established an emergency humanitarian aid fund and is seeking donations to secure the funding.
“This is the first time our university is doing something like this, so some of our efforts will be trial and error,” Fujii said.
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