2

I am a Computer Engineering Student in AI and Cybersecurity. I would like to do my thesis in Japan, with the goal of staying there to pursue a PhD or work afterward. I am having serious trouble finding a professor in Japan who can supervise my thesis. I have sent many emails to different places but have never received a response, and I don't know why. I am using my university email, and in the email, I briefly explain my intentions and include my CV, but I don't even receive a 'no, thank you.' Is this normal in Japan? I asked my professors if they knew any professors there, but unfortunately, they don’t. Would someone explain to me what I’m doing wrong?

Update: i got an not official offer by one of 3 top uni in japan.

Improve this question
3
  • Related, albeit for PhD rather than master's, which may be quite different: How does the admissions process work for Ph.D. programs in Country X?
    – cag51 ♦
    Commented Sep 20 at 15:58
  • 1
    Why do you want to do a degree in Japan? Do you have some connection there? Are you writing emails in Japanese?
    – Kimball
    Commented Sep 22 at 15:30
  • As @Kimball commented, at least in mathematics, in Japan, the style is to do things in Japanese. (Fair enough, after all! Seriously!) But/and, then, if people there do not see you as fitting into that culture, ...
    – paul garrett
    Commented Oct 31 at 23:01

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
6

@Buffy's answer is correct, so let me just add the following: I get emails about someone from abroad wanting to work with me/do a MSc or PhD with me about 3-4 times a week. It is not possible for me to meaningfully engage with every one of these people, and that is partly due to the fact that most of them want to work on things that are at best marginally related to what I do. There is also little I can do about these emails because if you want to be a graduate student in my department, you have to apply to the department, not to individual professors -- in other words, all I can do is send back an email say "please apply to my department; instructions are online". I actually do write essentially these words back to everyone who asks, but I can't blame my colleagues who given the frequency of these emails just hit the "Delete" button every time.

Improve this answer
2
  • Thank you for your response, I appreciate your honesty. In the emails I sent, I mentioned the possibility of pursuing a PhD with them, but my primary goal was to complete a master's thesis. I first reviewed their publications to ensure they aligned with my areas of interest, and then I asked, in a general sense, if they had any topics they could suggest. Do you think asking about a thesis in this manner was inappropriate at this stage, or do you generally disregard this type of request as well?
    – Andrea
    Commented Sep 21 at 22:05
  • 2
    @Andrea This is pretty much exactly how half of the emails I get look like. (The other half is generic and the person asking did not take a look at the specifics of my work.) I don't think your emails were inappropriate, I just think that this approach is ineffective. Cold-emailing in general seems in effective to me. The only thing that I imagine works is via personal contacts.
    – Wolfgang Bangerth
    Commented Sep 22 at 3:32
1

I don't know specifically about Japan, but it sounds like the typical practice of ignoring most cold emails. People are busy. Especially if you try to flood them with information in a first contact it is all to easy to trash a message.

If you are trying to specify a particular thesis topic and will accept no substitutes, then that is also working against you. Most such things require some negotiation and fining a mutually suitable topic.

Make sure you understand the rules about masters admission. Is it necessary to have a designated advisor to apply, as it generally is for doctoral admission? If not, you can just enroll in a program that seems suitable and seek an advisor thereafter. If that is the case, examine the faculty interests at a few places and choose a place that has more than one potential advisor whose interests overlap with yours.

One way to reach out to professors is to do it indirectly. If you have a trusted professor or advisor they can introduce you to others within their circle of contacts. An introductory letter from a colleague, with a short recommendation, is harder to dismiss than a cold email from an unknown person. Since you indicate that your professors don't have such a circle, this is less possible, but not impossible. A letter that introduces themself to someone, saying how they are professionally connected (common interests) along with an introduction of yourself, is still better than a cold mail from you. The better known the letter writer, the better, of course.

Improve this answer
2
  • Thank you for your reply. If my professors can’t introduce me to anyone within that circle, what would you suggest as the best way to proceed? Would a short, direct approach like "Hello Professor...., I’m interested in your research on [...]. Would you be open to discussing a potential collaboration for my thesis?" be more effective for increasing my chances of getting a response from Japanese professors?
    – Andrea
    Commented Sep 20 at 15:30
  • My guess is that a short introduction like that is better than a long one. But my guess is also that they are easy to ignore. But you can only do wha you can do.
    – Buffy
    Commented Sep 20 at 15:31

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .