SYLFF at the University of the Western Cape
The University of the Western Cape (UWC) received the SYLFF endowment fund of US $1 million in 1995. UWC has further instituted “Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Programme” to operate and generate fellowships from the reserves or interest accrued from the endowment.
The objective of the Programme is to support the education of students enrolled in Masters and Doctoral degree programmes in the social sciences and humanities at UWC with high potential for leadership in national, regional and international affairs, in public life as well as in private endeavours, by awarding fellowships.
The Programme focuses on masters and doctoral students majoring in art, education, law, economics, social management sciences, dentistry, and whose research topic falls into the theme Social Transformation.
Since 2012, UWC has awarded fellowships to doctoral students in their first or second year of study.
Following procedure is being followed for selection of SYLFF Fellows
• The Call for applications for the Fellowship opens in January of each academic year.
The Steering Committee
• The Steering Committee finally approves the SYLFF fellowship awards annually. The Committee meets with the Tokyo Foundation every two years to discuss the endowment and to meet with SYLFF Fellows.
Steering Committee is composed of:
• Chair: Deputy Vice Chancellor Student development and Support
• Director of Postgraduate Studies/Chair of the Senate Scholarships and Fellowships Committee and SYLFF administrator corresponding with the Tokyo Foundation and responsible for the fellowship disbursement and reporting.
• Director of International Relations/Chair of Senate International Relations Committee
• Institutional Planner/ Executive assistant to the Rector
• Manager Financial Aid
• Executive Director Finance
The Selections Committee:
• Role: Advertise the call for scholarships and provide the shortlist of candidates for approval to the Steering Committee.
• Selections committee is composed of:
• Chair: Director of Postgraduate Studies/Chair of the Senate Scholarships and Fellowships Committee
• Representative from the office of the Director of International Relations
• Faculty representatives (2 or more depending on the faculties we receive applications from) from the Senate Scholarships and Fellowships Committee
• After a thorough screening of applications, the Steering committee recommends nominees to the Steering Committee for final approval.
Application period: January to February each year
Closing Date: March each year
Awards allocated: May of each year
SYLFF international official websites: For more information on SYLFF and the Tokyo Foundation see the websites below.
Tokyo Foundation Sylff (fellowships)
Tokyo Foundation
The various support programs offered by the Foundation, aims to facilitate Sylff fellows’ academic advancement, leadership development and networking among one another. It consists of the following:
1. Sylff Research Abroad (SRA)
2. Sylff Leadership Initiatives (SLI)
3. Sylff Fellows Forum- under construction