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Student Guide

NII International Internship Program in Japan

The National Institute of Informatics in Japan offers research internships to doctoral students and research-oriented master students studying at the School of Electrical Engineering or the School of Science.
NII Interns

What is NII?

National Institute of Informatics (NII), established in April 2000 from the reorganization of RCLIS and NACSIS, both laboratories of the University of Tokyo, is the Inter-University National Research Institute dedicated to Informatics. From the basic theory of informatics to cutting-edge fields such as AI, big data, IoT, and information security, NII carries out long-term basic research as well as practical studies that attempt to address current social issues. NII undertakes diverse services, including development and operation of the Science Information NETwork (SINET) and other essential scientific information infrastructures used by the academic community in Japan. Furthermore, NII is engaged in graduate education with the aim of fostering original world-class academic research and pioneering advanced fields of study.

NII hosts 140 foreign Ph.D. and Master students every year via the NII International Internship Program.

The internship program

The NII International Internship Program is an exchange activity with NII and its partner universities. The selected students will work on a research topic chosen among a list proposed by NII researchers. The working language is English.

At Aalto, the program is open to master and doctoral students in the School of Electrical Engineering and the School of Science. During the internship, master students can work on their master's thesis or some other research project. It is recommended that also master students have experience in conducting research.

The duration of the internship is 2-6 months (60-165 days excluding travel days). Students have to be enrolled as attending at Aalto for the full duration of the internship.

National Institute of Informatics building
National Institute of Informatics, Tokyo

Application instructions (1st call 2026)

The application to NII internships is open twice a year. NII does not accept direct applications. Therefore, Aalto University pre-selects and nominates students for the internships after which NII makes the final selection decisions.

Aalto application period for the 1st call 2026 is open and ends on 26 March 2026 at 4 p.m.

Before applying in the internal Aalto application, read first the instructions on this page and on NII's webpage for the current open call: .

Applicants select up to three research topics from the list provided by NII and rank these in their preferred order. Applicants are asked to contact NII supervisors directly beforehand to discuss the possibility of working on the research topic they are interested in.

Available internship places and funding

For the 1st call of 2026, Aalto can nominate up to three students. The internship should be completed before 31 March 2027.

NII offers interns a perdiem of ¥5,700 /day (around ¥170,000 month ~ €1000).

Master students can apply for additional TECH internship grant from Aalto. See the links below. Doctoral students agree with their supervising Aalto professor and HR about their salary during their stay at NII.

Application documents and selection process

To apply, students need to provide the following documents:

  • filled out NII internship program application form (found on the NII website above)
  • transcript of records from Sisu
  • CV indicating clearly all past employment and educational history
  • evidence of the correspondence with potential NII supervisor(s) (email correspondence)

Send the documents above by email to karoliina.kekko@aalto.fi by 26 March 2026 at 4 p.m. (Finnish time). Write "NII internship application" as the subject line.

The best applicants are invited for interviews that are conducted between 30 March and 8 April.

Practical matters

More information

See also

Student guide illustration, internship

TECH international internship

Information on international internship and scholarships for students of technology (CHEM, ELEC, ENG, SCI)

Other studies
Student guide illustration, internship

Internship reports

Reports written by students who have taken an internship abroad

Other studies
Student guide illustration, internship

How to make the most of your international internship

Make the most of your internship abroad

Other studies
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