This award will support study of the Japanese language by an American scientist or engineer by providing a stipend, tuition, or other course-related expenses. The objectives of the program are to enable active U.S. scientists and engineers to acquire sufficient familiarity with the language and customs of Japan to allow them to function independently there and/or to acquire sufficient expertise in reading Japanese to be able to understand technical abstracts in their field of interest. There is a critical need for more effective technical communication between American and Japanese researchers. This award is intended to help remove language and cultural barriers to U.S.- Japanese cooperative research and to facilitate science and technology exchange.
