Pursuing a machine learning PhD while working in Japan: a Google engineer's MEXT scholarship experience

US engineer Marco Cognetta, while employed at Google, completed a PhD in computer science at Tokyo Institute of Technology (now Institute of Science Tokyo) through the MEXT scholarship, researching on-device language models for keyboards. Japan's student visa allows application for work permission from the first day of enrollment, with a weekly limit of 28 hours during term and 8 hours per day during long vacations, and Japan's doctoral system typically graduates in three years.