University student Tim Mann will be swapping his quiet Woodford home for the hustle and bustle of Japan for nine months.
The 20-year-old University of Western Sydney (UWS) Bachelor of Science (Advanced Science) student is one of just 40 students Australia-wide who have attained a New Colombo Plan international scholarship.
The scholarships allow the students to study at some of Asia's most esteemed universities for up to a year while building their academic knowledge and international connections.
Mr Mann leaves in September and will spend a month brushing up his Japanese at a Japanese language school, before spending a semester at Tsukuba University, at Tsukuba, about an hour north of Tokyo. He hopes to complete his final semester of studies there, before starting a two-month internship at the Riken Brain Science Institute.
Mr Mann said he was torn between climate change science and molecular biology, but loved research science and would be using the skills learnt during his science degree at the brain institute.
"This opportunity is a guiding process to sort out what field to go into," Mr Mann said.
"In the internship I will be gaining practical skills that could be used across many fields.
"It will increase my job prospects and I'm definitely looking forward to going."
As a St Columba's student he attended an environmental conference in Japan on the laidback Okinawa Island, and is keen to experience the faster-paced side of Japan.
"I'm extremely stoked ... and extremely grateful to UWS," Mr Mann said.