JSPS FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM┋SHORT-TERM INVITATIONAL FELLOWSHIPS

To provide opportunities for overseas researchers with excellent records of research achievements to visit Japan short-term for discussions, opinion exchanges, lectures, and other activities.

DURATION OF FELLOWSHIPS

14 to 60 days

An extension of the fellowship tenure will not be authorized under any circumstances.

• Note 1: The fellowship period covers the period from the day a fellow coming from abroad arrives at an airport in Japan, which is the day that the fellowship starts, to the day that the fellow departs from an airport in Japan, which is the day that the fellowship ends. (This does not apply to fellows who reside in Japan before or after the fellowship period.)
• Note 2: As a fellow’s tenure may start anytime during the period stated in the application guidelines, there are cases when it will end in the following fiscal year.
• Note 3: The fellow must reside in Japan continuously over the duration of the fellowship. The duration of the fellowship may not be divided into multiple stays.

APPLICATION DEADLINES and APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF FELLOWSHIPS AWARDED

The deadlines for host institutions to apply to JSPS are as follows. Each host institution may have its own application deadline, which can be more than one month before the deadline set by JSPS. Applicants (host researcher) should check the deadlines with the staff of the host institution in advance.

1st Recruitment

• Application Deadline: September 27, 2024
• Period for publishing selection results: Early January 2025
• Periods for arrival in Japan: April 1, 2025- March 31, 2026
• Approximate number of fellowships awarded: 20

2nd Recruitment

• Application Deadline: January 10, 2025
• Period for publishing selection results: Middle of May 2025
• Periods for arrival in Japan: August 1, 2025- March 31, 2026
• Approximate number of fellowships awarded: 20

3rd Recruitment

• Application Deadline: June 7, 2025
• Period for publishing selection results: Late September 2025
• Periods for arrival in Japan: December 1, 2025 - March 31, 2026
• Approximate number of fellowships awarded: 20

*JSPS Electronic Application System will be available for use approximately two months before the application deadlines set by JSPS.

*The approximate number of fellowships to be awarded are subject to change for budgetary reasons.

APPLICANT (Host Researcher) ELIGIBILITY

Persons are eligible to apply who satisfy the following two conditions at the time of application, selection, and during the fellowship period.

1. Be affiliated with a research institution specified in Article 2* of the Procedure for the Handling of Grantsin-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI), issued by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), and be eligible to apply for a KAKENHI grant, and wish to host an overseas researcher.
2. Be a full-time researcher. However, researchers who are not employed full time may be eligible if the host institution judges them able to execute their responsibility to carrying out the program uninterruptedly throughout the fellow’s tenure including providing them a suitable research environment (e.g. laboratory, space, facilities and personnel) in the same way that a full-time researcher would be able to do.

Eligible host institutions specified under the above MEXT Procedure are as follows:

• Universities and inter-university research institutes
• MEXT-affiliated institutions engaged in research
• Colleges of technology
• Institutions designated by the Minister of MEXT

CANDIDATE (Invited Overseas Researcher) ELIGIBILITY

Persons are eligible to apply who satisfy the following two conditions from 1 April 2024 and during the fellowship period.

1. Be a citizen or permanent resident of a country that has diplomatic relations with Japan. (Taiwan and Palestine are treated in this manner.) Persons of Japanese nationality are eligible to apply if they have resided at the time of application in a foreign country for 10 years or longer and are judged at a host research institution to have played an active role in that country’s scientific community.
2. Be a full-time researchers or person with full-time researcher status at a university or research institution in a foreign country and have a position equivalent to a professor, associate professor or assistant professor in Japan (including positions such as professor emeritus). Researchers of other status may apply if it has been six years or longer since they obtained their doctoral degree and the host research institution judges them to have continuously conduct research at a foreign university or research institution.

Note: Candidates (invited overseas researchers) selected under the first recruitment for either [L] or [S] fellowships may not apply for an [S] fellowship under the second recruitment of the same fiscal year.

TERMS OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT

The amounts of financial support are as follows. They are subject to change for budgetary reasons.

• Airfare: A roundtrip air ticket (economy-class) (based on JSPS’s regulations)
• Maintenance Allowance: ¥18,000 per day
• Overseas travel insurance
• Research support allowance: Up to ¥150,000

(Application is made by the applicant (host researcher) through their institution.)

Note: For candidates (invited overseas researcher) who are in Japan before the fellowship starting date, “airfare” for the flight to Japan will not be paid.