Konosuke Matsushita Memorial Foundation Research Grants

Two major objectives of The Konosuke Matsushita Memorial Foundation are:

• To contribute to the society by promoting international understanding
• To realize a society where mankind respects nature and harmonize with it under the concept of "co-existence of nature and mankind"

In line with these objectives, the Foundation provides funds to excellent research activities in the areas of humanities and social science.

Targeted Research

1.Areas of Research

* Research activities in the areas of humanities and social science which are expected to contribute to achieving the goal of the Foundation, by

• promoting "international understanding" by solving various issues which exist between Japan and other nations
• promoting "coexistence of nature and mankind"

The research is required to have global perspective and be based on high social and academic demand.

Pioneering researches based on creative ideas are highly welcome.

(Ineligible Researches)

• Researches aimed at making profit
• Researches which are actually considered to be completed.
• Researches which require a huge amount of research expenses
• Researches whose period is less than 6 months in the grant period

Eligibility and Conditions for Applicants

• Students in doctoral course and researchers within five years after finishing doctoral course,
  who have not received grants from the foundation in the past. (Eligibility is judged by your position at the time of application)
• There are no restrictions concerning nationality, organizations you belong to, or areas of residence.

Outline of the Grants

Number of Grant Recipients

Around 50 students/researchers

Amount of Grants

• The maximum amount of grant per student/researcher is 500,000 yen.
• The amount of each grant will be assessed by the content of each research project and the rationality of its budget.

Term of Grants

Term of grants shall be one year from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020.

Use of Grants

• Grants are to be used for necessary expenses in carrying out and putting research plans in order, and expenses shall be itemized in accordance with the List of Items of Expenditures in a separate page. The applied amount and the itemized budget should always match with each other.
• Expenses required for printing reports, issuing publications, holding symposiums and attending overseas academic conferences for the purpose of opening the results of the research to the public shall not be included in the grants.

Main Duties of the Recipients and Others

• The recipients of the grants shall submit a pledge to the Foundation at the start of the program and report on the process, results and accounts of research upon completion. When the valid reports are not submitted within 6 months after the grants period, we request the recipients to return all the grants they had received.
• In case the expense exceeds 10,000 yen, receipts should be attached to the financial report. Receipts for expenses less than 10,000 yen shall be saved by the end of the grant period in case that the Foundation request to submit.
• Surplus must be returned to the Foundation.
• Please take note in advance that the process and results of the research will be made public through the website of the Foundation.

Selection method and Criteria for screening

Screening Method

• Careful and fair screening will be conducted by the screening committee in mid-July, 2019.

Notice of the result

• The results will be informed to the applicants by e-mail by the beginning of August, 2019. Please understand that the Foundation will not respond to any inquiries regarding the reasons for the results.

Criteria of Screening

In screening, we focus on researches in the areas of humanities and social science which meet the following criteria:

• Research which is in line with the objectives and activities of the Foundation,
• Research which has high social and academic importance
• Research which is creative and pioneering
• Research which will be carried out by highly motivated and competent researchers and with excellent research plans and setups
• Research with rational and appropriate budget plan.

Application Procedures

How to get Application & Recommendation Forms

Please download the forms from our website.

How to apply

• Fill in the application document
• Prepare a letter of recommendation
• Acquire a ""Reference Number"" by registering your application through the website
• Fill in your Reference Number in the specified section o f the application form.(Application forms without Reference Number is INVALID.)
• After filling in, convert the Application forms from xls file to pdf file. Also, convert the letter of recommendation to pdf or jpg file after printing out and getting signature or seal of the recommender. Make sure that all the documents are in "A4" format. (Documents in "Letter" format are not acceptable.)
• Upload application form and letter of recommendation through the website. "Application" and "Recommendation" documents should be uploaded at the same time. In case the recommender prefers to send directly to the Foundation, "Recommendation" letter can be sent by email or by post. In that case, upload a dummy file instead of Recommendation letter and inform the Foundation by email.

The language used for filling in the application form should be either Japanese or English.

Please use PC (Excel) to fill in the form.

The size of the font to be used to fill in No.2, 3, 4, 5 of the Application forms should be larger than 10.5 points.

Application Forms

Form No.1

Applicants must provide the E-mail address to be contacted during the screening period (July - September).

Applicant's signature is strictly required.

Form No.2-4

General purpose as well as the academic and social significance of the research should be specified in the "Purpose of the Research"

Form No.5

Applicants must fill in a summary of their Master thesis. In case they are not required to submit a Master thesis by his/her educational institution, they must provide an alternative summary.

Form No.6

Applicants should refer to the List of Items of Expenditures for Research Grants on the last page of the guidelines when specifying and itemizing budget details.

Form No.7, 8

Applicants must provide the name of a reference person who is a specialist in the area of their research theme. In addition, a letter of recommendation (Form No.8) is required from that person.

The letter of recommendation must be uploaded together with other application forms.

English recommendations can be written in a separate format (letter style), but must not be exceed two pages.

Notes

• Adding pages or attaching materials to the application forms is not accepted.
• Also, use of the formats other than those specified, or use of letters in extremely small font size is not accepted.
• Application forms should be in A-4 size. Documents whose contents are not shown properly when printed out in A-4 size will be INVALID.
  We ask those who usually use Letter size to pay special attention to this matter.
• Incomplete application forms could be excluded from the screening process without notice.
• The application process will be carried out only once a year.

Application period: April 1 (Mon) — May 9 (Thu), 2019

* Application through website will be closed at 11:59 pm. on May 9, 2019.

Inquiries for Applications

If you have any inquiries about the application, please ask by E-mail to the following address. Please show your reference number for the smooth answer after you acquire it.

Please note that the Foundation office will be closed from April 28 to May 6, 2018.

Address

The Konosuke Matsushita Memorial Foundation
1006 Kadoma, Osaka 571-8501, Japan

Tel 81-6-6908-4488

Fax 81-6-6906-4124

E-mail grants@gg.jp.panasonic.com