4 Next Step Research Grant

Nurturing female leaders

Academic staff(females only)(1) Aim
Women who are top leaders in global academic circles are strongly expected to continuously explore
and implement new research topics and publish the results of their research, while also carrying out
the responsibility of acquiring external funding. The first essential step is applying for KAKENHI grants,
but sometimes this funding cannot be received for the academic year where it is needed. This programprovides women researchers who could not receive external funding with single-year grants to helpthem launch their research project and refine its content, and thus put them in a better position to
successfully apply for external funding for the following year.
(2) Program details(2nd period)
Funds are provided to help researchers carry out new research projects without other sources ofexternal funding, gather data, and publish research outcomes.
· The grant provides awardees who applied but were not accepted for KAKENHI funding with up to
500,000 yen/year if their KAKENHI assessment rating was A or B, or with up to 150,000 yen/year if
their rating was C. The amount may be reduced depending on budgetary circumstances and amounts
awarded under other programs.
· A second call for applications is tentatively scheduled for September, but may be cancelleddepending on the number of grants awarded in the first period and on the remaining budget. Those
who received the grant for the first period are not eligible to apply for the second period.
· The grant is intended to offset expenses directly essential to the implementation of research, such as
the following:- Registration fees for participation in academic conferences.
- Purchase of equipment/supplies necessary for performing research; honoraria and othercompensation to assistants, subjects, etc.
- Expenses essential to publication of research, such as article submission fees and English
proofreading fees
- Travel expenses necessary for carrying out the research project.
(3) Eligibility to apply
Female academic staff of Tohoku University (associate professor, senior assistant professor, assistantprofessor, research associate, JSPS Research Fellowships for Young Scientists （PD/RPD/CPD）),
whose principal duties are with Tohoku University.*1 This excludes specially appointed professors(management) and those whose employment is 100% funded by external sources and who are obliged
to exclusively serve the organization providing the funding.
*1 Excluding employees serving under the cross-appointment system and others whose principal

employer is an organization other than Tohoku University.
· Those who have competitive funds (including university expenses) totaling 2 million yen or more in
the relevant academic year are ineligible.
· Applicants need to have unsuccessfully applied for FY2024 KAKENHI grants, and received anassessment rating of A, B, or C.
· However, those who applied for multiple FY2024 KAKENHI grants and were awarded at least one areineligible.
· Those who applied for multiple FY2024 KAKENHI grants and had not received an assessment rating
for at least one application as of the first period deadline can apply for the Next Step Research Grant’s
second period, provided that the ratings for their unsuccessful KAKENHI applications were A, B, or C.
· Applications made not be made for both this grant and the Start-up Research Costs grant at the sametime.
· Those whose employment is 100% externally funded may apply for this grant, provided that thefunding source does not require them to focus exclusively on the funded project, and instead allows
them to also engage in independent research efforts at their discretion.

· If many applications are received, preference will be given to departments with a low proportion offemale academic staff.

(4) Application forms· Attachment 4: Application for Next Step Research Grant: 2024 Academic Year (2nd period)· Attachment 8: Survey of Cooperation in Gender Equality Activities· Document showing result of FY2024 KAKENHI grant application review (assessment rating &average score of individual criteria)(5) Deadline for submission of application
Friday, September 6, 2024
(6) Where to submit application· Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Tohoku University (DEI Center)· Fill out the relevant Google form and submit it to the DEI Center along with all required attachments(in PDF format).
· ▶Google Form：https://forms.gle/UPzPvwwq5HnjQV64A(7) Application screening· Documents will be examined by the screening panel within the DEI Center.
· During the screening process, you may be asked to prepare and submit additional documents orcome for an interview.
· Selections are scheduled to be announced in mid- September 2024. The scheduled date for
disbursing the funds is October 1, 2024.
· Applications will be evaluated based on the KAKENHI ratings and average scores of the individual
criteria. Awardees will be selected from the top-ranked applicants.
(8) Year-end report
The awardee shall prepare a report, as separately prescribed, at the end of the academic year.
(9) Other information· The awardee shall, as far as possible, cooperate with the following types of requests regarding thepromotion of DEI by the Committee for DEI Promotion and the DEI Center (may be taken into
consideration in the selection process):
Participation in symposiums and seminars, poster presentations, responding to questionnaires,
writing articles/comments for public-relations materials, and other requests.
· When announcing the results of research made possible by this program, the awardee must clearly
acknowledge assistance provided under the program. (Please refer to the attachment “Q&A” for apractical example.