Europe-Japan Research Cooperation
Programs at JST
Osamu KOBAYASHI

Director, Department of International Affairs
Japan Science and Technology Agency

1. International Cooperation
andCooperation Programs with Europe2Why International Cooperation?

To maintain Japanese R&D’s leading
position in the global flow of knowledge
and to increase the probability ofinnovation3

Typical Joint-Funding Scheme of JST
Japan(MEXT)

Agreement

Notice(Country &Field ofCooperation)

JST

Notice(Implementation
Policy)Agreement

SupportCounterpart
Funding Agency(Joint Call, Joint Review,
Joint Interview etc.)

Proposal

Researchers(Japan)

Ministry ofCounterpart Country

Support
Proposal(1) Research Exchange(2) Joint ResearchResearchers(Counterpart Country)

Strategic International Cooperative Research Program (SICORP)
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JST-EC cooperation under Horizon 2020EC
HORIZON 2020

JSTSICORP
Application

Application
Consortium A

Consortium BEU1Japan
1EU2Japan
2EU
12Consortium C

Call on“Technologies for first responders”（2018－2020）(field: Protection against disasters)5

Programs designed for multilateral cooperation

http://www.concert-japan.eu/

6European Interest Group (EIG) CONCERT-Japan◼ CONCERT-Japan began as an ERA-NET project for international researchcooperation activities under the FP7.
◼ After the conclusion of the initial projects in December 2014, its activities
continued under the new name of European Interest Group (EIG) CONCERTJapan funded by participating funding institutions.
EIG CONCERT-Japan
ERA-NET CONCERT-Japan
2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

6th Joint Call: Smart Water Management for Sustainable Society
Support period:
Participating Funding Institutions:
3 years
Japan: JST
Germany: BMBF
Scale of support:
approx. 50,000 EUR (6-7 M JPY)/year,
Bulgaria: BNSF
Lithuania: MITA
per project
Application period:
Czech Rep: MEYS
Poland: NCBR
15 April – 14 June 2019
Start of project support:
Czech Rep: CASSlovakia: SAS
1 April 2020
France: CNRS
Turkey: TUBITAK

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2. JST-ERC cooperation scheme

8New dimension in Japan-Europe cooperation at JSTTowards more mobility between projects
Increase mobility between top researchers tostimulate and expand collaborative research
opportunities

9JST-ERC scheme: rationale
1. Japan and Europe are facing similar challenges: ageing, building asmart society based on the merit of science and technology or theresponsibility to contribute to SDG’s.
2. Our current international context encourages like-minded partners
to expand cooperation on mutual fields of interest

3. Both JST and ERC are funding top level research: JST’s programs
such as the Strategic Basic Research Program correspond well withresearch funded by ERC••

Easier access to the network of each other’s
researchers
Opportunities to share knowledge, expertiseand technical skills
10JST-ERC scheme: introduction

First step: promote researchers’ mobility
between Japan and Europe

JST-fundedresearchprojectJapan to Europe: single and long term
(3-12 months) research visits, or
multiple short term visits*

Europe to Japan: Reciprocating visits
to further enhance cooperation

ERC-fundedresearchproject* Expenses related to these visits for the Japanese researcher are covered by existing JST funding

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JST-ERC scheme: Implementing Arrangement

Implementing Arrangement between ERC and JST was signed on 7
October 2018 to provide a dedicated scheme for collaboration
between top researchers in the European Union and Japan

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JST-ERC scheme: funding guidelines
Visits from JST-funded researchers to Europe:– JST continues payment of research grants while in Europe– International travel expenses paid through existing JST grants– Subsistence costs in Europe can be paid through ERC grant

Visits from ERC-funded researchers to Japan– ERC grants provide sufficient flexibility to allow reciprocating visits

Connection with schemes for internationalization within JST→ on-top funding

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JST-ERC scheme: in practice (1-year cycle)

2. JST distributes
priority lists ofinterested ERCfunded researchers
to JST-fundedresearchers
1. JST receives list of
ERC-funded
researchers who
showed interest tocooperate withJapan

3. Individual JST-funded
researcher directly
contacts ERC grantee
and negotiates theterms and conditions of
the collaboration

4. Required
documents aresubmitted to JST forreview

5. Research visits areimplemented
throughout the year

(letter of support,
updated researchplan if required,request for on-top
funding if applicable)

JST-funded researchers, first contact your project officer
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JST-ERC scheme: outlook

Network building between researchers in Europe and Japan
Further internationalization of JST activities through creating

connections between projects•••

Achievement of research goals tacklingcommon challenges
Mutual use of research infrastructuresand equipment
Higher quality research papers forresearchers involved
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Thank you for your attention!