Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Review Process

Document reviews are carried out by the JSPS International Program Committee, conducted by three experts in the application's subject field.



Panel reviews are conducted by the JSPS International Program Committee.



Candidate projects are selected on the Japan side.



Consultation is carried out with the counterpart agencies.
(This only applies to "A. Bilateral Joint Research Projects/Seminars with JSPS's Counterpart Agencies.")



Final decision is made.
A. Bilateral Joint Research Projects/Seminars with JSPS's Counterpart Agencies
Based on the review results, JSPS will decide selection results through separate consultation between counterpart agencies. The results will be sequentially sent to the applying institutions starting from late December. Research projects/seminars that are ready will have their results announced first. 
*Procedures may differ from country to country. Please refer to the instructions for individual countries in the Application Guidelines for the Call for Proposals.

B. Open Partnership Joint Research Projects/Seminars
JSPS conducts reviews of the applications it receives and makes selections. The results will be sent to the applying institutions starting from late December. 

Selection criteria for JSPS review

The following criteria are utilized in selection process:
  • Scientific excellence of projects/seminars
  • Necessity of cooperation, added value gained, and mutual research advancement through transfer of knowledge and expertise
  • Impact of outcomes on improving the quality of life, contributing to socioeconomic development, and/or solving prevailing social issues
  • Participation of young researchers and contribution to fostering them
  • Sufficient negotiation having clearly been carried out between the applicant and counterpart PI before submitting the application. Feasibility and concreteness of the plan and contribution to researcher interaction in advancing the research during the project period while having a high potential for future advancement.

In addition to the above criteria, the following points are also considered:
  • Appropriateness of the budget plan (<Only for the Joint Research Projects> It is required that more than 50% of total funding should be used for international/domestic travel.)
  • Appropriateness of the venue in case of seminar
  • [Only for "B. Open Partnership Joint Research Projects/Seminars"] Appropriateness of balance among counterpart countries/regions. Whether the counterpart country is included under "A. Bilateral Joint Research Projects/Seminars with JSPS’s Counterpart Agencies" is taken into consideration.

"Review Section Table" and "Document Review Set"

Outline
For international collaborative programs from FY2019 and onward, the currently used list of Categories, Areas, Disciplines, and Research Fields will be replaced by a new Review Section Table containing a basic category section, document review section, and panel review section. The Review Section Table is used in common for recruiting and screening by each international program. The Table is different from that used in the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Program or in the Fostering Next Generation of Researcher Program.
Document review and panel review are carried out as the unit of each "Review set." Review Sets are made up based on Document Review Section Chart. They group together related screening fields in order to effectively carry out relative evaluations.
Please visit the JSPS website for International Collaboration Program's "Review Section Table" and the Bilateral Program's Joint Research Projects/Seminars "Document Review Set."

Document Review Set
Document Review Sets group together multiple research fields related to each application. Under the Document Review Sets for bilateral programs (Joint Research Projects/Seminars) the document review for each application is carried out by three reviewers who are specialists in the group of research fields. Care is taken to create a balance among the reviewers' specializations in each Document Review Set and to avoid using reviewers from the applicant's affiliated institution.
As the Document Review Sets are reviewed and possibly revised every year, changes to them may be made in some JSPS programs. So, please check the subject year's "Bilateral Programs Joint Research Projects/Seminars (Document Review Set) when preparing your application.

Number of Applications and Adoptions

For your reference visit JSPS's Additional Information | Bilateral Programs page.