Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Outline of JSPS A3 Foresight Program

Based on an agreement among JSPS, National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), the three countries (A3) support this collaborative program under which their researchers carry out joint activities.
The program works to create world-class research hubs in fields of common interest and special importance within the Asian region. With A3 research/education institutions at their core, these hubs carry out highly effective combinations of joint research activities, seminars and researcher exchanges, while fostering new generations of talented young researchers. After funding under the A3 Foresight Program ends, the core institutions are expected to continue functioning as world-class research hubs within the Asian region.
JSPS provides financial support for carrying out project-related joint research, scientific meetings and researcher exchanges by Japanese core institutions. Counterpart core institutions are to be supported by NSFC or NRF under this program.
JSPS, NSFC and NRF issue calls for proposals to universities/research institutions in their respective countries. They conduct proposal reviews and selections.

The procedure is as follows:

  1. JSPS issues a call for proposals to Japanese universities/research institutions. NSFC and NRF concurrently issue calls in their respective countries.
  2. On the Japan side, universities/research institutions interested in conducting exchanges with universities/research institutions in China and Korea select their counterparts and devise research plans.
  3. Japanese core universities/research institutions submit their proposals to JSPS while the Chinese and Korean counterpart institutions submit matching proposals to NSFC or NRF.
  4. JSPS reviews the proposals it has received, while NSFC and NRF review the proposals they received.
  5. JSPS, NSFC and NRF select projects together.
process