Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

About the Program

The programs provide excellent researchers from other countries an opportunity to conduct collaborative research, discussions, and opinion exchanges with researchers in Japan. These programs are intended to help advance the overseas researchers' research activities while advancing science and promoting internationalization in Japan.

JSPS Invitational Fellowships for Research in Japan consists of two options of Long-term, and Short-term. Grantees are selected by going through the selection process following the submission of applications by a host researcher in Japan who wishes to invite a researcher from overseas via the head of their university or institution. The recruitment and selection for the Long-term program is announced and conducted once a year, and twice a year for the Short-term.

Long-term

To provide opportunities for overseas researchers with excellent records of research achievements to conduct collaborative research with Japanese colleagues through long-term visits.

1. Fields of Research

All fields of the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.

2. Duration of fellowships

2 to 10 months

3. Applicant (Host Resarcher) Eligibility

Persons are eligible to apply who satisfy the following two conditions at the time of application, selection, and during the fellowship period.
(1) Be affiliated with a research institution specified in Article 2* of the Procedure for the Handling of Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI), issued by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), be eligible to apply for a KAKENHI grant, and wish to host an overseas researcher.  
(2) Be a full-time researcher. However, researchers who are not employed full time may be eligible if the host institution judges them able to execute their responsibility to carrying out the program uninterruptedly throughout the Fellow’s tenure including providing them a suitable research environment (e.g. laboratory, space, facilities and personnel)  in the same way that a full-time researcher would be able to do.
*Eligible host institutions specified under the above MEXT Procedure are as follows:
1)Universities and inter-university research institutes
2)MEXT-affiliated institutions engaged in research
3)Colleges of technology
4)Institutions designated by the Minister of MEXT

* See the List of Eligible Host Institutes (as of September, 2024)  (PDF/1.3MB)

4. Candidate (Invited Overseas Researcher) Eligibility

Persons are eligible to apply who satisfy the following two conditions at the time of application, at the time of  selection, and during the fellowship period.
(1) Be a citizen or permanent resident of a country that has diplomatic relations with Japan. (Taiwan and Palestine are treated in this manner.) 
Persons of Japanese nationality are eligible to apply if they have resided at the time of application in a foreign country for 10 years or longer and are judged at a host research institution to have played an active role in that country’s scientific community. 
(2) Be a full-time researchers or person with full-time researcher status at a university or research institution in a foreign country and have a position equivalent to a professor, associate professor or assistant professor in Japan (including positions such as professor emeritus). Researchers of other status may apply if it has been six years or longer since they obtained their doctoral degree and the host research institution judges them to have continuously conducted research at a foreign university or research institution.

5. Terms of Financial Support

(1) Airfare   A round-trip air ticket (economy-class) (based on JSPS's regulations. See the Program Guidelines.)
(2) Maintenance Allowance JPY387,600 per month
(3) Overseas travel insurance
(4) Research support allowance: Up to JPY150,000 (Application is made by the applicant(host researcher) through their institution.)
[Note]
      For the candidate (invited overeas researcher) who has been living in Japan (and has a mailing address) before the fellowship starting date, the "airfare" of outbound and a “settling-in allowance” will not be paid.
 

Short-term

To provide opportunities for overseas researchers with excellent records of research achievements to visit Japan short-term for discussions, opinion exchanges, lectures, and other activities.

1. Fields of Research

All fields of the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.

2. Duration of fellowships

14 to 60 days

3. Applicant (Host Resarcher) Eligibility

Persons are eligible to apply who satisfy the following two conditions at the time of application, selection, and during the fellowship period.
(1) Be affiliated with a research institution specified in Article 2* of the Procedure for the Handling of Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research(KAKENHI), issued by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), be eligible to apply for a KAKENHI grant, and wish to host an overseas researcher. 
(2) Be a full-time researcher. However, researchers who are not employed full time may be eligible if the host institution judges them able to execute their responsibility to carrying out the program uninterruptedly throughout the Fellow’s tenure including providing them a suitable research environment (e.g. laboratory, space, facilities and personnel) in the same way that a full-time researcher would be able to do.
*Eligible host institutions specified under the above MEXT Procedure are as follows:
1)Universities and inter-university research institutes
2)MEXT-affiliated institutions engaged in research
3)Colleges of technology
4)Institutions designated by the Minister of MEXT

* See the List of Eligible Host Institutes (as of September, 2024)  (PDF/1.3MB)

4. Candidate (Invited Overseas Researcher) Eligibility

Persons are eligible to apply who satisfy the following two conditions at the time of application, at the time of  selection, and during the fellowship period.
(1) Be a citizen or permanent resident of a country that has diplomatic relations with Japan. (Taiwan and Palestine are treated in this manner.)
Persons of Japanese nationality are eligible to apply if they have resided at the time of application in a foreign country for 10 years or longer and are judged at a host research institution to have played an active role in that country’s scientific community.
(2) Be a full-time researchers or person with full-time researcher status at a university or research institution in a foreign country and have a position equivalent to a professor, associate professor or assistant professor in Japan (including positions such as professor emeritus). Researchers of other status may apply if it has been six years or longer since they obtained their doctoral degree and the host research institution judges them to have continuously conduct research at a foreign university or research institution.

5. Terms of Financial Support

(1) Airfare A round-trip air ticket (economy-class) (based on JSPS's regulations)
(2) Maintenance Allowance JPY18,000 per day
(3) Overseas travel insurance
(4) Research support allowance: Up to JPY150,000 (Application is made by the applicant (host researcher) through their institution.)
[Note]
      For the candidate (invited overeas researcher) who has been living in Japan (and has a mailing address) before the fellowship starting date, the "airfare" of outbound and a “settling-in allowance” will not be paid.

History

The "Visiting Professor or Visiting Research Associate" was established in 1958 to emphasize the importance of the need for international cooperation on research. The program was unique because there was no other project in Japan at the time that was carried out to invite overseas researchers. It was integrated with the other fellowship which was launched in 1964 to invite young foreign researchers and renamed as the "Invitation of Foreign Scientists" in 1975. Since then, two programs have been implemented as the "Short-term fellowships" and the "Long-term fellowships" in the scheme.

We integrated the "JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Overseas Researchers" and the "Invitation Fellowship for Research in Japan" in 2015. It has been implemented as the "JSPS International Fellowships for Research in Japan" which provides the varied programs that enables applicants to select the program that suits their career stage and desired invitation tenure.