Apply Now: UK-Japan Research Collaborations Grants

Scope 

• Grants under the ISPF Fund Research Collaboration programme will fund bilateral research and innovation collaborations under the ISPF themes, with priorities set with partner countries and territories at call design. The call will fund Global Challenges Research Grants to support and facilitate research that tackles global challenges.
• Wherever possible, Research Collaboration should demonstrate how they will benefit the wider research and innovation community in the partner country/territory. Collaborations may also be established as UK-partner country/territory centres of excellence, based in the partner country/territory, in a particular research area, acting as a resource hub for the wider research community in country and a focal point for other activities, (e.g. seminars, technical training workshops). When designing your proposal, you should consider how best to involve early career researchers to promote their development and, more generally, to build researcher capacity, especially in the partner country/territory.

Funding Information 

• Grants up to £80,000 will be available for funding under this ISPF research collaboration programme for bilateral research and innovation collaborations under the ISPF. Priorities set with Japan at the call design stage. UK Institutions will be funded at 80% of Full Economic Costs. Japan institutions will be funded at 100% FEC and must not exceed more than 30% of the overall cost of the project calculated at 100% FEC
• The call will fund Global Challenges Research Grants to support and facilitate research that tackles global challenges. The total funding available for this call is £560,000.
• Under this call for proposals, projects should consider:
  • transformative technologies: artificial intelligence, quantum, engineering biology, semi-conductors, future telecommunications,
  • tomorrows talent: research capacity, research systems, research pipeline.

Eligibility Criteria 

• Proposals must fulfil the following criteria to be eligible for funding under this Programme:
  • Each proposal must have one Project Leader from the UK and one Project Leader from Japan.
  • Both Project Leaders must be Leading Researchers1 or Established Researchers
  • Japanese Project Leaders must be permanent employees of their institution, or be on a contract of employment with their institutions that covers the proposed duration of the project
  • UK Project Leaders must be permanent employees of one of the following (this means that Emeritus and Honorary Professors may not apply as lead):
    • A not-for-profit higher education institution with the capacity to undertake high-quality research
    • A UK higher education institution (all UK higher education institutions are eligible).
    • A not-for-profit research organisation with the capacity to undertake highquality research. A Catapult Centre (in the case of the UK Project Leader).
  • Both Project Leaders’ institutions (the ‘Lead Institutions’) must have the capacity to administer the grant.
  • Individual departments within a single institution can make multiple applications per call provided that the proposed activities are clearly different.
    • Project Leaders may only submit one Research Collaboration application per call.
    • Project Leaders who currently hold an ISPF Research Collaborations grant from the British Council are not eligible to apply under this call.
    • Organisations affiliated to higher education institutions in the UK or any other country and based in the partner country, (e.g. an overseas campus) may apply as the Lead Institution in the partner country provided that other eligible higher education institutions or research organisations are also involved as Associated Partners in‑country.
    • Organisations cannot apply as Lead Institutions in Links with their own affiliates in other countries.
• To support the translation of research and innovation into benefit, Project Leaders are encouraged to include in their proposals Associated Partners affiliated with:
  • Other research or higher education institutions
  • Technology transfer offices
  • Not for-profit organisations (including NGOs)
  • For-profit/commercial organisations (including SMEs)
• Not for-profit higher education institutions or publicly funded research organisations are eligible to apply as Lead Institutions.
• For-profit organisations and not-for-profit organisations can participate in but are usually not eligible to apply for Research Collaboration grants. Furthermore, for-profit organisations are not eligible to receive any ISPF grant funds except to cover travel associated costs.

For more information, visit British Council.