Kyoto University has concluded strategic partnership agreements with five universities: the University of Bordeaux, University of Vienna, University of Zurich, University of Hamburg, and National Taiwan University.
The university provides support for projects and initiatives undertaken in collaboration with the strategic partners (“SP institutions”), such as joint workshops and exchange activities by early-career researchers.
We would like to inform you that we are now accepting applications for the 2025 SP+ Fund.
Please have your faculty/department’s administrative office submit all of the required application documents to the International Affairs Division. Please note that the deadline for submission of the documents to the administrative office of each faculty/department is earlier than the deadline above. Please be sure to confirm the deadline for submission to your faculty/department’s administrative office.
【Reference: International Affairs Division’s Deadline】 Thursday, April 24, 2025
SP+ Fund has two main programs: the General Program, which provides support for international research projects in collaboration with SP institutions, etc., and the ECR (early-career researcher)Program, which provides support for ECR exchanges with SP institutions.
Please refer to the application guideline for the detail.
General Program
【Type of support】
Provides support for international collaborative research projects with SP institutions, etc., in the following two categories:
-Bilateral (Bi): Projects conducted bilaterally by Kyoto University and one SP institution.
-Multilateral (Multi): Projects conducted by Kyoto University, an SP institution, and at least one additional overseas institution (three or more institutions in total).
【Project period】July 2025-March 2026
【Eligible applicants】
1: Full-time faculty members at Kyoto University (professors, associate professors, lecturers, assistant professors)
Please confirm the following before applying:
・The applicant must continue to be employed by Kyoto University for the duration of the project being applied for.
・ Full-time fixed-term program-specific faculty members are also eligible to apply provided they have received permission from their supervisor.
2: The project representative from the counterpart institution must be affiliated with the counterpart institution at the time of application.
【Amount of funding award】Up to 2,000,000 JPY per project
【Number of funding awards】Approximately 10 projects
ECR Program
【Type of support】
Provides travel expenses for dispatching early-career researchers to engage in research at SP institutions or to invite early-career researchers from SP institutions to engage in research at Kyoto University.
*One early-career researcher may be dispatched or invited per application.
*The destination of early-career researchers dispatched from Kyoto University must be one of the university’s SP institutions.
【Travel period】July 2025-March 2026
【Eligible applicant】
1: Full-time faculty members at Kyoto University (professors, associate professors, lecturers, assistant professors)
*If the person to be dispatched from Kyoto University is a graduate student or researcher scholar, the application must be submitted via their supervisor.
*Before applying, please confirm that you will continue to be employed by Kyoto University for the duration of the project being applied for.
2: The project representative from the counterpart institution must be affiliated with the counterpart institution at the time of application.
【Eligible support recipients (early-career researchers)】
-Master’s course students
-Doctoral course students
-Assistant Professors or Research Scholars who have completed a master’s or doctoral degree within 10 years as of April 1, 2025 (the number of years that have elapsed since obtaining the degree are calculated excluding any periods of pre/postnatal leave and childcare leave).
Please confirm the following before applying:
*The recipient must be employed by Kyoto University or the SP institution for the duration of the project being applied for (or in the case of students, they must continue to be enrolled).
*In the case of early-career researchers dispatched from Kyoto University, there must be no problems regarding the researcher’s effort management or business trip procedures.
【Amount of funding award】
Up to 200,000 JPY (National Taiwan University) or 800,000 JPY (other SP institutions) per award.
【Number of funding awards】Approximately 10 projects
Downloads
SP+ Fund 2025 Application Guidelines (General Program)
Application Form (General Program)
