JST (President Michiharu Nakamura) has approved funding to 4 multilateral joint research projects, in collaboration with 5 funding agencies from 5 European countries in the framework of the CONCERT-Japan Project*1.
The CONCERT-Japan Project is an international cooperation activity within the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7), with a formal membership of 13 partner funding institutions representing 9 different countries, and with the general aim to further develop science and technology cooperation between Europe and Japan by enabling network-building, mutual learning and information exchange on the topic of science and technology policy.
As one activity of the CONCERT-Japan Project a Pilot Joint Call*2 was held in 2012, and as an outcome of that cooperation 9 multilateral research projects are currently being supported in the two prioritised thematic areas of “Resilience against Disasters” and “Efficient Energy Storage and Distribution”.
This year, a second Joint Call*3 was conducted from 10th February until 30th March in the research field of “Photonic Manufacturing”, to which a total of 15 proposals were submitted. Following in depth evaluation and discussion among the funding agencies that participated in the Joint Call, it has been decided that JST will jointly fund 4 projects in this “Photonic Manufacturing” field. The period of support is to last for 2 years, with each funded project to receive up to 10,000,000 JPY in total.
*1 CONCERT-Japan Project: Connecting and Coordinating European Research and Technology Development with Japan
The CONCERT-Japan project is funded by the European Union (EU) as one of their international cooperation activities within the Capacities Programme*4 of the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technology Development (FP7). The project aims to further develop existing cooperation between European countries and Japan by promoting and enabling effective collaboration in science and technology research. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)*5 and JST are the 3 partner institutions from Japan. (http://www.concertjapan.eu/)
*2 CONCERT-Japan Pilot Joint Call
Participating research funding organisations from Japan and Europe implemented a multilateral Joint Call for proposals as a part of the CONCERT-Japan project. Through the implementation of this Pilot Joint Call, the most effective methods of attracting and jointly funding proposals were investigated. In addition to Japan, 14 funding agencies from 11 European countries, comprising mainly CONCERT-Japan Consortium members, took part in the Joint Call.
*3 Photonic Manufacturing Joint Call
Research funding organisations from Japan and Europe implemented a second multilateral Joint Call for proposals as a part of the CONCERT-Japan project. In addition to Japan, 5 funding agencies from 5 European countries, comprising mainly CONCERT-Japan Consortium members, took part in the Joint Call.
*4 FP7 Capacities Programme
With the framework of the FP7, the Capacities Programme was set up to support and enable dialogue, networking activities and international joint research in cooperation between European countries and targeted non-European countries. (http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/capacities/home_en.html)
*5 The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science was established as an independent administrative agency under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), with the purpose to provide support to academic research, to provide funding for the training of researchers, and to promote international academic exchange. (http://www.jsps.go.jp/english/index.html)
Attachments
4: Overview of the CONCERT-Japan Project
Contact
Hideo NAKAJIMA (Dr.) and Martin GADSDEN (Mr.)
Department of International Affairs, JST
K’s Gobancho, 7, Gobancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0076
Tel:+81-3-5214-7375 Fax:+81-3-5214-7379
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