JST is to fund 3 research projects for “Collaboration Hubs for International Research Program (CHIRP) 2016” coordinated by
Japan and India within the framework of the Strategic International Collaborative Research Program (SICORP)

On the 8^th August 2016, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India (DST)^*1) announced that they would commence support for 3 coordinated research projects on the topic of “Information Communication Technology (ICT) including Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and other related fields” as an activity of JST’s FY2016 “Collaboration Hubs for International Research Program (CHIRP)” in the framework of Strategic International Collaborative Research Program (SICORP) ^*2).

This support program is aiming to establish the collaborative research laboratories of ICT field in India, continuously promote collaborative researches and social and industrial applications of research achievements in India, which will become a symbol of Japan-India Science and Technology cooperation. At the Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to India in December 2015, the announced Japan-India joint statement touched on the necessity of aggressive propulsion of this program. According to the letter of intent with DST, JST will provide support to Japanese institutes and researchers intending to establish joint laboratories in India for bilateral collaborative research.

The selected projects are follows.

(1) “Architecting Intelligent Dependable Cyber Physical System Targeting IoT and Mobile Big Data Analysis”

Masahiro FUJITA, Professor, VLSI Design and Education Center(VDEC), The University of Tokyo

Virendara SINGH, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

(2) “Data Science-based Farming Support System for Sustainable Crop Production under Climatic Change”

Seishi NINOMIYA, Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Science, The University of Tokyo

Uday DESAI, Professor & Director, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad

(3) “Security in the Internet of Things Space”

Koji OKAMURA, Professor & Director of Cybersecurity Center, Kyushu University

Ranjan BOSE, Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

A total of 16 proposals were submitted in response to the joint call for proposals implemented by JST and DST, which was opened on March 11^th and closed in May 6^th, 2016.

Based on the results of the evaluation conducted by experts, JST and DST including the program officers (JST side) and the chair of Indian panel committee (DST side) jointly decided on the three successful projects to select for funding.

JST’s support to the Japanese research teams will continue for a maximum of 5 years. In the 1st phase for 5 years, the budget in total per each project provided by JST is a maximum of 115 million yen for direct expenses + 30% on the direct expenses for indirect expenses.

JST will positively support this program by expanding the Science & Technology cooperation propelled together with DST.