AJ-CORE (Africa-Japan Collaborative Research) 5th Joint Call

  • (Last update: June 4, 2025)

    History of Updates

    Updated June 4, 2025:

    (May, 2025)

    Research Field

    Environmental Science

    Application Deadline

    Thursday 7th August, 14:00 (Japan time)

    Participating countries and organizations

    Participating countries are Japan, South Africa and Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI) African countries (Botswana, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Sierra Leone).
    Organizations described below have declared their funding to the 5th call.

    Participating countriesOrganizations
    Japan Japan Science and Technology Agency: JST
    South Africa National Research Foundation: NRF
    Botswana Ministry of Communications and Innovation: MCI
    Ethiopia Ministry of Innovation and Technology: MInT
    Kenya National Research Fund: NRF

    Details of Support

    Research networking and exchange projects selected for funding in this call will receive support for a period of 3 years totaling no more than 18,200,000 JPY including direct and indirect costs. Full details of support can be found in the Japanese guidance information below and in the Call Document.
    It is expected that about 5 projects will be funded.

    Application Procedure

    • The Japanese-based Principal Investigator will have to register their application information, legal compliance checklist and compliance agreement on the Cross Ministerial R&D Management System (e-Rad).
    • The South African-based Principal Investigator will have to register their application information to NRF.

    Please note that proposals received by the NRF and not submitted to JST through e-Rad (and vice versa) will automatically be considered ineligible.

    Application Form (Japanese side)

    Document / FormLinks
    Call for proposals framework PDF
    Joint proposal form WORD
    Supplemental application form & Legal compliance checklist (in Japanese) WORD
    Application guideline (in Japanese) PDF
    e-Rad manual (in Japanese) PDF

    Notes

    • Compliance agreement documents require the stamp of the institution's top person. In the case of a university or college, the top person is the president, not the dean.
    • If applicants do not submit required documents to both JST and NRF by the deadline, the proposal shall not be accepted and not be brought to the evaluation process.
    • If you have not registered information related to research integrity with e-Rad after the e-Rad upgrade on March 15, 2022, please make sure to register the information. This is not required if you have already registered.
    • When research institutions are national or municipal organizations, such institutions concluding research contracts are obliged to implement necessary budgetary measures before entering research contracts for which they are responsible. Please confirm with your institution and contact JST before submitting.

    Webinar on AJ-CORE 5th Call

    We are going to hold a Webinar on AJ-CORE 5th Call as follows.

    1. Outline
      • Date of Session: Thursday, 12 June 15:30 - 17:30 (JST) (6:30 - 8:30 (UTC), 8:30 - 10:30 (SAST, CAT), 9:30 - 11:30 (EAT))
      • Place: Online(Zoom)
      • Program: General information about AJ-CORE 5th Call, National eligibility requirements and application processes, and Researchers' information exchange etc.
        (There will be individual explanations from each of the countries that have declared their support. (Japan, South Africa, Botswana, Ethiopia and Kenya.))
      • Language: English
      • Registration Deadline: Wednesday, 11 June 7:00 a.m. (JST)
        Please refer to the "2. How to Apply" and "3. Remarks" section carefully before you apply.
      • Target: Researchers interested in joint research under AJ-CORE 5th call framework in 'Environmental Science'.
      • A recording will be made available at a later date for the sections of 'General information about AJ-CORE 5th Call' and 'National eligibility requirements and application processes'.
    2. 2. How to Apply
      • Please register using the registration form.
        Date, time and Zoom link will be sent to your registered e-mail address at a later date.
      3. Remarks
      • About handling of personal information and provided information
        Information (including your name, affiliation, and e-mail address etc.) provided in the registration form will be used only for the purpose of organizing this event. For more information about JST's privacy policy, please refer to JST website here.
      • Please note that there is a possibility that network problems may occur and that we may not be able to provide sufficient support. Please refrain from calling or e-mailing us regarding any problems with the online conferencing system.

    Enquiries

    Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) Department of International Affairs
    Ms. HORIE Junko, Mr. ASANO Masato
    Email: jointza(at)jst.go.jp (replace (at) with @)