Strategic International Collaborative Research Program (SICORP) EIG CONCERT-Japan 12th Joint Call: Oceans: Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

(April, 2025)

The Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) is accepting proposals for collaborative research projects under the framework of EIG CONCERT-Japan under the theme of Oceans: Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation.

EIG CONCERT-Japan website:

https://concert-japan.eu/

Call Theme

Oceans: Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

Research Scope

All research proposals should focus on marine sciences with a clear demonstrated relevance to ocean climate change mitigation and adaptation in accordance with one or both of the call subtopics.
Subtopic 1: Using Blue Carbon Ecosystems for CO2 Removal
Blue carbon ecosystems refer to coastal and marine habitats, such as seaweed beds, seagrass meadows, and mangroves that naturally capture and store CO₂ from the atmosphere and ocean. Research within this subtopic should focus on innovative approaches for quantifying and fostering blue carbon sequestration, such as developing new methods or enhancing existing strategies for maximizing the potential of blue carbon ecosystems in mitigating climate change.
Subtopic 2: Understanding Ocean Processes for Climate Change Adaptation
Research within this subtopic should focus on improving our understanding of ocean processes in order to enable adaptation to the current and future impacts of climate change in the abiotic and biotic oceanic realms. The subtopic aims at improving the predictive capacity on the impacts of climate change on marine environments using new or existing models and methods.

Participating Countries and Organizations

  • Bulgaria: Bulgarian National Science Fund (BNSF)
  • Cyprus: Research Promotion Foundation (RIF)
  • Czech Republic: Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS)
  • Estonia: Estonian Research Council (ETAg)
  • France: National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS)
  • Germany: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
  • Hungary: National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NRDIO)
  • Italy: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNRCNR)
  • Poland: National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR)
  • Slovakia: Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS)
  • Spain: Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI)
  • Turkey: The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)

Details of Support

Projects selected for funding in this call will each receive support for a period of three years and totaling no more than approximately 18,200,000 JPY of which 30% represents indirect costs. Awarded projects will be required to have a contract concluded between the awarded research institution and JST, in the following format:
https://www.jst.go.jp/inter/research/contract/contract.html

It is expected that six projects will be funded in this EIG CONCERT-Japan Joint Call.

Full details of support can be found in the Japanese guidance information documents below and "Part 2: National and Regional Funding Regulations" in the Call Text.

Call for Proposals Period and Deadlines

Monday 28th April 2025 until Wednesday 22nd July 2025, 17:00 (Japan Standard Time)
Monday 28th April 2025 until Wednesday 22nd July 2025, 10:00 (Central European Summer Time )

Program Officer

Dr. FURUMAI Hiroaki
(Institute Professor, Research and Development Initiative, Chuo University)

Eligibility

Researcher Eligibility
Any independent researcher currently affiliated with and actively conducting research at a domestic Japanese research institution, or who will fulfil this requirement by the commencement of the research project if not currently affiliated with a research institution in Japan), regardless of nationality, is eligible to apply.

Research Consortium Eligibility
In addition to the Japanese team, the project consortium must include members from a minimum of two different European countries listed as participating in the call.
Researchers from countries not participating may also be included in the research consortium, however they will not count towards the minimum country participation requirement stated above.
For further details please see "Part 2: National and Regional Funding Regulations" in the Call Text.

Research Field

  1. 1. PT-Outline Consortium Proposal Submission (for the entire consortium)

    All call documents, application forms and guidance can be downloaded from the PT-Outline website, which also serves as the online submission portal:
    https://ptoutline.eu/app/eigjapan_jc2025

    Proposals should be jointly drafted by the consortium and jointly submitted electronically via the PT-Outline portal. Only the project consortium's Principal Project Leader is required to submit the proposal.

    Information about the PT-Outline submission process:
    http://concert-japan.eu/

  2. 2. e-Rad Proposal Application (for the Japanese team of the consortium only)
    In addition to the PT-Outline submission, the Project Leader from the Japanese team will have to register their application information, "application form" (with legal compliance checklist and compliance agreement) and "Application summary" on the Cross Ministerial R&D Management System (e-Rad) platform:
    https://www.e-rad.go.jp/

    An e-Rad guide for applicants (in Japanese) is available on "Application instructions and guidance" (available only in Japanese) below.

    For further application instructions and guidance, please refer to the following information.

Application Form (Japanese side)

Documents / Forms Download Links
Call Text PDF
Application instructions and guidance PDF
Application Form (Japanese) Word
Application Summary (Japanese) pptx

Enquiries

Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)
Department of International Affairs
Mr. NAGATA Wataru, Ms. ODAWARA Mikiko, Mr. Oscar A. Rudenstam, Ms. KATAYAMA Junko
Email: concert(at)jst.go.jp (replace (at) with @)
Reception hours: 10:00-17:00
*Excluding Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays, and the New Year holidays