JST and the French National Research Agency (Agence Nationale de la Recherche; “ANR”) concluded a Framework Agreement in December 2017.

The purpose of this Agreement is to foster Japanese-French collaboration in scientific research and to fund joint research projects conducted by Japanese and French partners eligible for funding from each agency, within the framework of the JST-CREST program.

In FY2021, JST has agreed with ANR to establish the following three CREST Research Areas as common priority research areas and to invite Japanese-French joint research proposals, as well as regular (non-joint) proposals:

Elucidation of macroscale mechanical properties based on understanding nanoscale dynamics for innovative mechanical materials
Creating information utilization platform by integrating mathematical and information sciences, and development to society
Core technologies for trusted quality AI systems

Excellent joint research projects, in which complementarities of research expertise and synergetic effects of research groups of the two countries can be expected, are highly welcome to apply. For selected joint research projects, JST(CREST) will fund Japanese research groups and ANR will fund French research groups in accordance with the regulations and policies applicable to each agency.
Please refer to “Overview” and “Research Supervisor’s Policy on Call for Application, Selection, and Management of the Research Area” of each Research Area for details.

“Overview” and “Research Supervisor’s Policy on Call for Application, Selection, and Management of the Research Area”
Elucidation of macroscale mechanical properties based on understanding nanoscale dynamics for innovative mechanical materials
Creating information utilization platform by integrating mathematical and information sciences, and development to society
Core technologies for trusted quality AI systems

Application Process

1. To apply, principal investigators (PIs) from the Japanese and French sides will write a common joint research proposal and submit it to JST and ANR in parallel. The joint research proposal should be written in English using the Common Application Form.
   • Common Application Form [MS Word]
   • Instructions for completing the Form [pdf]
2. PI from French side will apply and submit the common joint research proposal to ANR.
   • Deadline for proposal submission to ANR is May 6, 10AM CEST.
   • Please refer to ANR’s website.
3. PI from Japanese side will apply and submit the common joint research proposal to CREST via the e-RAD system with a summary of research proposal in Japanese.
   • Proposal Summary of Japanese-French Joint Research Proposal [MS Word]
   • Instructions for completing the Form [pdf]
4. JST and ANR will evaluate proposals in parallel and make common funding decisions.
5. Funded research projects will start in October or later.

Attentions

• Only applications submitted to both JST and ANR will be considered for evaluation.
• Although the above two CREST research areas also invite regular proposals, PIs on the Japanese side may submit only one application with either a joint or regular proposal.
• The proposal submitted to ANR cannot be changed when submitting to CREST. Neither joint nor regular proposals have an advantage during evaluation and will be evaluated equally.
• Make sure that the file size of your application form converted to PDF format is smaller than 3MB. It is impossible to hand in a file via e-Rad if the file size is larger than 10MB.
• FAQ about Japanese-French Joint Research Proposal [PDF]