European Commission

International Incoming Fellowships have a minimum duration of 12 months up to a maximum of 36 months.

International Incoming Fellowships are directed exclusively at experienced researchers, namely those who either have at least 4 years of research experience or are already in possession of a doctoral degree (PhD).

Experienced researchers are eligible if they move from a Third Country (i.e. Japan) to a European Member State and if they have not lived in the country of the host institution for more than 12 months in the past 3 years. Proposals should be submitted jointly by the host organisation and the individual experienced researcher.

Research topics can be freely decided upon by the applicants: all fields are eligible.

Applications should be sent before the next cut off date: 17 August

Further Information: Cordis

This aims to reinforce the international dimension of the career of European experienced researchers by giving them the opportunity to be trained and acquire new knowledge in a research institution in a Third Country (i.e. Japan).

Research topics can be freely decided upon by the applicants. Proposals should be submitted jointly by the host organisation and the individual researcher.

International Outgoing Fellowships have a minimum duration of 24 months up to a maximum of 36 months, with an outgoing phase of 12 to 24 months and a final mandatory reintegration phase of 12 months.

Applications should be sent before the next cut off date: 17 August.

is launching a call for proposals for the establishment of a European Union Institute in Japan outside Kanto and Kansai region.

The rationale for the call is to overcome limited knowledge about the EU and the way it functions, the policy positions it defends on the international scene, the importance of its economic role, the business and investment opportunities it represents.

The proposed initiative should stimulate a shift of focus of European Studies towards the role and experience of the European Union as a whole; and to cover a more comprehensive range of EU-related issues, such as:

• The role of the European Union as an economic and trade partner,
  
• The European Union as a political actor and its international relationship, in particular with East Asia,
  
• The integration process of the European Union (single market, monetary union, economic and social cohesion…)
• The policies of the European Union (single market, competition, environment, energy and transport, science and technology…) and their relevance for Japanese partners.

Deadline for submission of proposals: 25 June 2010.

Further Information: Delegation of the European Union to Japan

a competitive research grant with grants funded for up to two years for those that have just started a position at a Japanese research institute.

Applications should be less than Y1.5m per year.

The call is not open to those currently employed under the Research Fellowship for Young Scientists or the Postdoctoral fellowships for Foreign Researchers schemes.

The call information is only available in Japanese. No English translation will be provided.

Deadline: 14 May 2010

Further Information: JSPS

have launched a joint call to support collaborative projects, researcher exchange, or symposiums between Japan and Spain in the field of "Nanotechnologies and New Materials for Environmental Challenges".

The call was opened on 1 April and will close on 31 May.

Further information: JST (Japanese)/ JST (English)

The award is to allow leading scientists, such as Nobel Laureates to come to Japan to mentor, stimulate and inspire younger Japanese researchers. In principle the tenure of the invitation is for one year, during which period multiple visits may be made.

Depending on the visit plan, it is also possible, for tenure of three years, with an aggregate of up to 12 months' worth of visits, to be approved. Two openings can be applied for.

Deadline: 4 June 2010

Further Information: JSPS

is offered to promote international scientific cooperation and exchange. It allows researchers employed at designated Japanese research institutions and laboratories to invite fellow researchers from other countries to Japan for short periods of time to participate in discussions, attend seminars, give lectures, or perform similar duties at their institutions.

Fellowships are awarded for a period of 14 to 60 days. For the 2nd Recruitment fellows must take up their position between October 1, 2010 and March 31, 2011.

Fellows will receive:

1. A round-trip air ticket;
2. A daily maintenance allowance of ¥18,000;
3. Domestic research travel allowance of ¥150,000;
4. Overseas travel accident and sickness insurance coverage.

Hosts will receive a cooperation allowance of ¥50,000.

Further information: JSPS

Deadline: 12 May 2010

to lead a new laboratory working at The Advanced Science Institute (ASI). Applications from overseas applicants are welcome. The successful candidate will be responsible for the laboratory's overall management and research strategy, directing research projects and contributing to more general aspects of RIKEN's management and research planning activities.

Deadline: 30 April

Further Information: RIKEN

have issued a call for interest from doctoral, postdoctoral and senior research positions at their centre in Seville, Spain. Positions are open in the Economics of Climate Change; Knowledge for Growth Unit; and Information Society Unit.

Deadlines are in late April and May.

See: IPTS for further information.

for a Senior Scientific Researcher who will study lean production from the Japanese example. Candidates are expected to have a PhD, preferably in the economics area.

ETH Zurich, Deadline: 31/05/10

- Tenure Position at the Professor Level (Department of Bioengineering and Robotics, Tohuku University; Deadline: 7 May 2010)

- Tenure Track Positions – Various (Electrical Electronics, Nagaoka University of Technology; Deadlines: 18 June 2010).

- International Young Scientists Career Development (two positions at Assistant Prof. Level; Life Sciences, Kyoto University, Deadline: 7 May 2010)

- Tenure Track Assoc. Prof. or Assistant Prof. (Quantum Information Processing, Univ. of Electro Communications; Tokyo; Deadline: 31 May 2010)

- AIST Open Recruitment – Entry Level Researchers (Mathematical/Engineering/Other research fields; Tsukuba; Deadline: 14 May 2010)

- Post Doctoral Research Fellow (Experimental Research in the Social Sciences – Hokkaido University) Deadline: 31 May 2010).

- Postdoctoral Researcher (Neurobiology, Okinawa Institute of Technology; Deadline: 31 May 2010)

PRESTO is a proposal-oriented research promotion programme which aims at cultivating the seeds of precursory science and technology by promoting basic research in which each researcher’s originality and free ideas can be fully realized.

Applications are invited in a number of areas. See the website below for further information.

Applications will be accepted until 11 May, 2010.

Duration: up to 3 years

Further Information: PRESTO

NIAES is based in Tsukuba and currently has one position open for a senior research scientist, and three positions for research scientists.

Please see the NIAES website for further information.

Deadline: 21 May 2010

who have demonstrated creative and innovative ideas. Physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, engineering, and any other fields related to research now being conducted at RIKEN. Applicants must be non-Japanese citizens, and possess a PhD in the natural sciences, awarded in or after 2005. Around 18 positions are to be filled.

The basic salary is ¥487,000 per month. An annual research budget of ¥1m will be allocated to the host laboratory.

The initial contract will expire on 31 March 2012. The contract can be renewed for up to a maximum total duration of 3 years.

Notification of interest should be sent to RIKEN by 21 May 2010.

Further Information: RIKEN FPR

was instituted to provide young and creative scientists the opportunity to be involved in autonomous and independent research that is in line with RIKEN objectives and research fields.

Non-Japanese applicants who are not permanent residents of Japan must have completed a doctoral program at a Japanese graduate school (or must be preparing to complete such a program) and must have a doctoral degree (or expecting to secure a doctoral degree).

The basic salary is ¥487,000 per month. An annual research budget of ¥1m per year will be allocated to the host laboratory.

Interested candidates should notify RIKEN of their desire to apply by 14 May 2010. Preliminary registration should be completed by 25 May 2010. The Deadline is 28 May.

Further Information: RIKEN SPDR

It provides a unique opportunity for doctoral students in technology management to learn from presentations of leading academics in the field and to meet colleagues with similar research interests. During the intensive one-week course, the participating students have the opportunity to discuss their research programs with senior professors and with other PhD students in interactive workshops, and to meet the editors of key journals.

The programme will start on September 6, 2010 and is scheduled to end on September 10, 2010

Deadline: 15 June 2010

Further Information: EIASM

is an initiative to allow excellent researchers working outside the Netherlands to spend some time in the Netherlands to contribute towards strengthening Dutch science.

Nominations should be sent by members of KNAW and of KNAW's The Young Academy, as well as researchers at all of KNAW's research institutes.

Deadline: 1 May 2010

Further Information: KNAW

The full schedule can be found here.

Speaches include:

• “International Dimension of the EU 7th Framework Programme"
• "The Overview, potential and outlook for EU-Japan joint research projects"
  
• “Promotion of science and technology and Japanese S&T policy”
  
• “METI's innovation Policy”
  
• "Current EU-Japan collaborative researches and future perspectives: Japanese funding agencies Case 1"
  
• "Current EU-Japan collaborative researches and future perspectives: Japanese funding agencies Case 2"
• "How to participate in the EU 7th Framework Programme"
• "The “People” programme - Mobility actions"
• "J-BILAT: organization and plans, activities and expected outcome"

Participation is free, but pre-registration is required. Please email the J-BILAT project manager, Toshiyasu Ichioka (toshiyasu.ichioka[@]eu-japan.gr.jp).

The document, entitled “Opportunities for Researchers from Overseas to Conduct Research in Japan” provides comprehensive information on scholarships in all research fields.

The document can be downloaded here.

Since we published the Funding Guide for consultation in February we received comments and suggestions from 15 organisations both in Japan and Europe.

We are now in the process of making the final amendments to the document, which is still available online at the following link.

Please also see our preliminary review and analysis in the In Focus section below.

Please come and meet with other researchers at the Hobgoblin Pub, Shibuya from 7pm.

No food or drink will be provided by us – you’ll have to buy your own.

Hopefully this could be the first of many such informal gatherings.

Access Information: Map

Please phone me if you have any trouble finding the location: 090 5153 0886

What Western Managers Can Learn from Japanese Firms”

Date: Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Time: 6.30pm-7.00pm Drink & Snack (served before lecture) 7.00pm-9.00pm

Location: Auditorium, Embassy of Sweden 10-3-400, Roppongi 1 Chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0032

Further Information: EIJS

launched a joint call for applications in the field of medical research between September and November last year.

According to the press release issued by the JST, there were 26 applications received under the call. From this, 4 projects are to be supported.

The four projects will be supported in principle for up to three years at a cost of Y15m (€120,000) per project.

The four selected projects will be performed with by ETHZ with RIKEN, Hiroshima University, Kyoto University, and Osaka University.

Further Information: JST

In total, 14 applications were received with 5 projects selected.

Project partners include Kyoto University and Tampere University of Technology, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and Helsinki University of Technology, the University of Electro-Communications and Tampere University of Technology, Tokyo University and the University of Joensuu, Tokyo University and Åbo Akademi University.

Further Information: JST

on the forthcoming call in the energy field, specifically photovoltaics. The calls are under to be jointly supported under the FP7 Programme with METI/NEDO.

As we reported in March last year, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry/NEDO, and European Commission held a meeting where they discussed the opportunities for promoting joint research in the fields of photovoltaics, power storage and carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS).

The call to be issued this summer in the field of PV is the result of this initial meeting, which was followed up by a second meeting in Italy in October last year, where the parties agreed to the administrative outline for the calls.

For the call in PV, the coordinated call will be funded equally by the JST and the EU, with EU project proposals only being selected if the funding is also awarded in Japan.

Above: Dr Barbara Rhode (front),
S&T Counselor for the European Union Delegation
to Japan listens to presentations

Possible topics include concentration photovoltaics (CPV) and ultra-high efficiency solar cell modules; intermediate band solar cell (IBSC) and quantum dot technology; very efficient multi-junction thin film solar cells.

The calls are expected to be launched in June or July 2010 with an indicative deadline of September or October 2010. The budget is expected to be in the region of €240m.

Exchange of Researchers: Energy Field

A new pilot scheme to support researcher exchange in the energy field was also unveiled. This will allow for the reciprocal exchange of research staff in European and Japanese entities, in all energy related fields (other than nuclear research). This scheme will apply to early stage researchers (postdocs), experienced researchers and management staff.

The European Commission wil pay the European researchers going to Japan ((Total EU budget: €1.25M for maximum 2 projects up to a maximum of €2,000 month for subsistence allowance per outgoing researcher); the Japanese side will support Japanese researchers going to Europe. The programme will run for a maximum of 4 years. For individual researchers, a minimum stay of 1 month up to a maximum of 1 year is possible. The exchange requires the existence of a partnership agreement; Japanese participants should also be able to prove the source of funding.

Other Activities

The science and technology agreement signed between Japan and the European Union last autumn is seeing new impetus to cooperative research. The call in photovoltaics mentioned above will be followed by further joint efforts in the areas of aeronautics and super-conductivity. Expert workshops will also begin preparations for the development of calls in power storage and CCS, both in April.

On 15 April a preparatory meeting for how to operationalise the Science and Technology Agreement between the EU and the Japanese government will take place in Tokyo.

All the slides from the event:

European Union Delegation to Japan

In particular, see:

Lequeux,G., (2010), EU Energy Research: Promotion of Research in Low Carbon Technologies, Presentation at AIST, 26 March

Yamamoto, K., (2010), EU-Japan Cooperation on Energy Technology Research and Development, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, METI

The event was attended by around 200 people, with participants from research and funding organizations, physics research, academic journals and the press. As the organizers noted during the presentations, research and education links between Asia and Europe have until now tended to be quite weak. The purpose of the ASEPS Summit is to take steps to redress this through strengthening the relationship and creating a formal structure through which bridges can be built between researchers, funding and research organizations.

Above: First steps towards a stronger relationship:
ASEPS participants
Source: ASEPS

At the conclusions of the event, the “Tsukuba Declaration” (as it was termed by a Nikkei Shinbun journalist) was unveiled. This Statement, which sets out the broad principles that will guide the activities of ASEPS, explains that the ASEPS initiative is concerned with all types of physics research, from basic to the applications of physics research that occur in other fields of research, including energy, environment, biology and health science fields.

Many current programs or future projects were presented: on accelerator, nuclear, laser or nano physics as well as on energy, environment or health related physics applications, each unveiling a rich landscape for possible Asia-Europe collaborations. The ASEPS Statement and Summit marks a first step through allowing scientists, decision makers, industry leaders and the public, all basic ingredients of the making of research, to enter in a more structured and sustainable relationship.

The Statement also sets out the principles which will guide how to shape collaboration and scientific exchange and interchange from hereon. To assist in this process, a special task force will be established to examine the road-blocks to physics research cooperation, such as the uptake of physics by women and the young, and setting out suggestions on how to overcome such obstacles. It will also look as a priority at the appropriate policies and structures needed to create and manage international research platforms, the participation of developing countries, the education and training of young researchers, and the outreach and dissemination of physics to society.

The next summit will take place in Poland in October 2011. Poland will also hold the Presidency of the European Union at this time.

The Tsukuba Statement can be found at this link.

ASEPS homepage

Photos from the event can be found at this link.

This year’s EIS is the ninth such publication and was produced by the Maastricht Economic and Social Research and Training Centre on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT).

The document measures the performance of countries based on 29 indicators such as human resources and the availability of highly skilled and educated people, finance and support for innovation projects and the support from government; firm activities such as R&D investments, entrepreneurship, intellectual property rights; outputs such as the number of firms that have introduced innovations into their market or within their organizations, and the economic effects of innovation and the effects on employment, exports and sales due to innovation activities.

The statistical data is drawn from Eurostat, the World Bank, United Nations and other sources.

Leaders, Followers, Moderates and Catch-up Countries

Based on these above indicators, the EIS places the EU27 Member States into four country groups. These are:

Innovation Leaders: Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. For these countries, innovation performance is well above that of the EU27 and all other countries.

Innovation followers: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Slovenia. These countries have innovation performance below those of the innovation leaders but close to or above that of the EU27.

Moderate innovators: Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain. Innovation performance amongst these countries is below that of the EU27.

Catching-up countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Latvia, Romania, Serbia and Turkey. Although their innovation performance is well below the EU27 average, this performance is increasing towards the EU27 average over time.

The overall performance for each country against the EU average can be found in the figure below.

Overall, the report finds that the EU’s innovative performance is increasing. The EU27 growth rate in innovation performance shows an average annual growth rate of 1.8% over a five year period. This improvement is particularly due to Human resources (2.3%), and Finance and support (6.5%). Entrepreneurship, and firm investments have declined somewhat.

Country by Country Ranking of Innovativeness in the EU27

EU Performance Relative to Japan

The report also positions EU performance against that of the United States and Japan, both of which far surpass the EU27.

For each of the specific statistical measure, used performance with Japan is compared. Japan performs better than the EU27 in 12 indicators. The EU performs better in fields such as Private credit, Trademarks, Technology Balance of Payments flows, Knowledge-intensive services employment and Knowledge intensive services exports. Japan shows a better performance in Enablers, Firm activities and Outputs.

The Japanese innovation lead is however decreasing, as its innovation performance has grown at 1.16% while the EU27 is growing at an annual rate of 3.17%. Public-private co-publications, EPO patents and Medium-high and high-tech manufacturing exports. The EU27 is increasing its lead in Private credit, Trademarks, TBP flows, Knowledge-intensive services employment and Knowledge-intensive services exports. Japan is improving its lead in Business R&D expenditures and PCT (patent cooperation treaty) patents.

EU Performance Continues to lag that of the US and Japan

Innovation at the Regional Level in the EU

Map of Innovation activity in the EU27 by region

The report also provides a rather interesting overview of regional innovation in Europe. As is evident from the map below, which categorises regions according to their innovativeness, there is a great deal of diversity across Europe’s regions, both across Europe and within European countries. Innovation hot spots can be found in South East England, Denmark, the Strasbourg region, and parts of Sweden and Finland. Innovativeness tails off slightly into the Iberian peninsula, and southern and Eastern Europe. The report suggests that the most innovative regions tend to be in the strongest innovative countries. It also notes that there is a lot of stability in the performance of regions, with only a few changes in group membership.

The full report, which also includes country-by-country analysis, can be downloaded from:

European Commission (2010), European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) 2009, Pro Inno Europe Paper No 15, European Commission: Enterprise and Industry

We will be using this at the forthcoming ASEPS Summit, 24-6 March.

Initially, 28 companies were to recruit 40 researchers. In the end, after an extension of the call duration, 29 people have been selected to participate at only 23 companies. Each postdoc will be paid 4.8m Yen (€38,000) by the JST.

Since the government actively began to promote research from the mid-1990s, the number of doctoral graduates has increased by about 3 times to around 5000 per year. The number of employment opportunities are however, limited with the employment rate standing at 69% for 2009. This has improved over recent years, with only 60% of doctorate holders getting a job in the years between 2005 and 2007. This problem has come to be known as the “postdoc mondai”, or postdoc problem. The newspaper articles below state that the lack of uptake for this call was due to the current economic circumstances.

The New Growth Strategy unveiled late last year pledged to find full employment for doctorate holders in science and engineering subjects by 2020.

Sources: Yomuiri Shinbun, (2010), 29 March Yomuiri Shinbun (2010), 17 March.

In this month’s In Focus, we shall undertake an initial analysis of this document to outline the main types of scheme in the booklet.

Firstly, we will explain the development of the booklet. From this, we will analyse scheme coverage, looking at the most active countries, the main targets for the schemes, the research fields that are covered, duration, stipend levels, and grant sizes.

Development of the Booklet

The idea for the booklet was first conceived when we were discussing the Funding and Career Fair held in November last year. For this, we decided to draft a short booklet that would list some key schemes that could be distributed at the Fair.

After the fair we decided to further develop the booklet and continued work on it between November and February. During this period we consulted quite extensively with the Science and Technology Counselors from the Embassies here in Tokyo, as well as with the European Commission in Brussels. This consultation led to the steady expansion of the document as the number of schemes gradually increased.

On 15 February we opened the document to public comments and suggestions. We also distributed the document to the Euraxess Service Centres in Europe, Japanese Funding organizations and to researchers in the Euraxess network. We opened the consultation round until 31 March. In total we received comments and suggestions from 14 organisations during this period.

Remit

We have only included the following types of scheme in the funding guide booklet:

• Schemes for travel to Japan from Europe,
  
• Schemes to return to or visit Europe from Japan,
  
• Funding schemes in Japan,
  
• Schemes to collaborate with partners either in Europe or Japan

Other schemes, such as national grants provided for performing research in European countries (provided by national funding organizations e.g. the EPSRC, DFG, MICINN, or ISF etc.) have by and large, not been included, with the exception of the grants provided by the European Research Council. By contrast, as many researchers are in Japan and wishing to obtain funding here, we have included such national schemes in Japan.

Basic Data Methodology

To perform the analysis below, codes were assigned to an amended version of the taxonomy that can be found at the beginning of the document. This taxonomy lists 147 programmes provided by national funding agencies, and 18 by other organizations and non-national actors, such as research organizations, businesses or charities. We ignored the 18 other schemes for this current analysis concentrating on the programmes provided by the national funding organisations.

By country

By country, most schemes are provided by Japan, followed by the UK, Sweden, the European Commission, Germany, and Belgium.

Number of Schemes by Country (top listed countries)

Types of Scheme

In the main, the majority of schemes have an Incoming dimension. By this, they seek to attract people to Europe. There are around 80 such schemes listed in the booklet, followed by around 60 Outgoing schemes (from Europe to overseas/specifically to Japan). There are over 30 schemes to support Collaboration.

Targeted Groups

By targeted cohort, those at the postdoctoral level have the largest number of schemes to choose from – there are nearly 100 such schemes. There are fewer schemes listed at the graduate school level. Whether this reflects the reality of the funding situation or is merely a bias of our document is not certain.

Research Fields

Broadly grouped, in the main most schemes are open to applications in all fields. These account for around 55% of the schemes. These are followed by schemes that specifically target science & technology, and a small number that are specifically for the social sciences and humanities.

Duration

The duration of the schemes varies from a few days to eight years. The mean duration for all schemes is 26 months, with a median of 24.

Schemes at Graduate School level or for Outgoing tend to be shorter. There is also less variance in the duration of these schemes. The Postdoctoral and Senior levels tend to be longer, and also have greater variation in their duration. Incoming schemes are on the whole more generous, allowing researchers to stay for over two years. There is also a broad diversity in the duration of such schemes.

The average duration of Collaboration Schemes is nearly three years. One of the main instruments is the JST cooperative Strategic International Cooperation Programme (SICP) which tend to run for 36 months.

Stipend Levels

Extracting the funding and salary information from the booklet, and where possible stripping out auxiliary costs such as accommodation or travel subsidies provides a somewhat cursory glimpse into the average stipend per cohort, though it should be treated with great caution.

It should be noted that we used the maximum possible stipend level in all cases. Also note that monthly conversion rates for March 2010 were used¹ – the data is not at purchasing power parity rates.

Looking at the table below suggests that there are significant stipend differences, reflected in the standard deviation for the stipend levels.

For all groups, the average monthly salary is €2,217.70, or an annual rate of €26,612. For those in graduate school, the monthly average stipend is €1375.4. At the postdoctoral level, the average is €2,414 (annual rate: €28,975) with a maximum stipend level of €4,676 per month, under the Lise Meitner Program for Scientists from Abroad provided by the FWF Austrian Science Fund (around €56,110 per annum).

At senior levels, the average monthly stipend is €3022 (or €36,264 per annum). The highest level is €7305. This is provided under the Welcome Programme funded by the Foundation for Polish Science. This programme is to support projects carried out by outstanding scientists from abroad who establish research teams at Polish scientific institutions.

Those on Incoming schemes can expect to earn more than those on Outgoing schemes; but those In Japan can expect a higher salary. The maximum level in Japan is, however, lower than the maximum level available through an incoming scheme.

Grants

Turning next to grants, again there are large differences between countries and schemes, with a high standard deviation for all the programmes. The maximum grant is for €4.1m, which is the largest Grant-in-Aid programme in Japan. The largest such European grant is that provided by the European Research Council under their Advanced Research Grant Scheme, which can be awarded up to €3.5m. The average grant size is €651,454.

Conclusion

This preliminary review has found:

• Schemes cluster around the postdoctoral and senior levels.
• There appear to be fewer schemes at the graduate school level. This may of course reflect biases in our document, but links with what has been noted elsewhere (see an earlier Newsletter here). It may be possible that funding for international outgoing visits may be feasible under national doctoral programmes in Europe, but may not exist as a stand-alone programme thereby falling beneath the radar of this document. Further research will be needed to redress this issue.
• The average duration of all schemes is around 2 years. There is a great variety and diversity in the duration of these programmes, particularly at the postdoctoral and senior levels.
• The average stipend for all types of researchers is in the region of €2,000 per month. Again, there is a great diversity and breadth of range between the highest and lowest stipend levels.
• The average grant size is around €600,000, again within a broad range of upper and lower levels.

1. Available from the European Commission