Estonian Research Council (ETAG) and the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) have a cooperation programme for over 20 years, since 2002. Each year ETAG can nominate one researcher for Postdoctoral Fellowship Stipendium for research in Japan.
Since 2024, ETAG and JSPS opened a new Researcher Exchange Program to bring one Japanese scientist to Estonia to do research for 6-12 months. The goal of the new program is to promote international cooperation and mutual understanding through research.
Katrin Saar
Senior Adviser (EU Missions, NordForsk); Cooperation with Taiwan and JSPS; ERA-NET CHANSE
In 2024, ETAG participated first time in the multilateral EIG-CONCERT programme call with Japan (Japan Science and Technology Agency, JST) and EU countries. The call in the EIG-CONCERT programme works in the same way as Horizon2020 ERA-NETS and Horizon Europe partnerships – each country finances the participation of researchers. Each year a new topic is chosen for the call.
JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research in Japan 2026 year call is now open for applications with the deadline 30th of April 2026. More information about the call here.
In cooperation with the Estonian Research Council and the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), a competition for postdoctoral
fellowships for research in Japan has been held every year since 2002.
The program aims to promote international cooperation and mutual understanding through research in Japan.
This program includes all fields of the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. The duration of the fellowships is 12 to 24 months. The call is organized by the Estonian Research Council and announced once a year (usually in September-October) after receiving the confirmation from Japan. The deadline for the call is from March to May, depending on the year.
Proposals must be submitted to the Estonian Research Council (ETAG) by email (katrin.saar@etag.ee), who will conduct a scientific evaluation to select candidate and nominate them to JSPS. Approximately three months after the nomination, JSPS sends out a notice of selection decision. The researcher can start the grant from October to November.
Candidate eligibility:
- Be a citizen of a country that has diplomatic relations with Japan.
- Have obtained their doctoral degree within six years of the date the fellowship goes into effect. Whether or not the candidate is employed in a full-time position is not considered.
Scholarship amount:
- Maintenance Allowance ¥362,000 per month (ca 2000 €)
- A settling-in allowance of ¥200,000 (ca 1100 €)
- A round-trip air ticket
- Overseas travel Insurance
- A Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Research Fellow) is available to cover cooperative research-related expenses. Application for these grants is made by the host researcher through his/her institution.
Information and call documents for the 2026 JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research in Japan call here.
Five successfull researchrs nominated by ETAG in the previous calls:
- Rodolfo Basile (University of Tartu) „Invenitive constructions in typologically different languages: Japanese, Estonian, and beyond“, nominated to the postdoctoral fellowship with Prof. Daiki Horiguchi (Kyoto University).
- Joanna Kitsnik (Kyoto University) „Understanding Attitudes Towards Wealth Inequality: The Role of Normative Ideas of Justice and Fairness“, nominated to the postdoctoral fellowship with Carola Hommerich (Sophia University).
- Sebastian Bahamonde (University of Tartu) „Perturbation theory in metric-affine gravity and its applications“, nominated to the postdoctoral fellowship with Prof. Masahide Yamaguchi (Tokyo Institute of Technology).
- Uku Tooming (University of Tartu) „Using Imagination to Learn What to Want“, nominated to the postdoctoral fellowship with Prof. Kengo Miyazono (Hiroshima University).
- Kadri Umbleja (Tallinn University of Technology) „Symbolic Data Analysis of General Histogram Valued Data for Mining of Big Data“, nominated to the postdoctoral fellowship with Prof. Hiroyuki Yaguchi (Tokyo Denki University).
Contact in ETAG:
Katrin Saar
(+372) 5333 5625
New 2027 Researcher Exchange programme call is open and the deadline to submit the proposal is on 3rd of September at 17:00 (JST). More information about the call here.
Estonian Research Council in cooperation with the Japanese Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) opened a new Researcher Exchange Program to bring
one Japanese scientist to Estonia to do research.
The goal of the new program is to promote international cooperation and mutual understanding through research. The longer-term purpose of these visits is to support the building of a foundation for joint research and networking that can be sustainably developed.
Positively evaluated Estonian R&I institutions can invite one Japanese researcher per year to Estonia for 6-12 months. All fields of the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences are included in this program.
Proposals have to be submitted to JSPS via its Electronic Application System. Call opens every year from May to July and the deadline in August to September. Results of the call will be announced at the start of the year and the researcher can start work in Estonia April-May.
Eligibility
- At the time of application, be a full-time researcher (tenure not required) who is eligible to receive KAKENHI grants or a researcher who aspires to hold such a full-time position in the future.
- The candidate must be a citizen of Japan or a foreign national with permanent residency status in Japan.
Eligible Japanese R&I institutions
- University or Joint research institute
- Organization under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) that conducts scientific research
- National college of Technology
- Other organization designated by the MEXT minister
The grant amount
The amounts given below ensure the grant for salary that the Estonian R&I institution can pay to a Japanese researcher for conducting research in Estonia. In addition, the R&I institution may pay additional salary from other funds. The costs for research work must be covered by the Estonian R&I institution.
- International airfare and and other expenses directly related to the travel (insurance, visa) based on real expenses and relevant documents
- Maintenance allowance: 1,600 EUR/month (plus costs for relevant national taxes)
- Family allowance: 500 EUR/month
- Accommodation allowance (incl. utility costs) : up to 1,000 EUR/month based on real costs and expense documents (plus relevant national taxes; researcher should pay any amount over)
- Expenses for domestic travel in Estonia: 650 EUR/period based on real costs and expense documents
Overhead costs are not eligible.
The next call will open in early summer 2026. More information at ETAG: Katrin Saar (katrin.saar@etag.ee)
Information for Japanese researchers on JSPS website
2024 Call information can be found here.
Successful applicants:
- Visiting Mikael-Aadam Lotman at University of Tallinnis Dr. Satoshi Urai (Hokkaido University) „A Re-examination of the Nishida-Tanabe Debate: A Collaborative Study of the History of Japanese Philosophy and Analytic Metaphysics“.
- Visiting Ivika Ostonen-Märtin at University of Tartu is Tetsuto Sugai (Hokkaido Research Center) „Prediction basis for root system dynamics based on aboveground physiological characteristics in boreal trees“.
Contact in ETAG:
Katrin Saar
(+372) 5333 5625
The 2026 joint call with Japan for proposals on AI-Powered Robotics for Real-World Applications was launched on 28th of April 2026 and the deadline to submit the proposals is 22th of July 2026.
The (EIG) CONCERT-Japan began as a platform for international research cooperation activities under the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7). After the conclusion of the FP7 iteration in December 2014, its activities continued under the new European Interest Group
(EIG) CONCERT-Japan name with 13 science, technology and innovation (STI) funding agencies from 11 European countries and Japan (Japan Science and Technology Agency, JST) partnering to further research collaboration and exchange.
Through STI policy knowledge sharing, research exchange, network building and joint funding calls, the program supports Japanese-European research collaboration in a variety of fields.
The call in the EIG-CONCERT programme works in the same way as Horizon2020 ERA-NETS and Horizon Europe partnerships – each country finances the participation of researchers. Each project consortium submitting an application should consist of at least 3 eligible beneficiaries (project partners), including at least 1 from Japan and at least 2 from two different European countries participating in the Joint Call.
Estonian host institution must be a positively evaluated R&D institution that is a legal entity registered in Estonia. List of evaluated institutions is provided in the Estonian Research Information System (ETIS).
Estonian participants are financed by ETAG in the amount of 150,000 euros (standard project partner) or 300,000 euros (coordinator) – even if there is more than one Estonian partner in one project. I case of multible Estonian partners, all have to meet the national PI eligibility criteriums given in the call text.
Proposals have to be submitted by using the online tool. The 2026 call documents and guidelines for the applicants can be found here.
How to find a partner in Japan?
- to identify suitable project partners in Japan or other participating countries, applicants can use the Partner Search Tool available here. This tool supports both consortia seeking additional partners and researchers looking to join a consortium.
- we recommend contacting the international cooperation office at your institution to check for existing collaboration agreements with Japanese research organisations and to request support in establishing contacts with Japanese researchers.
- ETAG can also assist in finding suitable partners in Japan. ETAG has prior contacts with the international offices of the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Osaka University, and Hosei University. We can send inquiries to these institutions to see if they would be willing to assist in establishing a contact.
- ETAG may also contact other Japanese research organisations; however, without a prior contact, the Japanese institution might not respond. For more information, please contact ETAG’s contact person: Katrin Saar (katrin.saar@etag.ee)
Previous calls:
The 2025 call was on the topic „Oceans: Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation“. More information about the call here.
One proposal coordinated by Estonia was selected for funding:
Coordinator Taavi Liblik (Tallinn University of Technology)
UmiSubMeso “Unravelling Marginal Sea SUBMESOscale Processes“. Other project partners are from Japan, Türkiye and Bulgaria.
Information about other proposals selected for funding can be found here.
The 2024 call was the first one Estonian Research Council joined and the topic was „Digital Transformations and Robotics in Sustainable Agriculture“. No Estonian proposals were successful in this call. Information about the successfull proposals can be found here.
Contact in ETAG:
Katrin Saar
(+372) 5333 5625
