The Scandinavia-Japan Sasakawa Foundation, with funding from The Nippon Foundation, is offering PhD Research Grants in Japanese Studies for 2023, see details below.

Research Grants for PhD Candidates in Contemporary Japanese Studies

Research grants are provided for PhD candidates enrolled at Nordic institutions/ universities in all subjects within the broad field of contemporary Japanese studies, to cover costs for conducting research activities in Japan for up to one year. Contemporary Japanese Studies are defined as fields within the humanities and the social sciences such as anthropology, art, architecture, economics, education, history, law, linguistics, literature, political science, sociology, and the interdisciplinary study and research of various aspects of Japan, its society, history, and culture, with a view to deepening and enhancing an understanding of the country. The research grant program may also accommodate exceptional cases, e.g., research activities in Japan in such areas as science, technology, health and medicine, or any other subjects outside of the humanities and the social sciences, if there are compelling reasons why the PhD candidate must go to Japan for research purposes.

Costs covered by the grant: The grant covers the costs of conducting research activities in Japan only. Typical costs that can be covered are those for: travel, accommodation, meals, access to research databases or research materials, or other direct costs for procured services necessary to perform the research. The maximum amount that can be awarded per person is EUR10,000.

News: To aid the grant recipient’s visit to Japan during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, SJSF has announced an additional subsidy of up to EUR2,000 to defray costs for the quarantine restrictions imposed by the Japanese government (covering actual hotel accommodation fees for the quarantine period, and the taxi fee from the airport to quarantine hotel upon arrival in Japan), on condition that these restrictions at entry to Japan continue in 2023. Once the restriction is lifted, the additional subsidy will be cancelled.

Grant period: The grant period is from January to December 2023. Continuation of funding is possible, pending a successful year-end review, but priority is given to those who are applying for the first time.

Duration of stay: The duration of stay in Japan is from one month up to one year.

Eligibility: The applicant should be enrolled as a PhD student at an institution/ university in a Nordic country (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, or Sweden) within any academic field, but focused on studies of contemporary Japan. The applicant’s purpose of travel to Japan must be for conducting research for the PhD dissertation.

How to apply: There is one application round for the 2023 Japanese Studies Research Grants.

– The application round opens on September 1, 2022 and closes on October 31, 2022.

Decisions will be communicated to applicants approximately 6 weeks after each application deadline.

Applications for the “2023 Japanese Studies Research Grants” are to be made on the online application platform: http://apply.se/sjsf before the deadline.

CLICK HERE for GUIDELINES FOR APPLYING TO 2023 JAPANESE STUDIES PhD RESEARCH GRANTS

Enquiries: Send an e-mail to the Scandinavia-Japan Sasakawa Foundation to Marie Tsujita Stephenson or Edvard Fleetwood at the e-mail address: [email protected].