On July 6, 2021, Kyoto University Research Administration Office (KURA) held the online “KAKENHI July Seminar” in English. Mainly targeted at international researchers on campus, this seminar was the first of the two planned this year by KURA, and 59 people (including 37 researchers) participated in the seminar.

KURA’s explanation of KAKENHI, JSPS’s Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, and application support services was followed by Professor Atsushi Wakamiya of the Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, who had in the past been appointed as a reviewer for Grant-in-Aid, and who gave a presentation from a reviewer’s perspectives on points to note when preparing an application. Dr. WANG Tao, Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Economics and Management, then followed with a presentation on his own experience of and tips on applying for a grant shortly after his arrival at the university last fall, which led to its successful adoption.

In the Q&A session that followed, there were questions about whether it is better to write the application in Japanese or English, discussions on better strategies for obtaining a Grant-in-Aid, and an exchange of opinions about advice on the application form from the reviewers’ perspective (see KAKENHI FAQ for further reference).

In the post-event questionnaire, the experiences of the reviewers and recipients were found particularly useful by the participants. As for the format of the seminar, the number of people who preferred an online format to a face-to-face one increased from the previous year, confirming the effectiveness of online webinar that, for instance, enables sharing web-based information directly. Planning, public relations and moderator of the event was done by OYAMADA Aya jointly with the team for supporting international researchers (FRESH).

KURA will continue to make efforts to create an environment for international researchers to maximize their research capabilities through organizing the grant briefing sessions and providing the brush-up services for their grant proposals.

Click here for events information.
Briefing materials and videos are available from here.