The 9th research grant application guidelines

June 16, 2023

In the 60th anniversary of the first polyurethane foam production in Asia, the International Polyurethane Technology Foundation was established in 2014 and then became a public interest incorporated foundation in 2019.

This is the first foundation in Japan for research grants targeting polymer field mainly composed of polyurethane, and this foundation is promoting the public interest purposes aiming at the further development of the polyurethane research.

Our goal is to contribute to the development of the polymer field in the world by providing research grants to institutions and individuals conducting basic research and application development on polymer chemistry mainly composed of polyurethane.

Last year we supported 6 research grants, and this time is the 9th research grant that we provide research grants to universities, research institutions and individuals that are contributing or considered to contribute to the growth and environment-friendly research and development of polyurethane technologies.

1.Purpose

We provide research grants to research institutes and individuals that conduct research and development that contribute to the expansion of human use of polyurethane, such as new technologies related to polyurethane and the reduction of the burden on the global environment of polyurethane, and train researchers in developing countries and other young researchers to contribute to the improvement and development of academics.

2.Research field targeted and Qualifications

Research field targeted are basic research, application research and development, and research on polymer chemistry of which mainly for polyurethane. And also related fields such as interdisciplinary research on chemistry, physics, mechanics, electronics and other related fields. In particular we call for research areas such as sustainability, decarbonization, energy saving, and reduction of environmental load and others related polyurethane.

We provide grants to research groups or individual researchers that belong to universities or research institutes in order to support excellent research on polymer chemistry of which mainly for polyurethane and the grants classified into the following two categories:

(1) General research grant
Grants will be provided for outstanding research that is written in the above.
Age limit for researchers: Under 45 years old. (* As of June 1, 2023)

(2) Research grants to encourage overseas researchers
Research grants for researchers in developing countries (the countries listed in DAC list excluding South Korea and China prepared by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)) with outstanding research that wrriten in the above.
Age limit for researchers: Under 45 years old. (* As of June 1, 2023)

There are the following restrictions that are not eligible for selection regarding applications:

1) Applications from organizations and individuals who have an interest in the Foundation
2) Research that has received a research grant from the Foundation in the past or similar research that does not clearly differ in content from such research.
3) Research with similar contents, currently, or will be receiving grants from other foundations.
4) Organizations and individuals and research themes that received the Foundation's research grant within three (3) years: i.e. 6th (2020), 7th (2021) and 8th (2022) research grants.
5) Research commissioned by other companies, institutions, etc.
6) Research that has been substantially completed

3.Research grant amount and the term

(1) General research grant
 1 million yen per research project, About 4 (four) research will be selected.
(2) Research grants to encourage overseas researchers
 500 thousand yen per research project, About 4 (four) research will be selected.

When applying, please select either 1) General Research Grant or 2) Research grants to encourage overseas researchers.

The research term is, in principle, within one (1) year since the foundation operates on a single-year budget.

4.Application procedure and the deadline

The application starts on June 16, 2023 and the deadline is 5:00 p.m. (JST) on September 30, 2023.

The application form can be downloaded from our website as follows;

Please complete the designated application form. The application needs a recommender's sign or seal for Representative researcher. And then please convert the application document into digital data (pdf data) and send it to the Foundation's E-mail address such as info@pu-zaidan.jp. Or please send an original document by post to our foundation.

Recommender must be a technical director at technical college, university, research institute and others including the president or the dean. It cannot be accepted without the sign or seal of the recommender.

In addition, we would set a limit on the number of characters for filling in "Research Purpose", "Reference", and "Summary of Research Implementation Plan". If you exceed the character limit, you may be excluded from the selection process.

Application form:Application format on the 9th (FY2023) Research Grants.
Sample of application form

5.The date of grant decision and Contribution of research grants

The selection will be done by the selection committee of the Foundation and the committee will select based on the following selection criteria.
And then the winner will approve at the Board of Director of the Foundation.

[Selection criteria]
1) Originality and innovativeness of research theme
2) Academic importance of research theme
3) Feasibility of research theme
4) Economic efficiency and Spillover effect of research theme
5) Future prospect of research theme

The selection committee will finish the selection until End of December 2023 and the winner and rejection results will announce at the end of January, 2024.And then we will provide the grant at the end of March 2024.


Notes

1.Use of the research grants

The grant will be used for expenses for equipment, research raw materials, travel expenses, consumables and others necessary for the research. But it does not accept to use for general administrative expenses at research institutes and universities.

2.Research result report

Recipients of the grant must submit “research report” and “use details of the grant” by the end of June 2025.

Please write that we have received the research grant from international polyurethane technology foundation when you write research paper for academic societies, academic journals, publications, papers based on the research grant by our foundation, and please send us the presentation paper (include electronic data) for the purpose of widely disseminating the grant activities of our foundation.

The research results report will post on the Foundation’s website. In addition, we may ask you to make a presentation at the research report meeting scheduled to be held in August, 2025.

3.Handling of the personal information

All personal information related to the application for research grants will be used only in the selection process. The foundation has a right to publish the research report on our website or in a booklet. But the foundation does not claim any rights with respect to intellectual property based on research results.

After the grant decision, the foundation will request to submit the “Certificate of Acceptance” to agree making the information public at the websites of the foundation as follows,

a. Name of grant recipient and title, institution name
b. Research project name
c. Content of the research applied
d. Research period
e. Grant amount
f. Research report
g. Photos taken at the foundation-sponsored events

The research results report will be bookbinding and donated to the National Diet Library and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). In addition, the bibliographic items and abstracts of research report are stored in the database operated by JST (including Japanese-English translation).

4.Others

If you have any questions regarding the application, please contact the secretariat.

Also, during the grant period, in case of change of institution or status, change or stop of the research, change of use of grant, or if you need to carry out your research by another researcher, please contact us without delay.

Please note that we cannot respond to inquiries regarding the reasons for winning or rejection.

 

(Where to submit the application)
【By E-mail】
Mail Address: info@pu-zaidan.jp
Attention: Secretariat, Shinji Hirayama
International Polyurethane Technology Foundation

【By post】
Attention: Secretariat, Shinji Hirayama
International Polyurethane Technology Foundation
Address: 3-1-36 Imaike-cho, Anjo, Aichi, 446-8504 Japan
Inoac Corporation Anjo Office

【Contact information】
Secretariat, Shinji Hirayama
TEL: +81 50-3135-8998
FAX: +81 566-98-5037
E-mail: info@pu-zaidan.jp

Website (International Polyurethane Technology Foundation):
https://www.pu-zaidan.jp/en/

Application form:Application format on the 9th (FY2023) Research Grants.
Sample of application form