PhD Joint Programmes 2026 : CNRS - Université of Tokyo

Scientific Areas

This call is open to, but not limited to, research projects in the following focus areas:

• Climate change
• Public policy
• AI in social sciences (ethics, philosophies and public law, etc.)

The focus areas will also include projects in collaboration with the five CNRS-UTokyo International Research Laboratories (LIMMS, JFLI, ILANCE, DYNACOM and FJLMI) and the IFRJ-MFJ (Institut français de recherche sur le Japon à la Maison franco-japonaise).

Eligibility

Academic faculties of the University of Tokyo, who have the authorization from department or affiliation and the university to supervise Ph.D. students (UTokyo).
Researchers working in a CNRS unit holding an accreditation to supervise Ph.D. students (HDR).
A PI cannot submit more than one application in the framework of this call.

Collaborative research

There must be at least one PI from UTokyo and one PI from CNRS.

Funding

The joint call intends to fund joint research projects for 3 years, including a Ph.D. fellowship on the CNRS side, and funding provided to the PI which will cover costs of a Ph.D. student on the UTokyo side per project. The aim for these students is for them to obtain a doctorate degree based on the work they do on the joint research over the three years.
Thus, the total funding will include on the CNRS side:

• the Ph.D. fellowship for the CNRS side for 3 years
• travel and living expenses for the Ph.D. student in the partner country
• seed funding for travel expenses for the PI on each side

and on the UTokyo side:

• funding provided to the PI for 3 years which will cover the cost of a Ph.D. student
• travel and living expenses for the Ph.D. student in the partner country within the restrictions of the rules and regulations of UTokyo
• seed funding for travel expenses for the PI on each side
   

Support period

3 years

Student status and fees

The PIs on both sides are to discuss and agree on the status of the Ph.D. student when in the partner country. Any fees that may arise from sending/receiving in the Ph.D. student shall be the responsibility of the PIs and the travelling Ph.D. students.

Students will be enrolled in their home institution and will not be charged tuition fees at the host institution.

Number of awards

Up to five projects are expected to be jointly funded by UTokyo and CNRS through this call. However, subject to budget availability, quantity and quality of proposals, the number of projects selected may change.

Submission date(s)

Call will be open from 08:00(JST)/00:00(CET) 18 November to 20:00(JST)/12:00(CET), 17 December 2025.
UTokyo members must also refer to the announcement on the UTokyo Portal for details related to internal processes.

Notification date

End of February 2026

Project start date

September/October 2026

Evaluation

Proposals will be evaluated and ranked by a CNRS/UTokyo committee according to the following criteria:

• Scientific quality & originality of the project
• Scientific merit of the teams
• Synergism between the teams

The proposals must also include an outlined plan for raising external competitive funding (e.g. EU collaborative grants, national research agency grants, etc.)

Mode of application

The PDF file submitted by both applicants should be identical.
UTokyo applicants should, having obtained approval of the head of their affiliation, submit in electronic format (Adobe PDF) via email to sp.uni.adm@gs.mail.u-tokyo.ac.jp through the administrative section of their affiliation. Please note that the affiliation may require documents to be submitted earlier than the above date for their own internal procedures. Therefore, please check their requirements also when making an application.
*Please refer to the announcement on the UTokyo Portal for details and submit the applications through the relevant department of your affiliation. CNRS applicants should submit the same file via the dedicated website: NOA (cnrs.fr)

Content of the proposal

The proposal, written in English, must consist of the following parts, in one single file (up to 5 pages, not counting Parts F and G in the page count)

PART A: Title Page
Title of the proposal, names of the principal investigators and their laboratories, their addresses, telephone, and e-mail. The names of the Ph.D. students can be given if they are already known, or please state when they will become known. Please specify on the Title Page of the application "This application is submitted for consideration within the University of Tokyo - CNRS Collaboration Program" and please specify which scientific area the proposal should be classed under.

PART B: Description of the scientific project
State of the art of the research area, description of the scientific project and its interest, historical context of application (if applicable), quality and originality of the project, objectives, scientific methodology, expected results and their meaning, future perspectives. Explain the added value of the Ph.D. fellowships in the project. Explain the relation between the project and the research themes of the laboratory.

PART C: Added-value of the international cooperation
Describe the added-value of the international cooperation to fulfill the aims of the project (explain why the project cannot be carried out at a national level only). Describe the expected benefits for the French and Japanese teams. Describe the balance between the contributions of the French and Japanese teams.

PART D: Planned activities
Describe the planned activities in the framework of the project and provide a timetable. Explain how these activities will help achieve the aims of the project.

PART E: Perspectives & external funding
Outline the proposed plan for raising external competitive funding (e.g. EU collaborative grants, national research agency grants, etc.)

PART F: Scientific quality of the teams
Attach in annex a list of complete citations of no more than 10 publications related to the project for each team. This list is not taken into account for the page limit.

PART G: Short curriculum vitae
Not taken into account for the page limit

PART H: Ethics
Does the project raise ethical questions? If yes, please describe them and how they are dealt with.

Enquiries 

Enquiries from CNRS PIs should be directed to: caroline.danilovic@cnrs-dir.fr

Enquiries from UTokyo PIs should be directed to the International Projects Promotion Group, Research Promotion Department using sp.uni.adm@gs.mail.u-tokyo.ac.jp for attention of Sachiko Nakaya or James Fegan.