Research Grant Program 2024 *Friday, July 19 deadline
Aiming for a Society Where Everyone Has Confidence and a Sense of Purpose in Life
The Univers Foundation was established in 1990 as a foundation that contributes to the enhancement of elderly welfare. However, in today’s society characterized by low birth rates, aging population, and declining demographics, not only the elderly but people of all ages and backgrounds are experiencing social isolation and hardships in their lives. The situation has become even more challenging due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We conduct the grant program with the hope of contributing to the realization of a society where everyone can have confidence and a sense of purpose in their lives, by supporting research that tackles and resolves these complex contemporary challenges.
We welcome applications for research in diverse fields such as healthcare, social welfare, and social policy, as well as innovative endeavors that go beyond traditional frameworks, including interdisciplinary issue and research focused on practical implementation. We particularly encourage young researchers to take up these challenges. We are looking forward to receiving your applications.
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Research Categories
1) Mind and health
Support research using a psychosocial approach to help all ages stay physically and mentally healthy.
Possible research topics:
Clinical psychology; Lifelong developmental psychology/Elderly psychology; Dementia; Developmental disorders; Mood disorders; Dependence; Schizophrenia; Stress disorders; Grief and loss; Social rehabilitation.
2) Social work practices related to social inclusion
Support practical research based on the perspective of social work that deals with people who are socially isolated by falling into the gaps of the corresponding systems while they face complicated life problems, and helps solve their problems.
Possible research topics:
Support for social minorities; Support for the underprivileged; Rehabilitation support; Prevention of abuse; Long-term care and nursing; Support for disaster victims; Support for foreign workers, elderly, children and youth; Support for school refusal, withdrawal and young carers.
3) Developing a positive welfare environment for the future
Support research that prospects new welfare initiatives, such as the welfare system and mechanisms that will be needed by society in the future, and the commercialization of support services.
Possible research topics:
Welfare management; Community-based comprehensive care system; Technical innovation of care; Judicial welfare and social readjustment; Utilization of welfare administration and private resource; Building a collaboration among different specialist categories; Support system for disaster time; Sustainable community development; Diverse ways of working.
Grant Amount
Up to 1,000,000 yen per grantee
The actual amount of the grant shall be determined based on assessment of the proposal, including the contents and scale.
Grant Period
February 2025 to January 2026
Application Deadline
FRIDAY, JULY 19, 2024
All applications must be received by no later than 5:00 p.m. Japan time.
Qualification
(Must meet both qualifications below)
- Be engaged in research activities at a university, research laboratory, research institution, educational organization, or be working in the social welfare field at a social welfare organization.
- Be enrolled in or graduated from a master’s/doctoral program, or hold equivalent degrees or qualifications.
(Applicants who are enrolled in a master’s program, or are in their first half of a doctoral program must have an advisor be one of the research members when applying. The advisor’s name should be listed in the research members list on page 8 of the application form. An advisor’s assistance is not required for applicants in the second half of a doctoral program.)
- In order for more researchers to share grants, those who have received a grant from the Univers Foundation in the past are not eligible.
Application Procedure
Please fill out the required information on the application form and send the following number of copies to our office:
Original copy: 1
Copies: 5
Please ensure that the “Guarantee” section on page 11 of the original copy of the application form includes the authorized signature of the applicant’s affiliated organization representative or department head. Enclose 5 copies of the original document, each with the required authorized signature.
Note: Applications lacking an authorized signature will not be accepted.
To avoid any loss or inconvenience, please use a registered mail or overseas courier service that provides delivery tracking. We do not accept in-person submissions at the foundation office, or submissions via email or fax. Kindly retain a copy of the submitted application for your records.
Please refer to the sample entries below when completing the application.
[Please take note of the following items when applying]
- Please obtain the authorized signature of the applicant’s affiliated organization representative or department head in the Guarantee section on page 11 of the application form. We will only accept the authorized signature of the applicant’s affiliated organization representative or department head; a supervisor’s signature will not be accepted.
- Applications will not be accepted if the applicant and the authorized signatory of the organization is the same person.
- Please indicate whether submission to the Ethics Committee is deemed necessary in item 10 of the application form. Submit the application with the approval from your organization’s Ethics Committee. If you cannot apply to the Ethics Committee without the funding source, you may apply for the grant program and clearly state this fact. However, if you do not obtain approval from the Ethics Committee, your application will be conditionally selected. Failure to obtain approval by February 28, 2025, will result in cancellation of the selection.
- Grants will be remitted to your bank account, which must be in the applicant’s name. We can arrange the remittance to your organization’s bank account only if they do not take an overhead fee or any indirect costs related to managing the funds.
- Attachments other than the application form will not be subject to review. Please fill in the necessary information in the application form.
Usage of Grant
Grants should be used for personnel costs, travel expenses, equipment, rental fees, meeting expenses, research reference literature, printing expenses, correspondence expenses, supplies and others.
- After carefully reviewing the list below (List of Expense Items) and the sample entry at the very bottom of this web page, please fill out the budget in detail along with the basis of the estimate. Please kindly specify the purpose of use so that the relationship with the research plan can be understood. Please note that you are not permitted to make any changes to the expenditure budget once your research project is selected.
- You are required to submit all receipts for expenses or a billing statement to the Foundation with the final report.
List of Expense Items
| 1) Personnel Costs | Reward for the cooperation of researchers outside of the applicant’s research group, and adjunct workers, including personnel involved in document rearranging and data counting. *DO NOT include wages for the applicant and research group members. |
|---|---|
| 2) Travel Expenses | Domestic and international travel expenses, activity costs, accommodation costs, meals, transportation and insurance fees. |
| 3) Equipment | Equipment necessary for the study that costs more than 100,000 yen. *DO NOT include personal computers, tablets and monitors for general usage purposes. |
| 4) Rental Fees | Fees to rent facilities, equipment, computers and other devices. |
| 5) Meeting Expenses | Expenses related to holding a meeting such as costs of room rental, food, snacks and beverages. |
| 6) Research Reference Literature | Expenses for buying materials such as books, papers, etc. |
| 7) Printing Expenses | Cost of printing survey sheets and photocopying materials. |
| 8) Correspondence Expenses | Communication costs, postal mail and delivery fees and money transfer fees. |
| 9) Supplies | Stationary supplies and other equipment supplies less than 100,000 yen. |
| 10) Others | Expenses for translation and other costs which are not listed above. *DO NOT include any overhead costs by your research institution or organization, English proofreading fees and costs for ethical reviews. |
Selection Procedure
Grantees will be selected by our selection committee and approved by the Board of Directors. The results will be provided to each applicant. The Foundation will also officially announce the titles of the grant-awarded research projects. The Foundation will not reply to any inquiries regarding the screening process, reasons for the selection, nor application reviews.
Announcement of Application Result
November 1, 2024
- Bank remittance of grants will be completed by late February, 2025.
Grantee’s Commitments
- Those who receive a Univers research grant must submit a report on the research results by the end of March, 2026 after the grant period is over.
- When the research results are to be announced publicly, grantees must submit a copy to the Foundation. Notation of “research funded by the Univers Foundation” shall be described in research publications. Additionally, approximately three years after the grant period concludes, we kindly request that the research findings be disseminated through presentations at academic conferences (such as research symposiums or academic study groups) and publication in scholarly journals or other appropriate venues.
- To best fulfill the completion of the grant, we will contact you for a follow-up survey 3-5 years after completion of the grant period. We would like an update on the reporting, publication, or presentation of your research results, as well as the development or possibility of a new or related study.
Schedule following the grant decision
| Nov. 1, 2024 | Announcement of Application Result |
|---|---|
| Jan. 31, 2025 | The deadline for submitting procedural documents to initiate the grant *Conditional selection applicants must obtain approval from the Ethics Committee by February 28, 2025. Failure to obtain approval by the specified deadline will lead to the cancellation of the selection. |
| Feb. 2025 | Beginning of grant period Disbursement of Grant Funds (first half) ⋆1 |
| Jul. 31, 2025 | The deadline for submitting interim report ⋆2 |
| Aug. 2025 | Grant Transfer (latter half) ⋆1 |
| Jan. 31, 2026 | End of grant period |
| Mar. 31, 2026 | The deadline for submitting final report |
⋆1 The grant will be disbursed in two installments: the first installment is scheduled for the end of February 2025, and the second installment will be made at the end of August 2025.
⋆2 A brief interim report is required to be submitted six months after the grant commencement. Upon review, the remaining grant funds will be disbursed. Please note that failure to submit the interim report will result in the inability to receive the disbursement.
Regarding Personal Information Protection
- Personal information received on applicants shall be only used for screening procedures such as selecting grantees and mailing application results letters.
- The Univers Foundation will officially announce grantees’ names, position, organization, research project titles and research contents to the public and academic information databases.
Application Samples
THE UNIVERS FOUNDATION
YPC Building 5F., 2-14-8 Yotsuya, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0004
Tel. 03-3350-9002 Fax. 03-3350-9008
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