Recruiting

Notice

THERS Make New Standards Program for the Next Generation Researchers (hereinafter referred to as the “Program”) aims to develop doctoral human resources who will contribute to future society in various ways, such as taking leading roles in a knowledge-based society or resolving the issues facing the world and Japan. PhD students are already at the forefront of research and supporting the foundation for research at the University. The Program will provide financial support to such excellent students and thereby provide them with an environment in which they can devote themselves to their research. In addition, by providing various activities to help them acquire the skills required by companies, etc., and by providing opportunities to interact with graduates of Leading graduate schools and WISE program graduates who serve as role models, the Program seeks to dispel anxiety about employment, etc., and encourage participants to contribute to society by designing their own careers.
What’s more, by interacting with PhD students with different specialties, overseas researchers, mentors with different values, etc., the participants will gain a multi-faceted perspective, expand their human networks, and encourage the development of new research based on original ideas and creation and progress of interdisciplinary research.
The students selected for this Program are to be called “RESEARDENTs” (RESEARcher + stuDENT) because they are both students and researchers. RESEARDENTs are expected to have the humble attitude of a student toward learning, while also possessing a sense of awareness and pride as a professional researcher.
There are also doctoral programs such as the WISE Program (in principle, a five-year integrated program that integrates master and doctoral programs) that conform to the above objectives. Experience of such programs will be established as one of the assessment criteria for the Program, and selection will be carried out accordingly.

SPRING (Support for Pioneering Research Initiated by the Next Generationt) for “Japan Science and Technology Agency” and Nagoya University (THERS) jointly implement this system.

Online Information Sessions

Date：(for Japanese Students) Tuesday, February 24, 2026, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Language：Japanese ※Please register via the link below. Click here to watch

Date：(for International Students) Tuesday, February 24, 2026, 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Language：English　※Please register via the link below. Click here to watch

Content of support

(1) Research Support Grant

AY2026 (2nd Recruitment)

Japanese Students

AY2026 : 180,000 yen* per month

AY2027 and thereafter : 150,000 yen per month (180,000 yen* per month if criteria are met)

International Students

AY2026 : 180,000 yen* per month

AY2027 and thereafter : No grant provided

AY 2027 (1st Recruitment)

AY 2027 : 180,000 yen*per month

From the second year onward (AY2028 and beyond) : 150,000 yen per month
(180,000 yen* per month if criteria are met)

*Highly Contributing RESEARDENTs : Grant Increased by 20,000 yen per Month

(2) Research expenses ¥250,000 annually

※PS RESEARDENTs
・Students who enroll in April: research expenses for the one-year period from April to March of the following year shall be 500,000 yen (usually 250,000 yen).
・Students who enroll in October: research expenses for the six-month period from October to March of the following year shall be 250,000 yen (usually 125,000 yen).

Application period

Application Information registration：Tuesday 24 February 2026 to Friday 6 March 2026 at 14:00
Upload application documents：Wednesday 11 March 2026 to Monday 23 March 2026 at 14:00

AY2026 (2nd Recruitment)/AY 2027 (1st Recruitment)

Support Period: The grant payment period is three years maximum (four years maximum for the Doctoral Course
in Medicine.) However, the payment period may be shortened if the payment suspension/stoppage requirement is met.

Application Fields: Ⅰ.Application FieldsⅠ. Accelerating Social Innovation Studies
Ⅱ. Chem-Bio Integrated Studies
Ⅲ. Informatics,Bio and Life Science Integrated Studies
Ⅳ. Lifestyle Revolution based on Transdisciplinary Studies
Ⅴ. Creating the Future of Asia and Pan Pacific
Ⅵ. Glocal Problem Solving Studies
Ⅶ. Multi-disciplinary Fundamental Studies

Number of recruits

AY2026 2nd Recruitment: approx. 130

AY2027 1st Recruitment: approx. 70

Eligibility: AY2026
(2nd Recruitment)

Doctoral Course : Scheduled entrants in April 2026
Scheduled entrants in October 2026

Doctoral Course in Medicine : Scheduled entrants in April 2026
Scheduled to become a second-year student in April 2026
Scheduled entrants in October 2026

AY 2027
(1st Recruitment)

Doctoral Course : Scheduled entrants in April 2027 (Japanese Nationality Only)

Doctor Course in Medical : Scheduled entrants in April 2027 (Japanese Nationality Only)

★An enrollment period above refers to the number of years (or months) of enrollment with exception for periods of leaves of absence. However, in case you took periods of leaves due to personal reasons during your enrollment period, the applicant may not be supported. For more details, please check the application guidelines.

Application

Application Overview (PDF format)

Application form (Word format)

Others

FAQ

Application Process * Refer to the Application Guidelines and Application Manual for details.

1. Application Information Registration

This registration is required for the issuing of an application number. Please fill out the application registration form and register by the due date.
Please note that the field of application cannot be changed after application registration.
Registration forｍ

※Starting around 10:00 AM on February 24

About the application number

You will be notified of your application number in an automatic reply email after completing the application information registration.

Your application number is also required for the evaluation document (Form 3), so please share the application number with the person who prepared Form 3 (Academic Advisor Evaluation).

Nagoya University Applicants should use the THERS email (@s.mail.nagoya-u.ac.jp) given by Nagoya university.
For External Applicants, Webmail such as Gmail, Yahoo, qq, etc. may not be received. Please set up your e-mail address to receive “@t.mail.nagoya-u.ac.jp”.

If you do not receive an automatic reply email, your address may be incorrect or it may have been filtered into the junk mail folder. Be sure to check using the Inquiry Form. https://dec.nagoya-u.ac.jp/inquiry/top

About the Application for Eligibility Screening (Form A)

Students who are not eligible to apply under “4. Eligibility for Application” in the Application Guidelines, but who wish to apply for this program under special circumstances, must follow the procedure below to be checked for their eligibility separately.
Register their application information and submit the “Application for Eligibility Screening (Form A)” via this form during the application information registration period.

（Submission period: Tuesday, 24 February 2026 to Friday, 6 March 2026, 14:00）

Submission form(FormA)

About the Declaration for Category 1 Eligibility(Form B)

AY2026 (2nd Recruitment)

As indicated in Appendix 3, individuals with foreign nationalities who fall under Category 1 are eligible to receive the Research Support Grant beyond AY2027.

AY2027 (1st Recruitment)

As indicated in Appendix 3, individuals with foreign nationalities who fall under Category 1 are eligible to apply.

Please complete the application information registration as outlined above and submit the “Declaration for Category 1 Eligibility (Form B)” via the dedicated form.
（Submission period: Tuesday, 24 February 2026 to Friday, 6 March 2026, 14:00）

Submission Form(FormB)

2. Submission of Application Documents and Video

Nagoya University Applicants: Submit application documents through 「TACT」 (Browsing the site is scheduled to start after March 11th.)
Other Applicants: Upload the file to NUSS (Nagoya University Storage Service). The submission URL will be notified via email after March 11th.

3. Submission of the Academic Advisor Evaluation (Form3)

Submission form(Form 3)

Interview Day

The screening will be basically conducted based on the application documents mentioned in 8. (1) – (4). There is a possibility we will conduct a 2^nd screening (online interview screening). The screening will be carried out on the date below. Please note that any request for a specific date and time cannot be accommodated. The interview candidates will be notified by May 15 (Fri) in the same way as described in (3) Notification of results.

Interview Screening Date: May 19 (Tue), afternoon

Contact

If you have any questions or inquiries, please contact the Doctoral Education Consortium using the form below.
Inquiry form：https://dec.nagoya-u.ac.jp/inquiry/top
The latest information will be posted on this website.
※The information will also be provided via LINE. Please check the website as follows to subscribe to our LINE channel: https://dec.nagoya-u.ac.jp/lineapp/)