The Abe Fellows Network of the Social Science Research Council and the Japan Foundation New York offers collaborative grants to former recipients of the Abe Fellowship and the Abe Fellowship for Journalists. These nine-month grants provide support for research, fact-finding, convenings, and public engagement around an issue of global concern using Japan as a lens to deepen understanding. Like the Abe Fellowship, Abe Fellows Network Collaborative Grant projects focus on policy-relevant and contemporary issues with a comparative or transnational perspective that draws Japanese experience into wider public debate.

Collaborative Grants encourage the development of expanded networks of intellectual engagement by requiring that applicant fellows based outside of Japan include on the project team at least one representative from Japan and one researcher, journalist, or practitioner within ten years of the start of their career (from the US, Japan, or elsewhere). Additional team members may be included as appropriate to the project. Applicants are especially encouraged to include team members who would not normally engage with Japan but whose research area would benefit from such engagement.

Grant funds may be used to cover travel and accommodation expenses, networking opportunities, media production and dissemination, and research, as well as the costs of public events (virtual or in person). Support is provided for the nine-month period from July 1 to March 31.

Eligibility

Previous recipients of the Abe Fellowship or Abe Fellowship for Journalists currently employed at an institution or organization outside of Japan may apply as the team leader. Fellows working as freelance journalists are also eligible.

Fellows based in Japan who are interested in a collaborative grant should coordinate with a fellow based outside of Japan to serve as the team leader.

Project Team Parameters

Each collaborative team must include, in addition to the team leader who is based at an institution outside of Japan, at least one member who is based in Japan and one who is at an early stage of their career. Each of the members should play a substantive role in the project.

The team member from Japan may be an academic researcher or other professional relevant to the research topic at any career stage. The other team member (researcher, journalist, or practitioner) may be based in the US or Japan, but must be within ten years of the start of their career.

Additional team members (optional) may be at any stage in their academic or professional career as long as there is a clear justification for their involvement in the project.

We encourage applicants to assemble diverse teams (i.e., diverse in terms of institution, discipline, age, rank, country of origin, gender, etc.).