The Toyota Foundation

The New Partnership Programme for Nurturing Professionals Begins

The Toyota Foundation and the University of Tokyo Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI) has established a new partnership programmme under the theme of “Interlinkages and Innovation for Future Societies” and wish to recruits researchers who will conduct research to transform social systems.

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TYTID	Project Title	Project Leader	Position, Organization	Grant Amount (yen）
D21-RC-0001	"Interlinkages and Innovation for Future Societies" Research Project	Hideaki Shiroyama	Director, Institute for Future Initiatives, the University of Tokyo	20,000,000

New Grant Program!

Interlinkages and Innovation for Future Societies:
Reevaluating Social Issues and Forging New Solidarity in the New Normal Era

Our daily lives have changed dramatically due to the unprecedented situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid utilization of digital technology for online lessons and teleworking is not only requiring us to become serious about tackling the full-scale expansion of education about and using IT and workstyle reform, which had been delayed. It is also pushing us to interact with people in ways we have never experienced before, particularly in the ways we communicate in the new setting of cyberspace. In addition, COVID-19 has also provided the opportunity for a fundamental reevaluation of the existing social systems and interactions between human beings and the natural environment.

Dealing with the issues highlighted by COVID-19 and creating a new society will require innovation that transforms the perceptions, lifestyles, and social systems of the past rather than superficial reforms. It is necessary to transcend existing ideas and perspectives and take on the challenge of issues focused on diverse connections (interlinkages), including those of people with people, people with nature, and people with things/technology to design a new future. Furthermore, in order to create a future society which promotes such innovation and fulfills these aspirations, it is important that the young researchers who will lead the next generation engage actively in research activities based on flexible and highly novel ideas, taking up the challenges of diverse issues to achieve a wealth of results.

Based on this awareness of the issues involved, the new Toyota Foundation Research Grant Program will support research projects led by young researchers based on the theme “Interlinkages and Innovation for Future Societies: Reevaluating Social Issues and Forging New Solidarity in the New Normal Era” starting from 2021. The program invites proposals for projects that will ambitiously address the transformation of social systems based on free-thinking perspectives unconstrained by conventional frameworks. It is our hope that the results of this research will be enthusiastically disseminated to society beyond the boundaries of academia.

・Comments by the Selection Committee Chair on the Research Grant Program 2021
・Previous comments are available in the Annual Report.

TYTID	Project Title	Project Leader	Position, Organization	Grant Amount (yen）
D21-R-0039	Seeking help when help is needed: Overcoming factors causing social isolation among older adults in Japan	Tomoko Ikeuchi	Researcher, Human Care Research Team, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology	6,200,000
D21-R-0040	Assessing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on compact cities and exploring pathways for a green and just recovery based on interlinkages between humans, the environment, and technology: Insights from Tokyo and Shanghai	Ayyoob Sharifi	Associate Professor, Hiroshima University, Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, International Economic Development Program	6,400,000
D21-R-0042	Realizing employment for people with severe physical disabilities requiring 24-hour care: A reexamination of the disallowance of assisted work from the viewpoint of people with disabilities	Takuro Shimada	Boad Member/Secretary General, Wawon Association	5,800,000
D21-R-0061	Proposal of co-creation of sustainable future visions using a gaming approach: A case study of the Mini SMART EARTH concept	Kengo Suzuki	Assistant Professor, Department of Engineering Mechanics and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, Information and Systems, University of Tsukuba	6,200,000
D21-R-0091	Development of a single-parent support program that realizes peer support and transcends regions: Verification of the process of realizing “new solidarity” from the restoration of “independence”	Eri Sato	Graduate Student, Division of Public Health Nursing Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicune	5,400,000
D21-R-0092	A Comprehensive Study of “Home” Environment Based on the Recognition Relationship between Humans and Things: From an Integrated Approach of Environmental Aesthetics, Architecture and Urban Planning Theory, and Art Practice	Mao Matsuyama	Research Associate, Mukogawa Institute of Esthetics in Everyday-Life	3,500,000
D21-R-0095	Learning in Community, Learning with Community: Development of a Network-Building Field Education Model Using ICT	Tomohisa Abe	JSPS Research Fellow (PD), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science/ College of Intercultural Communication, Rikkyo University	4,500,000
D21-R-0097	Research on a Citizen-Participatory Local Governance Process Using DX to Solve the Disengagement of Young People from Politics, which Has Been Exacerbated by the Decrease in Interaction and Distrust of Politics in the Coronavirus Pandemic	Rie Sato	Representative Director, Group Mirai+Corona	6,000,000
D21-R-0109	Survey on Gender Inequalities and Working Conditions in the Japanese Film Industry	Tatsuhito Utagawa	Representative, Japanese Film Project	4,000,000

Program Theme	Interlinkages and Innovation for Future Societies
Sub Theme	Reevaluating Social Issues and Forging New Solidarity in the New Normal Era
Grant Amount (Total)	40 million yen (per project, up to around ８ million yen/two year)
Grant Periods	Two years (Oct 1, 2021 to Sept 30, 2023)
Requirements	Project representatives must be 45 years old or under on the day of the beginning of the grant.
	Project representatives must have a contact address in Japan.
	Project teams of two persons or more are eligible for the grant.
	No limitations are placed on proposals with regard to the nationality of the project representative or participants; nor is there any restriction with regard to the their affiliation (or lack thereof) with a university, research institute, NPO/NGO, or other organization.
Proposal Submission Period	April 12 to June 18, 2021, 15:00 Japan Standard Time
Grant Selection	Formal decisions on the awarding of grants will be made at the Toyota Foundation Board of Directors meetings scheduled to be held in September 2021, based on the deliberations of a selection committee composed of outside

※The application closed on June 18, 2021. Thank you for your interest.

April 20, 2021 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM (JST)  closed
April 28, 2021 from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM (JST)  closed
May 13,2021 from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM(JST)  closed
（The maximum number of participants is 100 for each session.)
The online information sessions above will be held in Japanese only. 
*Application deadline of the information settion is at noon of the previous day of the session. Details of the zoom information will be send the previous day of the session to registered e-mail address.

Aside from the information session, applicants can consult with the program officers of the Toyota Foundation in advance of applying via email.
Please refer to the program guidelines for the details.

Proposal Guidelines 2021
Project Proposal Form 2021 (sample)
*A blank word file is only available after registering applicant information.