Call for Applications: FY2026 India-Japan LOTUS Programme
2026 March 26 MEETING
We are writing to inform you of the launch of the call for applications for the FY2026 “India-Japan Circulation of Talented Youths in Science Programme,” and to kindly request your assistance in sharing this information with the members of your academic society.
The LOTUS Programme invites and supports outstanding graduate students and postdoctoral researchers from India to conduct research exchanges in Japan. The programme aims to promote and strengthen joint research between Japan and India by enhancing collaboration and building sustainable research networks between universities and research institutions in both countries.
Research projects under the programme are jointly supervised by faculty members from Japan and India, providing participants with opportunities to engage in existing or newly initiated bilateral collaborative research. In addition, the programme offers career development support for participants who are interested in pursuing a research career in Japan.
Building on the program implemented in FY2025, the FY2026 call will be expanded in both scale (approximately 1,000 projects) and project types (one-year and three-year schemes). Given that we received over 600 proposals last year, we look forward to applications from a broader range of disciplines and from a diverse community of researchers and engineers.
The call is open to a wide variety of ambitious research proposals without restriction to specific fields, including, for example:
* Highly novel and challenging research or technology proposals
* Initiatives with a view toward future social implementation or practical application
* Interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral research and development efforts
To help prospective applicants better understand the objectives of the program and the call for applications, briefing sessions for the call for applications will be held. We encourage interested researchers and engineers to participate.
The time and date of briefing sessions and related materials are available on the official website. Please refer to the site below for the latest updates:
Official Website:
https://www.jst.go.jp/program/india/en/call/
