The Japan Foundation Endowment Committee - Guidelines for Making an Application

Guidelines for Making an Application

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The JFEC is perhaps unique among Japan-related funding sources in the UK in being organised both for and by the Japanese Studies research community. It strives to make its application and reporting procedures as user-friendly as possible and to provide flexible funding that can be tailored to the requirements of individual projects.

Its practice is to meet the costs incurred by projects, in arrears, and it relies on the financial administrations of grant-holders’ institutions to verify expenditure accounts before claims for reimbursement are submitted to JFEC (on the financial report form).

The Committee asks applicants to make as good an estimate as they can of the likely costs of their projects, but recognises that researchers may need to adjust the allocation of their expenditure, as their projects proceed. JFEC is therefore prepared to approve final financial reports which have a small degree of movement of funds between the categories of expenditure set out in the original budget for the project, subject to the following limits:

  • Contributions to air-fares to Japan (including transport to/from airports) will not normally exceed £700. If exceptional factors might make a larger contribution justifiable, applicants should explain why in their application; Claims should indicate the actual amount paid;
  • Contributions towards subsistence in Japan – defined to include accommodation, food and day-to-day local transport –will not exceed £60 per day for the first 28 days and £40 per day for the subsequent 56 days. Where subsistence in other countries is requested, applicants should explain the basis on which their estimates are made. When claiming for subsistence, grant-holders should indicate the number of days involved;
  • Any books or other non-ephemeral materials purchased with JFEC funds must be placed in the grant-holder’s institutional library at the end of the project;
  • Major changes in the uses to which grants are to be put must be approved by the JFEC in advance;
  • The total sum claimed must not exceed the amount awarded (as stated in the award letter).

The Committee looks favourably on applications that make sensible and economical use of funds – for example, where applicants can economise on subsistence costs by staying with friends or relatives in Japan – and it will use its own knowledge and experience in judging whether or not costs are reasonable and justifiable, in the light of the project’s objectives.

The JFEC’s funds are limited and vary with returns on the financial assets in which its capital is held, so that the Committee relies on the co-operation of applicants and their institutions in its efforts to make available resources go as far as possible in support of high-quality research on Japan in this country.



(C) Japan Foundation Endowment Committee 2011-3.
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