News
2022/05/27
GTIE GAP Fund Announcement of Launch of Offering
Purpose and Intent
This program is a university ecosystem promotion type start-up ecosystem formation support and entrepreneurial activity support program (hereinafter referred to as the “Program”) commissioned by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). This program is implemented under the “Startup Ecosystem Formation Support Program for University-Ecosystem Promotion” (hereinafter referred to as the “Program”) commissioned by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (hereinafter referred to as JST). The program is implemented with the increased budget from the FY2021 supplementary budget, and is designed to support the practical application of excellent technology seeds generated by universities and the development of human resources for entrepreneurship, and to establish a system for the sustainable creation of startups with a large social impact that will lead to social reform and solutions to social issues after Corona. The objective of the program is to establish a system for the sustainable creation of startups that will lead to social change and solutions to social issues after Corona. In addition, in the “Entrepreneurship Support Program,” the program is particularly focused on the development of startups that can make a significant impact on society, such as Greater Tokyo Innovation Ecosystem (GTIE) (“GTIE”). The “Entrepreneurship Support Program” provides support to universities participating in the Greater Tokyo Innovation Ecosystem (GTIE) platform.) In addition, the “Entrepreneurship Support Program” provides support to universities participating in the Greater Tokyo Innovation Ecosystem (GTIE) platform.
This program is designed to create university-launched ventures that aim for the global market based on innovative technology seeds from universities participating in the platform, as well as university-launched ventures with a high social impact that will also contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. GTIE will call for research and development proposals from researchers belonging to the lead and collaborating institutions of GTIE. The selected research proposals will receive R&D funds (GAP Fund) and, with the support of the mentors participating in this call, will be able to conduct commercialization-oriented R&D activities with the aim of starting a business or obtaining R&D funds at the next stage (e.g., JST’s START). The mentors and other support staff who participate in this program will be provided with R&D funds (GAP Fund).
Accepted R&D Proposals
1. target
Research proposals (GAP Funds) to advance the brushes-up of business models, prototype production, acquisition of data (experimental and computational results) for hypothesis testing, and market validation in Japan and the U.S. in order to bridge the gap between research results and commercialization at research institutions.
*This does not apply to research that does not aim to commercialize or to conduct company business or preparation (registration, etc.).
2. application period
| Global (Single Application) Standard (single application) Global and Standard (combined application) Unicorn, Standard (joint application) |
Thursday, June 30, 2022 (noon) |
| Unicorn (single application) | Noon, Friday, July 15, 2022 |
*Deadline and time differ depending on the course. Please note that the deadline differs depending on the course. 3.
How to Submit Application Forms
Please fill out the following application form and upload the documents downloaded and prepared in “4.
Application Documents
(1) Application Guidelines
(2) Application Documents
Forms 1 – 3 R&D Fund (GAP Fund) Application Form (PDF file of the prepared file)
(3) Supplementary explanatory materials for technological seeds (optional, no more than 10 PowerPoint pages, PDF file of the created file)
(4) Form 4_Student_Confirmation Form *only if the student is the Principal Investigator (signed by the student in his/her own handwriting, PDF file required)
5. application information session
Currently under preparation; an explanatory video will be shared on this website in June.
-> The information session has ended.
-> If you wish to view the recording, please contact the GTIE office.
(Added on June 22, 2022)
Click here to view the Call for Applicants Flyer
6. outline of GAP Fund
(1) Research and Development Period
Adoption date: (scheduled in September 2022) – March 31, 2022
*”Adoption date” is not the date of notification of GTIE selection results, but the date when the plan is submitted to and approved by JST.
(2) Research and development expenses (GAP Fund)
Per Proposal
Global Course Up to 30 million yen
Unicorn Course: up to 5 million yen
Standard Course: Up to 10 million yen
*You may apply for “Global and Standard” or “Unicorn and Standard” at the same time. In that case, please prepare your research plan by amount: maximum 30 million yen, 10 million yen, or 5 million yen. Only one of these courses will be selected.
*Adoption may be reduced depending on the results of the screening process.
(3) Number of projects to be adopted
Global Course: Maximum of 5
Unicorn Course: Maximum of 4
Standard course: about 10
*The number of applications may increase or decrease depending on the number of applications and selection process.
*Up to 20% of the total number of applications will be accepted for R&D proposals in which students are the Principal Investigators.
(4) Eligibility
(1) Faculty members, researchers, and students (enrolled in doctoral or master’s courses) affiliated with a university on the GTIE platform
* However, when a student applies, the application must be made jointly in the name of the faculty member in charge.)
At the time of application, the applicant must be a faculty member, researcher, or student (in a master’s or doctoral course) of the university to which the applicant belongs. In addition, since the research and development funds are entrusted by JST, the applicant must be eligible to apply for competitive grants such as Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research and other competitive funds as defined by each university (excluding students). If you have any questions regarding eligibility, please contact the relevant university in advance.
| The University of Tokyo | Waseda University | Tokyo Institute of Technology | University of Tsukuba |
| Chiba University | Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology | Ochanomizu University | Yokohama National University |
| Yokohama City University | Kanagawa University of Health and Welfare | Tokyo Metropolitan University | Tokyo Medical and Dental University |
| Keio University |
(For details, please refer to the application guideline).
Application Restrictions
Applicants are eligible to apply even if they have been selected for other GAP funds in the past or are currently implementing GAP funds.
However, the same Principal Investigator is not eligible to apply for the JST START Program if any of the following overlapping restrictions apply to the same Principal Investigator. The following restrictions apply to the JST START Program: “Start-up Demonstration Support,” “Business Model Verification Support,” “SBIR Phase 1 Support (partially different for those aiming to commercialize technology seeds through technology transfer),” and “University/Ecosystem Formation Support University Promotion Type (within GTIE: Waseda University and University of Tsukuba).
However, you may apply for this Call for Proposals only if your proposal has already been rejected or if your ongoing proposal will be completed by the end of FY2021 and does not overlap with the term of this Call for Proposals.
University/Ecosystem Formation Support For researchers affiliated with Waseda University or Tsukuba University who have been selected (or are currently applying) for a “University-Promoted” research and development proposal in the current fiscal year, they are not eligible to apply for all courses of the START program due to overlap restrictions within the START program. The same is true for Waseda University and Tsukuba University. In addition, researchers affiliated with Waseda University or Tsukuba University who are not currently applying for or have been selected for a “University-Promoted” R&D project this fiscal year may not apply for the STANDARD program, and may only apply for “expenses for market/partner search and matching” when applying for the UNICORN program.
7. contact for inquiries
If you have any questions, please contact the “Contact” at your university.
Screening
Screening will be conducted in two stages: a written review and an interview (online or on-site), with the final decision of acceptance or rejection made by the GTIE.
Notification of Selection Results
Global
Applicants who have passed the written selection process will be notified of the results by e-mail in early July 2022, and those who have passed the written selection process will also be notified of the interview schedule (mid-July, Saturday and Sunday). Final selection results will be notified by e-mail in late July 2022.
Standard
Applicants who have passed the written screening will be notified by e-mail in early July 2022, and those who have passed the written screening will be notified of the interview schedule (Saturday and Sunday in mid-July). Final selection results will be notified by e-mail in early August 2022.
Unicorn
After submitting application documents and exchanging questions and answers (in English) with UCSD (University of California, San Diego), which will conduct mentoring, etc., online interviews with potential mentors will be conducted in early August 2022. Final selection results will be notified by e-mail in early August 2022.