SATREPS — Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development

Who they are

SATREPS is a Japanese government programme, running since 2008, that funds three- to five-year joint research projects between Japanese research institutions and those in developing countries. It pairs a competitive research grant with Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA), so that each project advances science and builds research capacity in the partner country simultaneously. The programme is run jointly by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), which fund the Japanese researchers, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which delivers the ODA side, under the Ministry of Education (MEXT) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

What they fund

Four research fields, each aimed at problems that matter both locally and globally:

• Environment and Energy covers climate adaptation, water, ecosystems, pollution and renewable energy;
• Bioresources covers sustainable crops, livestock, fisheries and food systems;
• Disaster Prevention covers hazards such as flooding, drought and landslides;
• Infectious Diseases Control (run separately by AMED) covers malaria, TB, HIV, AMR and zoonoses.

Projects must be genuine joint research: pure technology transfer, stand-alone surveys, or work that benefits only one country are not funded.

How they fund

About ¥100 million per project per year, split across two budgets. JST (or AMED) provides contract research costs, including indirect costs, of roughly ¥35 million per year, up to ¥175 million over five years, to the Japanese institution. JICA provides ODA technical cooperation worth up to ¥300 million over five years (¥240m over four, ¥180m over three), covering Japanese researchers' visits, the hosting of partner-country researchers, and equipment and research costs incurred in the partner country.

• JICA or the Japanese institution administers JICA funds—they are not paid directly to the partner-country institution.
• Because this is ODA, the programme, in principle, does not cover local costs such as partner-country salaries, travel, consumables, or office rent. UNIMA would need to budget its own contribution.

How you apply — the two-track model

SATREPS does not accept applications directly from partner-country institutions. Every project needs two documents, on two channels, both due by their (different) deadlines:

1. A research proposal submitted by the Japanese partner institution to JST (or AMED).
2. An official ODA request submitted by the partner-country government to Japan's MOFA, via the counterpart institution, its supervising ministry and the local Japanese embassy.

JST and JICA match the two - they must be the same project under the same English title. If the government does not lodge the ODA request, the proposal cannot be selected, and that request is due earlier than the Japanese proposal. So the practical first step for a UNIMA researcher is to secure a Japanese partner and start the government process early.

Key links and contact

• SATREPS home (JST) · Current call for proposals · Research fields and areas
• JICA — SATREPS scheme (ODA side) · AMED — Infectious Diseases Control
• JST Department of International Affairs, SATREPS Group — inquiry form. Malawi-side ODA questions: JICA Malawi office.

Linked open call

SATREPS FY2027 — Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development.