OPEN INNOVATIONECOSYSTEM
W-SPRING
OPEN INNOVATIONECOSYSTEM
W-SPRING
Fostering doctoral students who will serve as the foundation for science, technology and innovation and work to solve social issues. Waseda University W-SPRING
Waseda University (hereafter, the “University”) has been selected for “Support for Pioneering Research Initiated by the Next Generation Program” by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) in 2021.
If you are interested in applying for the program, please talk to your supervisor and prepare the necessary documents. We look forward to receiving your application.
Program Overview
With the aim to lead the future of science, technology and innovation, and to promote the development of diverse career paths for widespread success of doctoral human resources, the SPRING program provides and environment where students can concentrate on challenging and integrated research by providing a maximum of 2.90 million JPY per student per year, which includes living expenses and research expenses, for maximum of three years (the support period is until the completion of the third year of the student’s doctoral program).
By participating in industry-academic collaborative research and career development activities, including registration in content (fostering internationality/ interdisciplinarity, career development, acquisition of transferable skills, and university-designed industry-academia collaborative internships and job-type internships offered by the government) designated by this project, as high value-added doctoral human resources, you will be provided with opportunities to acquire the qualifications to play active roles internationally, including employment in both domestic and overseas industries, and starting up venture projects.
※ The amount of support is tentative and the details may change.
*Details regarding the “Reserved Hiring” to be conducted in Spring 2026 will be posted by the end of March 2026.Please note that the Reserved Hiring Recruitment is only open to for Japanese Students and Others who will enroll as D1 students in April 2027.
＜Category 1＞ For Japanese Students and Others
Selection Schedule for Spring 2026【Regular Recruitment】
Selection Schedule for April 2026 D1 entrants【Reserved Hiring】
- Regular Recruitment
- Reserved Hiring
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has issued a policy stating that “financial support for research incentive (equivalent to living expenses) and JST have revised the SPRING Program, and it has been decided that, from AY2027 onwards, eligibility for living expense support will be restricted to Japanese students and others. Furthermore, since they recommend implementing these new operational standards starting with the AY2026 recruitment, we will change our operations as follows starting this time and conduct recruitment in two categories.
Application Guideline & Application Document
For details regarding eligibility requirements and other information, please be sure to check the application guidelines.
＜Category 1＞ For Japanese Students and Others
（Research Incentives: living expenses 2.4 million yen or 2.2 million yen(*) + research expenses 0.5 million yen）
*The amount of support varies based on the evaluation results at the time of selection.
The application guidelines is available in Japanese only. Please refer to the following URL.
＜Category 2＞ For International Students (Research Expenses: 0.5 million yen)
| Format | File |
|---|---|
| Application Guideline (Spring, 2026) |
 |
| Application Document (template) |
 |
Selection Schedule for Spring 2026【Regular Recruitment】
| Period | the relevant part | Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category 1 | Category 2 | |||
| Pre-Registration | From 12:00, January 30 (Fri.) to 17:00, February 13 (Fri.), 2026 | ◯ | ◯ | Applicants are required to register before applying. |
| Application | From 12:00, January 30 (Fri.) to 17:00, February 17 (Tue.), 2026 | ◯ | ◯ | － |
| Document review | Late February, 2026 | ◯ | ◯ |
＜Category 1＞ ＜Category 2＞ |
| Interview (Zoom) | March 7 (Sat.) and 8 (Sun.), 2026
*Detailed schedule by areas is as follows: – March 7 (Sat.) – March 8 (Sun.) |
◯ | － |
-The interview will be recorded for review purpose. – We will notify applicants of the result of the interview by email after the following date: *Subject to change due to review schedule For those who do not pass the interview may be offered a position as an alternate candidate. |
| Registration Process &Submission of Oath | Middle to late March 2026 | ◯ | ◯ |
For those who do not pass the interview may be offered a position as an alternate candidate. Details including deadlines will be announced separately. |
| Start of support | April 1 (Wed.), 2026 | ◯ | ◯ | Start of research expenses utilization. *Orders can be started. |
| End of April 2026 (tentative) | ◯ | ◯ |
Remittance of living expenses for April. Execution of research expenses will start. |
|
Form
| Application Form | |
|---|---|
| Registration Form | |
| Application Form | For those who have a Waseda University student ID number |
| For those who do not have a Waseda University student ID number | |
【FYI】Past Selection Schedule for Fall 2025
| Period | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | From 9:00, August 1 (Fri.) to 17:00, August 18 (Mon.), 2025 | Please register your information before applying. |
| Application | From 9:00, August 1 (Fri.)to 17:00, August 19 (Tue.), 2025 | － |
| Document review | Late August, 2025 |
We will notify applicants of the result of the document review and the date of the interview by email on the following date: *No changes to the scheduled interview date and time will be accepted, regardless of the reason |
| Interview (Zoom) | September 6 (Sat.) and 7 (Sun), 2025 |
– The interview will be recorded for review purpose. – We will notify applicants of the result of the interview by email after the following date: *Subject to change due to review schedule |
| Registration &Submission of written oath | Middle to late September 2025 |
For those who do not pass the interview may be offered a position as an alternate candidate. Details including deadlines will be announced separately. |
| Start of support | October 1 (Wed.), 2025 | Start of research expenses utilization. *Orders can be started. |
| End of October 2025 (tentative) |
Remittance of living expenses for October. Execution of research expenses will start. |
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has issued a policy stating that “financial support for research incentive (equivalent to living expenses) and JST have revised the SPRING Program, and it has been decided that, from AY2027 onwards, eligibility for living expense support will be restricted to Japanese students and others.
Therefore, we will conduct recruitment only for Japanese Students and Others starting this time.
Application Guideline & Application Document *Application Closed
| Format | File |
|---|---|
| [Reserved Hiring] Application Guideline (For April 2026 D1 entrants) |
|
| Application Document (template) |
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| Reference Letter from Supervisor (template) |
|
Selection Schedule for April 2026 D1 entrants【Reserved Hiring】
*Application Closed
| Period | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | From 9:00 AM, April 1 (Tue.) to 5:00 PM, April 17 (Thu.), 2025 | Applicants are required to register before applying. |
| Application | From 9:00 AM, April 1 (Tue.) to 5:00 PM, April 21 (Mon.), 2025 | － |
| Document Review Presentation Video Review |
Late April to Late May, 2025 | In addition to the document review and presentation video review, an interview (via Zoom) may be conducted only for some candidates. If applicable, we will notify selected individuals separately around May 27 (Tue.), 2025. |
| Interview(via Zoom) *Only for some applicants |
Afternoon of May 31（Sat.）, 2025 |
No changes to the scheduled interview date and time will be accepted, regardless of the reason. The interview will be recorded for review purpose. |
| Notification of Results（For all applicants） | By mid-June | Notifications will be sent via email to all applicants, regardless of whether or not they were interviewed. |
| Registration Process &Submission of Oath | From Late March 2026 | Submission deadlines, evaluations（S or A） and other details will be announced. |
| Start of Support | April 1 (Wed.), 2026 | Start of research expenses utilization. *Orders can be started. |
| End of April 2026 (tentative) |
Remittance of living expenses for April. Execution of research expenses will start. |
Form
| Application Form(Please login to My Waseda when you apply) |
|---|
| Registration Form |
| Application Form |
| Reference Letter from Supervisor 【Submission URL】*Please have the submission made by the supervisor, not the applicant student. |