The Japanese government has introduced two new programs to support research centers. The World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI) will provide yearly funding of ¥500 million–¥2 billion ($4–$17 million) for five top-level research centers for at least 10 years. For Japanese fiscal year (JFY) 2007 (April 2007–March 2008), WPI’s budget is ¥3.5 billion ($30 million), which will fund centers during their first six months, beginning October 2007. The Global Centers of Excellence Program (Global COE) will support roughly 60 new academic research centers in JFY 2007. Global COE has a JFY 2007 budget of ¥15.8 billion ($133 million), and is expected to provide ¥50–¥500 million ($0.4–$4.2 million) per year per center, for up to five years. In JFY 2008, the government expects to fund an additional 60 Global COEs, and 10 new centers per year JFY 2009–JFY 2011.

Source: National Science Foundation Tokyo Regional Office