Eligibility
Applications must be lodged by a lead applicant. The lead applicant must be applying on behalf of one of the following entity types, based either in Australia or Japan:
an Australian or Japanese research institution or company;
an Australian or Japanese registered charity, not-for-profit organisation or educational institution (such as a university); or
an Australian or Japanese government entity.
Individuals or organisations outside these categories cannot be lead applicants.
Australia-Japan partnership requirement
These grants are designed to foster Australia–Japan partnerships. While the lead applicant can be based in Australia or Japan (as a research institution, university, charity, not-for-profit organisation, government entity or corporation), they must demonstrate collaboration with one or more partners in the other country.
There is no limit to the number of partners in the application. Applications from consortia (groups of entities) are acceptable, but each partner must be an eligible entity of the kind listed below:
research institution;
university;
registered charity or not-for-profit organisation;
educational institution;
government entity; or
corporation.Industry partnership requirement
Indsutry partnership requirement
These grants are designed to foster research partnerships between research institutions and industry partners. At least one partner in the application must be an industry partner. The lead applicant is generally not the industry partner.
For the purpose of this program, an industry partner must be a private or public corporate entity. Universities, research institutions, and other academic or research-focused organisations do not qualify as industry partners, even where they operate commercial arms or subsidiaries.
Location requirement
Industry partners must have a substantive operating presence in Australia or Japan. This means the partner either maintains its global or regional headquarters in one of the two countries, or carries out a significant share of its commercial activities -such as research, development, manufacturing, or service delivery -within Australia or Japan. Multinational corporations with established, active operations in either country meet this requirement, but a shell entity or minor branch office maintained solely to satisfy this criterion does not.
Verification of legitimacy
To confirm legitimacy, industry partners must have a verifiable online presence - such as an active company website, a registered business listing, or equivalent public information - that allows AJIF to confirm the entity exists and is operating.
Endorsement letter
At the Expression of Interest (EOI) stage, applicants are not required to submit an endorsement letter. However, applicants whose EOIs progress to the Full Application stage will be required to provide a signed letter of endorsement from each industry partner confirming their support for the project, within the window specified in the progression notice.
We strongly encourage applicants to begin preparing endorsement letters early -particularly where the industry partner is a large organisation, sits in a different jurisdiction, or requires internal sign-off. Applications that progress without a timely endorsement letter may not be able to advance to the funding decision stage.
Eligible project stage (Technology Readiness level)
New for 2026-27 -Technology Readiness Level (TRL) focus
AJIF is focusing the 2026-27 round on projects with a clear pathway to near-term bilateral impact. Eligible projects must sit between Technology Readiness Levels 4 and 7 - spanning Development & Testing through to Commercialisation & Deployment.
Early-stage Discovery & Research projects (below TRL 4) are not eligible for funding in this round. Applicants will be asked to indicate the current TRL / stage of their project in the EOI.
For further information regarding Technology Readiness Levels (TRL), please refer to the guide provided by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) at https://arena.gov.au/assets/2019/01/trl-guide.pdf.
Selection Criteria
See the full Guidelines for more complete information.
Relevance: Alignment with the strategic objectives of the Foundation.
Salience: Demonstrable outcomes that will contribute to industry, business, economic, policy and/or societal aspects of the bilateral relationship.
Innovation: Originality of research, contribution to innovation and the advancement of knowledge.
Track Record: Research experience and standing of project participants.
Networks: Potential for building new networks and links between industry, universities and government or other multiplier effects of the research activity.
Sustainability: Prospect for sustained activity beyond the grant period.
Diversity: Evidence of diversity in the composition of the project participants, including efforts to achieve gender balance, early career researchers and participants from underrepresented groups.
Co-contribution: Evidence of contributions (either financial or in-kind) from partners or other research grant bodies. In-kind contributions may include access to data or equipment, or provision of research time by partner employees.