About NII

International Exchange

　NII set up Global Liaison Office (GLO) to promote international exchange with overseas universities and research institutes.

　GLO handles various activities including entering into international exchange agreements through Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), running the NII International Internship Program for students from institutes under MOU agreements with NII, and coordinating MOU Grant/non-MOU Grant to dispatch and invite researchers and students under research exchange grants.

International Exchange Agreements (MOU)

　NII enters into international exchange agreements through MOU to systematically and actively promote international exchange with overseas universities and research institutes.
　As of March 2025, NII has agreements with 129 institutions in 35 countries and regions.

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NII International Internship Program

　The NII International Internship Program welcomes students in masters or doctoral courses from institutions having MOU with NII.
　NII accpets applications from MOU signatory institutes twice a year on a broad range of nearly 100 research topics proposed each time by NII faculty members.
　Students work on their research topics under the supervision of their NII academic advisor during the internship period of 60-165 days. Living expenses for the duration of the internship are covered and certificates of completion are issued upon completion. Since the start of the program in FY2005, NII has accepted more than 2,000 students and the program has greatly contributed to NII's research activities by promoting exchanges with MOU signatory institutions, presentations at international conferences, and a greater number of international papers, as well as other positive effects.

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MOU/non-MOU Grant

　MOU Grant was established in FY2005 and non-MOU Grant was established the following year as a financial assistance program for research exchange with our partner and non-partner institutions.

　With the aim of promoting and intensifying research exchange, MOU Grant dispatches and invites researchers and students for research exchanges with institutes under MOU, while non-MOU Grant accepts foreign researchers for research exchanges with institutes without MOU.

　Expenses (travel and stay expenses) are covered for NII faculty and students, as well as for overseas researchers.

International Exchange based on MOU

NII Shonan Meeting

Shonan Village Center 　NII launched the NII Shonan Meeting in February 2011. The NII Shonan Meeting constitutes the first seminar series in Asia in the style of the Dagstuhl Seminars, which brings together top-class researchers from around the world for intensive discussions on issues in the field of informatics with the goal of solving difficult problems. The meetings are jointly hosted by NII and Kanagawa Prefecture under a partnership agreement.

　The venue, Shonan Village Center, is easily accessible from Narita Airport and Haneda Airport, and is located in an environment blessed by nature where participants can focus on their research work. More than 200 seminars have been held so far. In August 2014, we also launched NII Shonan School, which is intended primarily for students and young researchers.

*Dagstuhl Seminar: A renowned seminar series in the field of informatics held almost every week in Dagstuhl, Germany. It is famous for its training camp style format where participants stay for about a week to hold intensive discussions on a specific topic.

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Agreement with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

　NII has a special agreement for postdoctoral researchers called DAAD-IFI Program with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The agreement offers German PhD holders or non-German PhD holders from German institutions the opportunity to work as postdoctoral researchers at NII. Researchers staying at NII as part of the DAAD-IFI Program work on their own research projects for a period between three months and two years under the mentorship of a NII faculty member. During the stay, DAAD provides research funding to enable researchers to host Masters and PhD students and engineers to carry out projects and to participate in conferences around the world.
　Since its launch in September 2009, several postdoctoral researchers have stayed at NII each year, contributing to research activities by the NII, which carries out joint research with over 100 institutions around the world.

Global Liaison Office (GLO) - DAAD

Japanese-French Laboratory for Informatics (JFLI)

　The Japanese-French Laboratory for Informatics (JFLI) was founded in 2008 as a hub for informatics research exchange between France and Japan by five institutions, namely the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Sorbonne University (University of Paris VI) in France, the University of Tokyo (Graduate School of Information Science and Technology), Keio University, and NII.
　It was turned into an International Joint Unit (UMI) of CNRS in 2012 (currently International Research Laboratories (IRL)), and has since been active in conducting research exchanges.
　 JFLI promotes joint research in the main research areas of quantum computing, artificial intelligence, networks and cybersecurity, and the foundations of informatics, with a special emphasis on the important and challenging field of informatics.
　Thus far, each institution has engaged in joint research, including Japanese institutions accepting researchers and graduate students from French research institutions.
　Workshops for enhancing joint research and research presentations that serve as venues for graduate internship students to present their research are also held regularly.
　 The JFLI Seminar is also its regular activities. Through past activities, networks of researchers focused on JFLI have been formed, and collaboration with other IRLs of CNRS across the Asian region is also underway.
　 JFLI will serve as a pillar of bilateral research collaboration in the field of informatics and promote informatics research through partnerships with universities in Japan.

JFLI | Japan French Laboratory for Informatics

NII International advanced lectures series on ICT

　Researchers invited to the NII who have had outstanding research accomplishments are asked during their stay to give a series of lectures on informatics from the point of view of their own specialties. With such lectures we have been able to acquire specialized knowledge from these researchers and carrying out meaningful exchange with them.

　The lectures are conducted in English and are open to the public. The lectures are announced in the event open to the public. The lectures are announced in the event information column on the NII's home page.

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