Moonshot Research and Development Program

Moonshot R&D Program — Open PM and Project-Team

Funds disruptive Japan-wide missions in science, society, and advanced technology.

The Moonshot Research and Development Program is Japan's high-risk, high-reward national R&D initiative targeting ambitious societal challenges with 2050 horizons, overseen by CSTI and the Cabinet Office. The programme is organised around 10 Moonshot Goals covering areas such as disease-free longevity, human-machine symbiosis, sustainable agriculture and food systems (Goal 5, managed by BRAIN), clean energy, ocean exploration, AI-human collaboration, and cyberphysical society transformation. Goals 1, 2, 3, and 6 had their continuation formally decided on 28 November 2025, with Goal 3 entering new Project Manager selection from October 2025 through January 2026. Researchers worldwide are eligible to apply under certain goals, making this one of the few Japanese national programs with explicit international researcher eligibility.

CSTI sets the goals and budget allocation, but funding flows entirely through execution partners: JST manages Goals 1, 2, 3, and 6; NEDO manages industrial and energy goals; BRAIN (Bio-oriented Technology Research Advancement Institution) manages Goal 5; and AMED manages Goals 2, 7, and 9 covering medical and health research. Individual calls for Project Managers and research team members are published separately by each partner agency, with their own eligibility criteria, budgets, and deadlines. CSTI does not accept applications directly. There is no single unified budget figure published on the CSTI site; allocations are distributed via supplementary budgets to the partner agencies.

To pursue Moonshot funding, applicants should identify the relevant Goal, determine which partner agency manages it, and monitor that agency's call announcements. Goal 3 was the most recently active selection round; researchers should check the JST Moonshot portal for its current status. Because each Goal has distinct scientific scope and evaluation criteria, competitive applicants typically focus on one Goal and tailor their research narrative to match the published Moonshot targets for that specific goal's 2050 vision.