Visiting Researchers¶

II-Research welcomes inquiries from faculty members, postdoctoral researchers, doctoral students, and other researchers who are interested in a short- or medium-term research visit at the University of Tsukuba.

Visits should be built around a clear research connection with our work in information retrieval, retrieval-augmented generation, multimodal intelligence, knowledge graphs, misinformation mitigation, or human-centered AI.

Possible forms of visit¶

• Collaborative visits by faculty members or researchers
• Visiting doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers
• Sabbatical or research-exchange visits
• Visits supported by institutional or international mobility programmes

The appropriate visitor status and administrative process depend on the visitor's affiliation, career stage, funding source, and intended duration.

Application process and expected timing¶

After the prospective visitor and II-Research confirm a mutual intention to collaborate, the visitor prepares the required documents and the prospective host submits them for the University's formal review. The official review and visitor-acceptance process may take approximately 2–3 months.

For the University of Tsukuba's Visiting Foreign Research Fellow route (外国人受託研究員), please prepare these three initial documents:

1. The prescribed application form
2. A curriculum vitae, including a list of publications or research achievements
3. A recommendation or request letter from the head of your home institution, stating your position, proposed visit period, and purpose

Please submit the three documents to the prospective host promptly after the collaboration plan has been confirmed. The host researcher then coordinates the formal application with the relevant University office.

University forms and regulations for Visiting Foreign Research Fellows →

The University also provides an overview for overseas researchers who wish to conduct research at Tsukuba:

Information for overseas researchers →

Initial research inquiry¶

Please prepare:

• Your current position or degree stage
• A concise description of the proposed joint research
• The connection between your work and our research themes
• Preferred visit dates and expected duration
• Your expected funding source or mobility programme, if applicable
• Any institutional deadline relevant to the proposed visit

Please contact Prof. Hai-Tao Yu using the contact information on his homepage. Do not send passports, financial records, or other sensitive documents before the appropriate submission process has been confirmed.

Visa, CoE, and accompanying family¶

The appropriate status of residence depends on the visitor's activities, funding, university status, and length of stay. For example, the University's current guidance explains that an unpaid Visiting Foreign Research Fellow staying for more than 90 days may use the Cultural Activities status, subject to confirmation of the individual case.

When required, the University of Tsukuba's Bureau of Global Initiatives can support a proxy application for a Certificate of Eligibility (CoE) at the request of the University host and host organization. As a planning estimate, CoE and related visa procedures may require a further 1–2 months after the necessary documents are ready. Actual processing can take longer, and the university review and immigration procedures may not proceed fully in parallel.

If a supported visitor's spouse or children will arrive in Japan at the same time and meet the applicable conditions, the University guidance also describes CoE support for accompanying dependants. Family documentation and the appropriate status of residence must be confirmed with the University's international support office.

International support for foreign researchers → Certificate of Eligibility application support →