INSTITUTION PROFILE / MATERIALS INFORMATICS
JST (Japan Science and Technology Agency)
A national agency that funds Japan's basic research on materials and data science
JST is a national research and development agency overseen by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). It does not do materials research itself. Its job is to design research areas within a direction set by the state, to call for and select researchers, and to give them research funds. In materials informatics (MI, which means using AI and data to speed up materials development), many studies have been carried out with JST funding. This profile looks at one question: how far JST's influence over MI reaches, and what it cannot decide.
- JST in 30 seconds
- What kind of body it is: the four types of influence
- What it does for MI
- How far its influence reaches (powers and geography)
- How money and direction flow
- Outlook
- Glossary, references and claim-to-source audit
1. JST in 30 seconds
JST is not the body that decides the broad direction of research; it distributes research funds within a direction that has already been set. JST's own overview explains that MEXT sets strategic objectives every year, and JST designs research areas beneath them Sourced. Even so, its influence on MI has not been small. Since FY2015, research areas on MI, or on "fusing experiment with theory, computation and data science", have been set up one after another under PRESTO and CREST Sourced. And JST's think tank, the Center for Research and Development Strategy (CRDS), published a document in 2013 that proposed promoting MI Sourced.
2. What kind of body it is: the four types of influence
Unlike the companies in this series, the institutions that appear in MI coverage do not develop materials themselves. What separates them is the route by which they influence the field, and that gives four types. JST belongs to the "funding" type.
What JST decides is which research areas to design under a given strategic objective, who to appoint as research supervisor, and which proposals to select. JST appoints the research supervisor, who sets each area's operating policy and selects its projects Sourced. JST has no power to set the strategic objectives themselves.
3. What it does for MI
The MI-related activities of JST that we could confirm from published documents are the following Sourced.
| Activity | Timing | Content | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| CRDS strategic proposal: promoting new-generation materials design through integration with data science (materials informatics) (title translated from Japanese) | August 2013 | Noting that it takes 10 to 30 years for advanced materials to reach the market, it proposed data-driven research, an open platform and a data-integration and R&D centre to the state | A proposal (not a decision) |
| PRESTO [Materials Informatics] Advanced Materials Informatics through Comprehensive Integration among Theoretical, Experimental, Computational and Data-Centric Sciences | FY2015 to FY2021 Research supervisor: Shinji Tsuneyuki | Individual-type research by early-career researchers, supporting foundations for MI | Sourced (ended) |
| CREST [Revolutional Materials Development] Revolutional Material Development by Fusion of Strong Experiments with Theory/Data Science | FY2017 to FY2025 Research supervisor: Hideo Hosono | Under MEXT's strategic objective of building innovative materials-development methods by fusing experiments with data science, teams are built around experimentalists together with theory, computation and data researchers | Sourced (ended) |
| CREST [Exploring Unknown Materials] Exploring Innovative Materials in Unknown Search Space | From FY2021 Research supervisor: Hiroshi Kitagawa | Aims to develop ways to search efficiently for multi-element, composite and metastable materials, using computational science, data science, high-throughput evaluation and similar tools | Sourced (ongoing) |
| PRESTO [R&D Process Innovation] R&D Process Innovation by AI and Robotics: Technical Foundations and Practical Applications | From FY2024 Research supervisor: Ichiro Takeuchi | Under the strategic objective of research innovation through autonomous operation, it supports foundation technologies that change how research is done, using AI and robots. Materials science is among the target fields | Sourced (ongoing) |
| AI to Redesign Scientific Exploration (ARiSE) (AI for Science innovative research programme) | 2026. Selected projects announced on 29 September | A programme based on MEXT's AI for Science strategy. It drew 70 applications for the strategic-target type and 133 for the international and convergent type, and selected 12 and 19. It is not limited to materials | Sourced (projects start from October 2026) |
JST's CREST and PRESTO fund basic research that builds new methods and foundation technologies. For example, CREST is described as giving ¥150 million to ¥500 million in total per team, for up to 5.5 years Sourced. It helps to think of it not as money for a company to develop its own materials, but as money for seeds of methods that companies may be able to use in the future. The advisers of the CREST area on exploring unknown materials do include researchers from industry, so there is a way for industrial views to come in, but it is not a scheme that directly supports an individual company's product development.
4. How far its influence reaches (powers and geography)
| Aspect | What JST has | What JST does not have |
|---|---|---|
| Powers | The power to design research areas, appoint research supervisors, run open calls, select projects and evaluate them. The power to issue strategic proposals through CRDS | The power to set strategic objectives (MEXT). The power to set the overall MI policy or subsidies. The power to set standards |
| Geography | Research funds for researchers at universities, institutes and companies in Japan. In CREST, giving research funds to researchers at overseas institutions is not expected in principle, but is allowed exceptionally (CREST guide) | Influence on other countries' policies. A general power to fund overseas researchers |
| Data platforms | Information platforms for research outputs and papers built under JST programmes (not specific to MI) | Operating materials databases (NIMS and others do this). We could not find an MI-specific data platform in JST's overview |
| Size | 1,608 permanent staff. FY2026 income of ¥107.8 billion and spending of ¥312.4 billion (all fields combined) | The budget for MI alone is not published |
JST's ¥312.4 billion in spending covers all fields, not only materials (basic research, industry-academia links, human resources and more), so it is not an MI figure. About two thirds of the planned spending comes out of fund balances, which is separate from what the state pays in each year Sourced. CREST's "¥150 million to ¥500 million" is the total per team, not the budget of a whole area. We could not confirm from published documents the total spent on MI-related areas Not yet confirmed.
5. How money and direction flow
The flow is: MEXT sets a strategic objective, JST designs a research area, the research supervisor selects projects, and teams at universities and institutes carry out the research Sourced. As one example of results, the autonomous materials search study that NIMS announced in November 2025 was carried out as part of JST's CREST, PRESTO and ERATO programmes Sourced. The work plan in the Cabinet Office expert meeting's recommendations (June 2026) lists two existing JST programmes, the AI for Science programme and the programme to renew advanced research infrastructure, as measures supporting MI. But the work plan is described as a proposal to the ministries and agencies concerned, not a decision Sourced Not yet confirmed.
6. Outlook
| What can be read | Primary source behind it | Category |
|---|---|---|
| The new ARiSE projects (12 strategic-target and 19 international and convergent) are to start from October 2026, as contracts are completed. We did not check whether any projects target materials | JST's call page and press release (29 September 2026) | Not yet confirmed |
| The CREST area on exploring unknown materials and the PRESTO area on R&D process innovation are ongoing. The pages give no end year | The research-area pages (activity periods "from 2021" and "from 2024") | Not yet confirmed |
| Whether JST creates a new research area specific to MI will probably depend on which strategic objectives MEXT sets in future | JST's overview explains that MEXT sets the strategic objectives every year and JST designs research areas under them | Inference |
7. Glossary
- Strategic objective
- A major research goal that MEXT sets every year. JST designs research areas under it.
- Research area and research supervisor
- A group of research aimed at a strategic objective is called a research area, and its head is the research supervisor. JST appoints the supervisor.
- CREST / PRESTO / ERATO
- Programmes in JST's Strategic Basic Research Programs. CREST is team-type, PRESTO is individual-type for early-career researchers, and ERATO is led by an outstanding researcher.
- CRDS (Center for Research and Development Strategy)
- JST's think tank. It studies research directions and proposes strategies to the state.
- AI for Science
- Using AI in research activities to speed up scientific progress. ARiSE is described as its flagship programme.
- National R&D agency
- A corporation that carries out national R&D. It is not a ministry; it works under the supervision of a minister.
8. References
- JST JST 2026 overview (August 2026): name, permanent staff, establishment, supervising ministry, FY2026 budget, how the Strategic Basic Research Programs work, CREST funding and period, ARiSE, EPOCH (in Japanese). https://www.jst.go.jp/pr/intro/outline.pdf
- JST Access (headquarters at Kawaguchi Center Building; Tokyo headquarters at Science Plaza and elsewhere) (in Japanese). https://www.jst.go.jp/koutsu.html
- JST CREST research areas (list of ongoing and ended areas, in Japanese; English version at jst.go.jp/kisoken/crest/en). https://www.jst.go.jp/kisoken/crest/research_area/index.html
- JST CREST [Revolutional Materials Development] (strategic objective, research supervisor, outline) (in Japanese). https://www.jst.go.jp/kisoken/crest/research_area/ongoing/bunyah29-3.html
- JST CREST [Exploring Unknown Materials] (strategic objective, research supervisor, outline, area advisers) (in Japanese). https://www.jst.go.jp/kisoken/crest/research_area/ongoing/bunya2021-4.html
- JST PRESTO research areas (activity period and research supervisor of [Materials Informatics], FY2015 to FY2021) (in Japanese). https://www.jst.go.jp/kisoken/presto/research_area/index.html
- JST PRESTO [R&D Process Innovation] (strategic objective, research supervisor, outline) (in Japanese). https://www.jst.go.jp/kisoken/presto/research_area/bunya2024-1.html
- JST Center for Research and Development Strategy (CRDS) Strategic proposal CRDS-FY2013-SP-01: promoting new-generation materials design through integration with data science (materials informatics) (August 2013) (in Japanese). https://www.jst.go.jp/crds/report/CRDS-FY2013-SP-01.html
- JST Press release: new projects selected for the AI for Science innovative research programme (29 September 2026): applications, selections, link to MEXT's strategy of 31 March 2026 (in Japanese). https://www.jst.go.jp/pr/info/info1875/index.html
- JST ARiSE call for proposals page (schedule; projects start from October 2026) (in Japanese). https://www.jst.go.jp/program/arise/koubo.html
- JST CREST guide, a handbook for researchers (August 2026): treatment of researchers at overseas institutions (in Japanese). https://www.jst.go.jp/kisoken/crest/manual/guide_crest.pdf
- NIMS Press release: AI-based autonomous materials search system for composition-spread thin films (20 November 2025; part of JST CREST, PRESTO and ERATO programmes) (in Japanese). https://www.nims.go.jp/press/2025/11/202511200.html
- Cabinet Office, Experts Meeting on Materials Strategy Recommendations on measures to promote the Materials Innovation Strategy (12 June 2026). The work plan is described as prepared as a proposal to the ministries and agencies concerned (in Japanese). https://www8.cao.go.jp/cstp/material/material_2026_suishin.pdf
9. Claim-to-source audit
| Claim in the article | Category | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Full name, 1,608 permanent staff, establishment in 1996 and its background, supervision by MEXT, FY2026 budget (income of ¥107.8 billion, operating grant of ¥101.0 billion, spending of ¥312.4 billion, about two thirds from fund balances) | Sourced | Reference 1 https://www.jst.go.jp/pr/intro/outline.pdf |
| MEXT sets strategic objectives every year, JST designs research areas, and JST appoints the research supervisor. CREST funding (¥150 million to ¥500 million per team in total) and period (up to 5.5 years) | Sourced | Reference 1 https://www.jst.go.jp/pr/intro/outline.pdf |
| Locations of the headquarters and Tokyo headquarters | Sourced | Reference 2 https://www.jst.go.jp/koutsu.html |
| The list of CREST areas ([Revolutional Materials Development] FY2017 to FY2025; [Exploring Unknown Materials] from FY2021) | Sourced | Reference 3 https://www.jst.go.jp/kisoken/crest/research_area/index.html |
| [Revolutional Materials Development]: strategic objective, supervisor, outline | Sourced | Reference 4 https://www.jst.go.jp/kisoken/crest/research_area/ongoing/bunyah29-3.html |
| [Exploring Unknown Materials]: strategic objective, supervisor, outline, and industry researchers among the area advisers | Sourced | Reference 5 https://www.jst.go.jp/kisoken/crest/research_area/ongoing/bunya2021-4.html |
| PRESTO [Materials Informatics]: activity period (FY2015 to FY2021) and supervisor | Sourced | Reference 6 https://www.jst.go.jp/kisoken/presto/research_area/index.html |
| PRESTO [R&D Process Innovation]: strategic objective, supervisor, outline (started FY2024) | Sourced | Reference 7 https://www.jst.go.jp/kisoken/presto/research_area/bunya2024-1.html |
| The content of CRDS's 2013 proposal on MI | Sourced (a proposal) | Reference 8 https://www.jst.go.jp/crds/report/CRDS-FY2013-SP-01.html |
| ARiSE applications (70 and 133), selections (12 and 19), the announcement on 29 September 2026, and the link to MEXT's strategy | Sourced | Reference 9 https://www.jst.go.jp/pr/info/info1875/index.html |
| ARiSE projects start from October 2026 | Sourced (the start is planned) | Reference 10 https://www.jst.go.jp/program/arise/koubo.html |
| In CREST, funding researchers at overseas institutions is not expected in principle but can be allowed exceptionally | Sourced | Reference 11 https://www.jst.go.jp/kisoken/crest/manual/guide_crest.pdf |
| NIMS's November 2025 result was part of JST programmes | Sourced | Reference 12 https://www.nims.go.jp/press/2025/11/202511200.html |
| The recommendations' work plan lists ARiSE and the advanced research infrastructure renewal programme, and is a proposal | Sourced (a proposal) | Reference 13 https://www8.cao.go.jp/cstp/material/material_2026_suishin.pdf |
| The four types of institution, and the arrangement in Fig. 2 | Our calculation | Our own classification |
| Explanations of terms such as strategic objective, research supervisor and CRDS | Sourced | This article's general explanation (based on references 1, 4, 5 and 7) |
| The budget for MI alone, the total spent on MI-related areas, whether ARiSE selected any materials projects, and the end years of the areas | Not yet confirmed | Not stated in references 1 to 13; this article does not estimate them |
| The one inference in the outlook (section 6): whether an MI-specific area will be created depends on future strategic objectives | Inference | This article's reading of the system described in reference 1 |
Last updated 22 October 2026 / Troy Technical
Figures come from JST's website, its 2026 overview and press releases, CRDS documents, a NIMS press release and the Cabinet Office's recommendations. Items marked "Inference" are this article's reading of the primary information, not statements by JST.