Country: Japan
Location: Kyoto
Program Name: R-IH Summer Program Internship 2026 (Keihanna)
Host: RIKEN Guardian Robot Project
Deadline: March 27, 2026, 15:00 JST
Program Period: Type A: July 23–September 25, 2026; Type B: August 20–September 25, 2026
Applications are open for the R-IH Summer Program Internship 2026 (Keihanna), hosted by the Guardian Robot Project of RIKEN in Kyoto, Japan. The internship offers two stay formats and will admit a few students under each type.
Host and Venue
The program is hosted by the Guardian Robot Project, and the listed location is Kyoto, Japan.
Internship Types
The 2026 internship is offered in two formats.
Long Stay Program
Type A runs from July 23, 2026 to September 25, 2026.
Short Stay Program
Type B runs from August 20, 2026 to September 25, 2026.
Participants in both tracks will be requested to give a final achievement presentation on September 11, 2026.
Who Can Apply
The program is open to students who belong to universities whose head or delegated representative can issue a formal letter of request and agreement on their behalf. Applicants must also hold student status at an academic institution from the time of application through the end of the internship period.
Academic Requirements
Except for the Psychological Process Research Team, applicants must meet at least one of the following requirements:
Conference Paper
They must have presented a full paper at a selective, peer-reviewed international conference. The source specifies that extended abstracts, workshops, and non-archival publications are not counted.
Journal Publication
They must have published a peer-reviewed journal article as the first author or as an equally contributing author, with this explicitly stated.
The source also states that the host lab’s principal investigator will decide whether a paper satisfies the full-paper requirement, and that no individual inquiries on this point will be answered.
Who Is Not Eligible
Students from universities that have a collaborative research plan with GRP are not eligible for this internship. The examples listed on the source page are Kyoto University, Doshisha University, and Nara Institute of Science and Technology.
Daily Schedule
Interns are required to work on every RIKEN workday during the internship. The daily schedule is 9:00 to 17:20, with a break from 12:00 to 12:50.
Screening and Results
Once the application deadline passes, the process will include document screening and interviews conducted online. For both Type A and Type B, only applicants who pass the screening will be contacted by April 27, 2026.
The page also explains that only screened candidates will later be asked to submit the required documents, and only applicants who pass the internal review at the institute will be finalized as accepted candidates. It additionally notes that no inquiries regarding selection or review results will be answered.
Documents to Submit
All application documents must be prepared in English or Japanese. The source lists the following uploads:
CV
Free format
Motivation Letter
Free format
Research Achievement
Free format, including title, author(s), journal or conference name, and publication date
Most Important Paper
The most important paper among the listed research achievements
This is not required for the Psychological Process Research Team only.
Internship Arrangement
According to the source, detailed program content depends on the guidelines of the hosting research team. It also states that detailed internship projects will be determined with the host PI after acceptance.
Expenses Covered
The source says that covered expenses follow RIKEN travel policy and include:
Transportation
One round-trip airfare or bullet train fare, depending on distance
Stay Support
Accommodation: JPY 11,100 per day
Daily allowance: JPY 2,400 per day
For stays exceeding 30 days, the payable amount becomes 90% of the above:
- JPY 9,990 per day for accommodation
- JPY 2,160 per day for daily allowance
For stays exceeding 60 days, the payable amount becomes 80% of the above:
- JPY 8,880 per day for accommodation
- JPY 1,920 per day for daily allowance
Reimbursement Notes
The source page adds the following points:
- All students will receive JPY 393,900 for the first month, based on 29 nights and 30 days of full coverage.
- Type A students will receive 90% of the full amount for the second month, stated as JPY 354,510.
- Reimbursement is made after the first month for both Type A and Type B, and once more after the second month for Type A.
- Reimbursement to overseas banks may take time.
- Students should be prepared to temporarily cover daily expenses before reimbursement.
- Students from universities within 50 kilometers of RIKEN will receive commuting expenses only.
- Students will basically book their own accommodation.
- Transportation between the accommodation and the RIKEN office must be covered from the daily allowances reimbursed by RIKEN.
- Reimbursement is made after submission of required documents, and the full amount may not be reimbursed if RIKEN travel policy is not followed.
- Participants joining from overseas should not arrange their own air tickets until the secretariat provides instructions.
- For participants coming from abroad, entry into Japan will be the day before the internship begins, and departure will be the day after it ends.
