Under RIKEN's International Program Associate program, IMS laboratory leaders host international students from collaborating graduate schools and supervise their Ph.D. program as Joint Supervisors. The students receive a daily living allowance and housing costs for up to a maximum of three years.

IMS has accepted IPA students from the following universities.

• Nanjing University, China
• Tubingen University, Germany
• China Agriculture University, China
• Jilin University, China
• Peking University, China
• Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia
• Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan
• The University of Tokyo, Japan