NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
TOKYO REGIONAL OFFICE

December 4, 2000

Report Memorandum #00-18

Preview of the Second Science and Technology Basic Plan

The long-awaited reorganization of the Government of Japan is scheduled to go into effect on January 6, 2001 (See RM #99-11, dated October 7, 1999, and RM #00-08, dated May 15, 2000).  Among the provisions of this reorganization plan, the one that has received most attention from the Japanese and foreign science and engineering communities is the merger of the Ministry of Education and Science (Monbusho) and the Science and Technology Agency (STA) into a single new Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (Monbu Kagakusho[1]).  Equally if not more important the present Council of Science and Technology, which was created in 1956, will elevated to the status of the National Council of Science and Technology Policy with its own secretariat within the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office.  One of the first major tasks of this new body will be to the Government’s approval of the Second Science and Technology Basic Plan which is scheduled to go into effect on April 1, 2001, the beginning of Japanese Fiscal Year 2001.

 

On November 13, 2000, Dr. Hiroo Imura, Executive Member of the Council of Science and Technology, provided a preview of the Second Basic Plan within the context of the forthcoming reorganization of the Japanese Government at a meeting of the Tokyo Science and Technology Diplomat’s Circle at the Canadian Embassy.  The following report is based on a summary of Dr. Imura’s presentation prepared by Dr. Philip Hicks, Science Attaché at the Canadian Embassy.

Background: the First Basic Science and Technology Plan

On November 15, 1995, the Japanese Diet enacted the Science and Technology Basic Law whose expressed purpose was to increase the government’s research investments relative to those of industry, enhance the creativity of Japanese researchers and achieve a better balance among the performance of basic and applied research and development.

In response to the Basic Law, the Government of Japan decided to develop and implement two successive five-year Basic Science and Technology Plans: the first effective from April 1, 1996, through March 31, 2001; the second from April 1, 2001 through March 31, 2006[2].  The most widely known provision of the first Basic Plan, adopted on July 2, 1996, was the government’s commitment to invest ¥17 trillion (~$150 billion) in research and development (R&D) over the five-year period starting on April 1, 1996, so that by March 31, 2001, those investments would be doubled over their 1992 level.  For many years, Japan’s R&D investments measured in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) have been the largest of all the G7 countries.  The percentage of total national R&D investments accounted for by industry have also been higher than any other G7 country: approximately 80 percent in 1996, compared with a level of 50 to 70 percent in Europe and North America[3].  The relatively small percentage of government R&D investments implied, in turn, that research in national universities and other public facilities was being underfunded compared with funding for similar organizations in other G7 countries.  The ¥17 trillion in Japanese Government R&D investments over the five year period beginning on April 1, 1996, with gradual step-ups during each successive year, was intended to increase the government’s percentage contribution to total national R&D investments to a level somewhat comparable to those of other major scientific nations.

The ¥17 trillion target will have been exceeded by one percent by the end of the current Japanese Fiscal Year (March 31, 2001).  Another positive outcome of the first Science and Technology Basic Plan has been achievement of the target number of 10,000 post-doctoral fellow.  Actually, this target level was achieved within the fourth year of the plan.  However, it should be noted that a sizeable fraction of post-doctoral fellows have been foreign, predominately East Asian nationals.

Two important goals of the first plan have not been achieved: (1) renewal of research facilities in national universities, and (2) an increase in the number of research assistants within the universities.  Approximately ¥1 trillion ($9 billion) has been invested during the past five years for research infrastructure improvement within the universities.  However, the task of renewing the serious deterioration of university research infrastructure is enormous and cannot be addressed adequately with the amounts invested over the past five years or in so short a time frame.  As to research assistants in national universities: since they are classified as government employees, a significant increase in their number would be in direct conflict with the Japanese Government’s goal of reducing the total number of government employees by 25 percent by the year 2010.  This situation could improve after 2003 when national universities are to be given the status of independent administrative agencies so that their faculty and support staff will no longer be classified as government employees.

It is still too early to provide quantitative measures of the impact of the first basic plan in terms of output indicators such as numbers of papers or numbers of patents.  However, a rough approximation of what is to be expected can perhaps be gleaned from a look at some recently compiled statistics.  The overall number as well as the percent of Japanese papers published in peer-reviewed international journals is rising.  Similarly, the share of papers authored by Japanese researchers that are cited by other researchers internationally also is rising.  This upward trend is encouraging, although the rate of rise of numbers of papers is not exceptional when looking at the output of other developed nations.

The Second Science and Technology Basic Plan

 Three major goals of the Second Science and Technology Basic Plan have been articulated:  

1.      the promotion of science, with an emphasis on contributions to the world through scientific knowledge;

2.      ensuring a safe, healthy life for the Japanese people; and

3.      achieving sustainable economic development through technological innovation.

 The Council of Science and Technology is still negotiating with the Ministry of Finance about the level of the government's R&D expenditures during the second basic plan.  Since the Japanese Government's annual R&D expenditures as a fraction of total R&D expenditures are still somewhat less than those of the United States and the major Western European countries, the Council would like to have the government make a commitment considerably greater than the ¥17 trillion of the first basic plan.

The new Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (Monbu Kagakusho) created by the merger of Monbusho and STA will control about 75 percent of the government's science and technology-related budget.  The remainder will be dispersed among several other ministries, the most significant being the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and particularly its reorganized system of AIST laboratories. (See RM #00-05, dated February 24, 2000.)

Budget levels aside, the second basic plan will be characterized by six major objectives:

1.      Adopting a strategic approach to government research investments;

2.      Building a competitive research environment;

3.      Enhancing the independence and mobility of young researchers;

4.      Improving the research evaluation system;

5.      Utilization of research outcomes by promoting cooperation among the academic, industrial and government research sectors; and

6.      Enhancing communications with society.

The intent of the first of these objectives is to make more effective use of government research funds.  The remaining five can be subsumed under the broader goal of reforming the research system, particularly its academic sector.

Research investment strategy.  Approximately half of the government's research funds over the next five years will be earmarked for the support of basic, curiosity-oriented research.  The remaining funds will support research in mission-oriented, priority areas.  The following four areas have been assigned the highest priority for the five years of the second basic plan:

1.      life sciences (genome and post-genome science, cell biology, and brain science)

2.      information technologies (including network technology, high-performance computing technology, man-machine interface technology, and basic software), 

3.      environmental science (including recycling technology, safety management technology for chemicals, global change prediction, greenhouse emission technology remediation; and

4.      materials science (including nanoscale materials and ecomaterials)

Other priority areas include energy science, manufacturing technologies, social infrastructure, and frontier science (such as space science and marine technology).

Reform of the national research system.  A notable feature of the second basic plan is its explicit intent to leverage reform in the national research system and, in particular, within the academic sector whose core consists of the 99 national universities.  Currently, over 90 percent of government research support is allocated to universities and other public research facilities on a formula basis.  Only about ¥300 billion (~$3 billion) is distributed on a competitive basis.  The second basic plan aims to double the latter amount by the end of Japan Fiscal Year 2005 so that approximately 18 percent of government research expenditures will be in the competitive category.  [NB: Dr. Imura estimated that approximately 33 percent of US research expenditures are in the competitive category.  However, since Japanese research grants do not include faculty salaries, comparing this fraction with the comparable fraction for Japan can be somewhat misleading.]

Another significant feature of the second basic plan will be the provision of indirect costs, or overhead costs at 30 percent of total direct costs on competitive research grants.  The provision of overhead will be an entirely new feature of the Japanese system.  Universities will have broad discretion in the use of these funds to improve their respective research environments.  The provision of overhead will also give national universities a stake in the competitive grant system which they have lacked up to now.

The National Council of Science and Technology Policy and the Basic Plan

The elevation, effective on January 6, of the Council of Science and Technology to the status of the National Council of Science and Technology Policy could have important and far-reaching consequences for Japan's national research system.  The current Council of Science and Technology lacks a dedicated secretariat and has been using the STA for that purpose.  As of January 6, the new National Council will have a secretariat of about 70 persons within the Prime Minister's Cabinet Office.  Approximately 40 members of this secretariat will be detailed from various ministries.  Significantly, the remainder will be on temporary loan from universities and industry.  The inclusion of non-government staff on the secretariat of the new National Council represents a significant departure from traditional Japanese bureaucratic procedure.

The approximate U.S. equivalent to the National Council of Science and Technology Policy would be the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), except that the National Council may have up to four permanent members.  Likewise, the staff of the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) would be analogous to the secretariat of the National Council.  Whether a specific member of the National Council will be given authority equivalent to that of the U.S. President's Science Advisor remains is an issue that remains to be resolved.

The present Council of Science and Technology is responsible only for the hard sciences and engineering.  But the mandate of the new National Council will be expanded to include the social sciences and the humanities.  The current Council undertakes activities mainly at the request of the Prime Minister or a member of his government.  In contrast, the new National Council will be expected to play a proactive role.  It will provide advice on policy-making, including resource allocations.  Additionally, the National Council will devise and implement a more effective system of research outcome evaluation.

The creation of the National Council of Science and Technology Policy and the creation of its secretariat within the Prime Minister's Cabinet Office represent significant departures not only for the Japanese science system, but for the Japanese government as a whole.  It will take some time for these new bodies to understand fully and master their roles and responsibilities.  One important issue will be the relationship between the National Council and various Ministries that control significant portions of the Government's science and technology-related budget.  The current Council's jurisdiction was such that it dealt mainly with STA and Monbusho.  In contrast, the new National Council will also have to deal with other ministries including, for example, METI and its autonomous units, primarily AIST (Agency for Industrial Science and Technology) and NEDO (New Energy Development Organization) and, in particular, advise the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance on their annual budget allocations.

Perhaps the single most important continuing responsibility of the new National Council will be to oversee implementation of the Second Science and Technology Basic Plan.  Some elements of the plan, including budget-related elements, can be delegated to various ministries.  Others will require a more hands-on approach by the Council itself.  The extent to which the National Council will be successful with respect to these elements will depend in large measure on how well it is able to work effectively with non-governmental sectors of the national research system, as well as with Japanese society as a whole.

One of the six principal elements of the second basic plan that Dr. Imura believes is vital to the reform of the national research system is to enhance communication with society.  This element encompasses efforts to improve public understanding of science and technology.  Additionally, the entire system, including particularly the governmental sector, must become more transparent to the Japanese public.

Encouraging effective reform of the national university system will require the National Council to develop and make effective use of its powers of persuasion.  Dr. Imura remarked on the considerable disparity between the ways that progress is achieved in science, and what he referred to as the non-confrontational, consensus-building elements of Confucian philosophy that underpin and permeate Japanese society.  In order for these two disparate approaches to mesh effectively, a fundamental shift in the Japanese mind-set may be required.

When the national universities achieve the status of independent administrative agencies in Japanese Fiscal Year 2003, they will become more fiscally independent and less constrained by regulations imposed by Monbusho (by then, Monbu Kagkusho).  Additionally, the level of non-competitive research support they receive from the government will eventually be determined, in part, by research outcome evaluation.  In this climate, at least some of the national universities may adopt policies and introduce programs designed to make them more competitive.

The National Council of Science and Technology Policy can advise universities on how to change, but it will have no authority to impose change directly.  As a way to try to achieve an increased level of internationalism the National Council of Science and Technology Policy can, in Dr. Imura's opinion, take steps to influence changes in some of the more parochial aspects of university policy: for example, persuading them to make greater use of English language as a medium of instruction, and increasing significantly the numbers of their foreign faculty.

 

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