NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
TOKYO REGIONAL OFFICE

August 17, 2004

The National Science Foundation's Tokyo Regional Office periodically reports on developments in Japan that are related to the Foundation's mission.  It also provides occasional reports on developments in other East Asian countries.

Tokyo Office Report Memoranda are intended to provide information for the use of NSF program officers and policy makers; they are not statements of NSF policy.

Report Memorandum #04-07

The Second Basic Science Plan of the Japanese Government targets doubling of the Government’s S&T competitive funds from Yen 300 billion (ca. $3 billion) to Yen 600 billion (ca. $6 billion) in five years from 2001 through 2005. To make effective use of the funds a reform of the funding system was deemed necessary so that the new system will have more accountability.

To be ready with the above reform, during 2001 the Cabinet Office officials, as well as CSTP (Council for Science and Technology Policy) members, S&T Minister, and government-contracted think-tank companies visited NSF, NIH, DOE, and other funding agencies and universities in the U.S. and Europe, to learn their funding systems. Based on the findings, CSTP encouraged the ministries/agencies, which have competitive funds for R&D, to first learn the systems and then analyze how best to import and adjust the systems to fit their environments. In April 2003 CSTP compiled a report on the “Reform of Competitive Research Funds,” in which they recommended establishment of a “Program Officer System” at funding agencies, believing that the introduction of the System at funding agencies will bring reform to the system.

Program Officer System at JSPS: MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) manages 78 percent of the total competitive funds of the Japanese Government. Whereas MEXT still has its own competitive programs, JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) is the biggest funding agency for basic research under MEXT. CSTP recommends that MEXT will gradually shift all the MEXT-owned competitive funds to JSPS in the future. JSPS presently receives about 70,000 proposals per year for basic research in all academic disciplines, including science and human literature, primarily from university researchers. They provide grants based on peer review evaluation.

To respond to the CSTP’s recommendation as above, JSPS established a Center for Program Officer System* in July 2003. To house the Center they rented one whole floor (1,000 square meters) of a building close to their Headquarters in Tokyo. The Center began with Dr. Ryoji Noyori, Nobel Laureate and then Professor at Nagoya University, as the Director. In September 2003 they recruited 6 Senior POs and 40 POs from the front runners in each field.

In October 2003, because of Dr. Noyori’s assignment as the President of RIKEN (Institute of Physical and Chemical Research), JSPS asked Dr. Tasuku Honjo, Dean of Medical Department, Kyoto University, to become the Director of the Center. Whereas he is presently a part-time Director of the Center, it is planned that he will work full time for JSPS when he retires from the University. Also, both of the deputy directors, all the Senior POs, and POs work for JSPS as part timers. Each of several disciplines (as classified by MEXT) has two Senior POs as described in the chart below. One of the Senior POs works for two days a week and another Senior PO works for JSPS one day per week. The term of the Senior POs and POs is three years and is not subject to renewal.

As of July 2004, the Center consists of individual offices for the director, two deputy directors, and eight Senior POs, plus a big shared space for program officers, and a cubicle for JSPS administrators. The director and two deputy directors are called “Program Directors” and other experts are “Program Officers.” In other words, they have three program directors, 102 program officers, and three JSPS administrators in the Center. This can be shown in the following chart:

Director: Program Director (PD)
|
| ------------------------------------------- Senior POs’ Council
|                            |
|          POs’ Councils by Discipline
|
| --- Two Deputy Directors: Program Directors (PDs)
|
Program Officers (16 Senior POs and 86 POs)

• Human Literature: 2 Senior POs and 9 POs

• Social Science: 2 Senior POs and 8 POs

• Mathematical Sciences: 2 Senior POs and 10 POs

• Chemistry: 2 Senior POs and 7 POs

• Engineering: 2 Senior POs and 15 POs

• Biology: 2 Senior POs and 7 POs

• Agriculture: 2 Senior POs and 13 POs

• Medical/Dental/Pharmaceutical: 2 Senior POs and 17 POs

• Interdisciplinary areas: Selected from Senior POs and POs in the above 8 disciplines

The first critical task the Center faced was the establishment of a database of reviewers. They relied in the past solely on the reviewers nominated by the Science Council of Japan (SCJ) whose selection standard was not clear. Now, JSPS has their database of 18,000 reviewers. They are all qualified researchers selected by the Program Officers whose primary roles are to select the reviewers and monitor the quality and appropriateness of the reviews which in turn is reflected on the database. In addition, the POs are expected to serve as consultants and advisors to various JSPS programs, which gives them opportunities to review JSPS’ activities from the viewpoint of what is the best for researchers. The mechanics of review remain the same: a mail review followed by a panel review for all grants in basic research.

The remuneration for one “Senior PO” who work for JSPS two days per week is Yen 240,000 (ca. $2,400) per month. In addition, JSPS pays Yen 13.5 million (ca. $135,000) per year to the Senior PO’s organization if s/he is in the field of human literature and social science, and Yen 14.5 million (ca. $145,000), if the Senior PO’s organization is in the field of natural science. These amounts are to cover the Senior PO’s research, travel costs, and salaries for his/her replacement while s/he works at JSPS. In the case of a “Senior PO” or a “PO” who works for JSPS one day per week, it is Yen 120,000 (ca. $1,200) per month. In addition, the Senior PO’s or PO’s organization receives Yen 2.5 million (ca. $25,000) per year if s/he is in the field of human literature and social science, and Yen 3.5 million (ca. $35,000) for natural science.

The above Program Officer System at JSPS went into effect in April 2004 (beginning of the Japanese Fiscal Year 2004). JSPS deems that JFY2004 is a transient year, with flexibility to modify the system, and expects full operation of the system from JFY 2005. Whereas NSF has used a program officer system for more than 50 years, JSPS is at the beginning of the system, and it would take a while to have it known among researchers and established.

- The official English name JSPS gave to the Center is “Research Center for Scientific System.” However, it sounds like a research institute for studying scientific system, this report used a “Center for Program Officer System.”

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