Tuesday, December 20, 2016

State of Scientific Research in Japan

    A few days ago, Prof.Kajita Takaaki of the University of Tokyo, who got the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2015, gave an interview to a newspaper in which he warned against the ongoing tendencies in fundamental research in this country.

    First of all he said that the number of published articles in the field from Japan used to be the second in the world, but it has come down to the 5th.  The articles coming from China are fast increasing.

    Then he said that the budget has been shrinking, and as the result the number of the posts for the professors and associate professors is decreasing.  Even more alarming is that the number of research assistants is decreasing more fast.  If you look at the teaching staff below the mid-40s in his University, those without tenure are occupying more than half.  This is a condition absolutely unfavourable for the basic research.

    There are two aspects to the fundamental research.  One is it will be useful to the life of the people in the long run.  The second is it will help construct the intellectual property of the whole of the mankind.  Therefore one cannot expect it to be of immediate use.

     Prof.Kajita also referred to what Prof.Oosumi Yoshinori, from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, who had just got the Nobel Prize for Physics or Medicine for 2016, said on the importance of fundamental research.  I had an opportunity of hearing Prof.Oosumi's 50-minute acceptance speech the previous night, 10 December.  May I add a few things from the speech.

     The speaker talked about such things as 'protein synthesis', 'vacuole', 'autophagy', 'genes', or 'degradation'.  At the same time he mentioned, with gratitude', the names of a number of his collaborators, including some women, his wife among them.  He talked about the relation of cooperation in research and the division of labour.  He discussed the relevance of 'autophasy', and concluded by saying 'the research is continuing'.  The whole speech was an encouragement of the fundamental research by Oosumi, who called himself, with apparent pride, as 'a basic scientist'.         

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