European Commission

the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the French National Research Agency (ANR), the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), the Research Councils of the United Kingdom (RCUK), and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF).

This initiative is aimed at supporting excellent research on topics of global relevance best tackled through a multinational approach. Funding should help researchers cooperate in consortia consisting of partners from at least three of the participating countries.

The first call is for proposals on: Interdisciplinary Program on Application Software towards Exascale Computing for Global Scale Issues

Deadlines:
“Preliminary Proposals”: 7 May 2010
“Full proposal” Closing Date: 25. August 2010

Further Information:
DFG (Germany) – comprehensive information in English
JSPS (Japan) (English)

The programme is to support proposals aimed at creating international research centres staffed by the world’s most talented researchers. This particular WPI Program call is for the establishment of one centre in the environmental domain, contributing to the realisation of a low carbon society. Funding will be provided for 10 years, with a possible 5 year extension.

Pre-application registration by 26 March 2010
Submission of application materials: 26-27 April 201
Further information: JSPS
(See also our In Focus section below for further information on the WPI initiative)

this programme allows researchers employed at Japanese research institutions and laboratories to invite fellow researchers from other countries to Japan for short periods of time to participate in discussions, attend seminars, give lectures, or perform similar duties at their institutions.

Fellowships are awarded for a period of 14 to 60 days. For the 2nd Recruitment fellows must take up their position between October 1, 2010 and March 31, 2011.

Fellows will receive: 1) A round-trip air ticket; 2) A daily maintenance allowance of ¥18,000; 3) Domestic research travel allowance of ¥150,000; 4) Overseas travel accident and sickness insurance coverage. Hosts will receive a cooperation allowance of ¥50,000.

Further information: JSPS
Deadline: 12 May 2010

The Research Fellow or Senior Research Fellow will be expected to be fully involved in the academic activities of UNU-IAS in the area of international governance for sustainable development. A substantial amount of time will be spent carrying out research and research supervision of the postdoctoral and doctoral fellows at UNU-IAS, as well as assist in fundraising efforts.

Deadline: 31 March 2010
Further Information: UNU-IAS

This provides an opportunity to gain valuable experience in the challenging world of science policies, bilateral collaborations and scientific intelligence.

They seek people with the following skills:

• Excellent English skills, Japanese optional
• University graduate with flair for science & technology
• Proactive and open-minded personality

And will offer:

• Responsible involvement in projects and tasks
• Main project: Swiss Innovation Booth
• Close cooperation with the Head of the Science & Technology Office
• International work environment with office in the Embassy
• Limited monthly pay

If you are a Swiss citizen, or have a strong link to Switzerland, interested in the voluntary internship position at the Science & Technology Office in the Embassy of Switzerland and fit the above profile, please send a motivation letter and your CV (both in English) with picture to: tok.science [@] eda.admin.ch

Deadline: 15 April 2010

Applicants should have a Ph.D. degree issued within the last 6 years, or should be currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program.

Deadline: 19 March

Further information: CiRA

Applications from overseas applicants are welcome.
The successful candidate will be responsible for the laboratory's overall management and research strategy, directing research projects and contributing to more general aspects of RIKEN's management and research planning activities.

Deadline: 30 April

Further Information: RIKEN

• Research Scientist or Postdoctoral Researcher - Omics Science Center in the LSA Bioinformatics Core Facility. Deadline: Until Filled. See: RIKEN
• Postdoctoral Researcher or Technical Staff - Functional Genomics Technology Team. Deadline: Until Filled. See: RIKEN
• Research Scientist - Laboratory for Developmental Genetics in the Research Centre for Allergy and Immunology. Deadline: Until Filled. See: RIKEN
• Postdoctoral Researcher – Spin Order Research Team, SPring 8. Deadline: 30 April. See: RIKEN
• Postdoctoral Researcher – Digital Materials Team. Deadline: Until Filled. See: RIKEN

Other positions are also available. See the RIKEN jobs announcements page.

The experience will prepare promising young scientists interested in working at the interface of physics, astronomy, chemistry, earth & planetary science, biophysics & biochemistry, and biological sciences for the rigors of graduate studies.

The internship runs between 24 June and 5 August (six weeks). It includes round trip air tickets.

This program is open to all eligible undergraduate students (juniors and seniors) majoring in science or engineering at overseas universities regardless of their citizenship. The application period is from February 12 to March 17, 2010

Further information: Tokyo University
Deadline: 17 March.

• Takayanagi Osteonetwork project / English information on the project
• Nakauchi Stem Cell and Organ Regeneration / English information on the project
  

Only those calls which accept applications in Japanese or English have been mentioned above.

• Tenure Position at the Professor Level (Department of Bioengineering and Robotics, Tohoku University; Deadline: 7 May 2010)
• Professor or Associate Professor (Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University; Deadline: 31 May 2010)
• Mid Level/Senior Level Researcher (School of Knowledge Science, JAIST; Deadline: 31 May 2010)
• Senior Researcher (Manufacturing Processes, Toyota Technological Institute; Deadline: 31 May 2010)
• NIG Postdoctoral Fellow (National Institute of Genetics; Deadline: 30 June 2010)
• Guest Professor (Department of Architecture and Urban Design, Kyushu University; Deadline: 30 April 2010).

The aim of the Rubicon programme is to encourage talented researchers at Dutch universities and research institutes run by KNAW and NWO to dedicate themselves to a career in research. Rubicon offers researchers who have completed their doctorates in the past year the chance to gain experience at a top research institution outside the Netherlands (maximum of two years).

Deadline: 1 April 2010
Further Information: NWO

... excellent researchers working outside the Netherlands to spend some time in the Netherlands to contribute towards strengthening Dutch science.

Nominations should be sent by members of KNAW and of KNAW's The Young Academy, as well as researchers at all of KNAW's research institutes.

Deadline: 1 May 2010
Further Information: KNAW

... of other countries interested in spending a postdoctoral fellowship in Poland, to apply for subsidies in the 1st edition of the Homing Plus programme.

Financing for researchers who hold at least a doctorate and are in the early stage of their academic career includes a research grant in an amount of up to PLN 80,000 per year and a stipend in an amount of PLN 5,000 per month.

Deadline: 9 April 2010
Further Information: FNP

The overall objective of the programme is to engage outstanding researches from abroad in creating research teams in Poland and intensifying international cooperation of the Polish institutes and universities.

he programme is addressed to foreign researchers with at least a PhD degree who either plan to work in Poland, or have already established research teams in Poland. The duration of the projects may range from 3 to 5 years.

Deadline: 15 April 2010
Further Information: FNP

Under the Daiwa Foundation Awards, awards of £7,000-£15,000 are available for
collaborative projects that enable British and Japanese partners to work together, preferably in the context of an institutional relationship.

Deadline for both schemes: 31 March 2010
Further Information: Daiwa Foundation

The following amendments have been made:

• Amendment to the contents pages
• Amendments to some of the URLs
• Addition of new schemes.

Furthermore, we have now distributed the document to the Euraxess Service Centres in Europe who have also provided further inputs to the document.

If you have any further comments or suggestions, please send these by 31 March.
Here is a URL link to the latest version of document.
We would like to publish the document as a booklet in the spring.

Comments can be made through the Sinapse forum (preferred) or by emailing me directly.

This area is meant to serve as a forum where people can share experience, knowledge and interact with each other. For instance, on how to obtain research funds, accommodation, new jobs, post events or other such topics.

We would like to invite you to make greater use of this facility and will be writing to many of you to encourage its use over coming days.

Please register or sign up at the following link:
SINAPSE Forum Link

BILAT in Japan (J-BILAT) is a newly established EU-funded project for the promotion of EU-Japan cooperation in science & technology and innovation, coordinated by the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation.

They are currently carrying out an opinion and awareness survey, aiming at assessing the level of awareness and interest in FP7. This includes identifying the hurdles and needs of Japanese researchers when participating in FP7.

Researchers from Japanese institutions and private organizations are strongly encouraged to participate in the survey.

Deadline for submissions: 22 March 2010
Survey website: http://www.j-bilat.eu/survey/survey1/

... co-organize the 27th "Rencontre Scientifique Francophone de Tokyo (RSFT)", a symposium where three researchers will present their research work.

Date: Saturday April 3rd from 14:00. Location: Room 501 of MFJ, Ebisu, Tokyo.
Language: French.
Programme: (French; Japanese)

• "Conflicts on Biotechnology and the Law: A European Perspective" (24 March)
• EU-Japan International Workshop on Influenza "Preparing for the Next Influenza Outbreak" (26 March)

Further Information: EUIJ.

What are the challenges and problems typical in this field? What’s the strategy of prosecution and commercialization in this field?

Date: 25 March (13:00-17:00)

Further Information: Keio University

Further Information: JST

All are welcome to attend, but registration (holthus[@]dijtokyo.org) is appreciated.

The call for nominations was announced on 8 February.
Deadline: 23 March 2010
Further Information: Keio University

This Summit aims at strengthening cooperation in physics research between European and Asian countries.

The Summit will deal with programmes addressing either issues in fundamental physics or physics research playing a significant role in other fields (i.e. biology, chemistry, earth, space sciences …).

Further information: ASEPS

In the first application round they had intended to provide 130 such grants and 140 in the second round, and 30 in the third round. They have reduced these numbers to 65, 70 and 15 respectively.

Applications to attend conferences between August and November should be sent by 9 April 2010. Those for conferences between December and March should be sent between 20 July and 20 August.

Further Information: JSPS

We will be using this at the forthcoming ASEPS Summit, 24-6 March.

Judging from the outline that has been published, there are some major departures from the previous Third Basic Plan. This plan, which has been in place since 2006, is to expire in 2011 and has maintained the commitment to four priority fields of research (ICT, life sciences, environment, nanotechnology & materials) and four secondary priority fields (energy, manufacturing, social infrastructure, frontiers). The new plan places a much stronger emphasis on innovation and the development and exploitation of Japanese technological strengths. It also highlights the importance of basic research, albeit within a reformed environment.

Drawing on a recent mid-term review of the Third Basic Plan, the Essential Points document reviews some of the achievements that have been made so far in science and technology. While it notes some positive developments, chiefly the award of 8 Nobel prizes over the past 10 years and research breakthroughs in iPS research (induced pluripotent stem cells), the document also notes that there have been no substantial improvements in the number of citations received by Japanese publications at the international level (we covered these topics in June last year). Furthermore, although there have been research and technological breakthroughs in solar battery, fuel cells, lithium batteries and blue lasers, the business adoption, development and diffusion of these has been slow. The document suggests that there is a need for new frameworks for the research system to efficiently bring Japanese technologies to international markets.

The following points being emphasized:

• Strengthening basic research

• Innovation to support economic growth and resolve issues.

• Making greater use of Japanese innovation

• Broad ranging system wide reforms to promote science, technology and innovation

Let us quickly run through each of these points.

Strengthening Basic Research – Here the basic policy is to strengthen the frameworks for basic research and human resources. The key points are to foster greater creativity and
diversity in Japan’s human resources. The document suggests that emphasis will also be given to the development of horizontal research programmes, strengthening of the scientific infrastructure and facilities, introducing reforms to university and graduate schools as well as nurturing professional research managers. Internationalisation also features, both in terms of strengthening international research networks, and the overall environment for foreign students and researchers. Links with Asia are a particular focus.

Innovation to support economic growth and resolve major issues – here the emphasis is very much on “life innovation” and “green innovation”. Green innovation is familiar and refers to addressing global warming issues through the use and diffusion of green technologies through R&D, standardization and product approval processes. “Life Innovation” is altogether a newer term, but basically refers to medical, health and other healthcare related innovations.

Making greater use of Japanese innovation – here it will be important and a national mission to comprehensively promote usage and uptake of technologies where core technological strengths exist, in areas such as ICT, nanotechnology, manufacturing etc.. Also, to undertake research activities with regard to space and the ocean for national safety and security.
Broad ranging system wide reforms to promote science, technology and innovation – here the keyword is “efficiency” with concomitant reforms to the structures of science and technology. This will take the form of innovation platforms (citing the European Technology Platforms as an example); strategically responding to open innovation; enhancing government reviews and planning in setting policy; the promotion of more competition for research funds; science communication to nurture human resources as well as other measures to promote human resource development, including getting those that have completed graduate school to obtain teachers licences.

Again, similar to the New Growth Strategy published in December, the Essential points refer to increasing expenditure on R&D to 4% of GDP by 2020. Mention is also made of utilizing tax incentives to stimulate more private sector R&D. Unlike prior plans, the Essential Points document makes no mention of regional research systems.

The new plan is quite a departure from previous basic plans, but is not surprising as it addresses many themes that had increasingly been given importance by the CSTP when they had prioritized the major policy challenges each year. In particular, innovation and effectively extracting benefits from public investments in knowledge continue to be a key topic. We await the detailed full Plan in due course.

The full outline can be found at this link: CSTP, (2010), 第４期科学技術基本計画骨子 (素案), 23 February.

Smiles: Prof. Nowotn

Prof Nowotny, who is originally from Austria, is Professor Emeritus of the Social Studies of Science at ETH Zurich, and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of Vienna University.

She has published mostly in the field of science and technology policy or the management of innovation, taking a PhD in sociology from Columbia University, New York. She has also held numerous positions at various institutions throughout Europe.

Curriculum Vitae of Prof. Nowotny
Press Release from the European Research Council

The document states that R&D spending in Europe is below 2%, compared to 2.6% in the US and 3.4% in Japan, mainly as a result of lower levels of private investment. As with Japan above, the document notes that it is not just how much expenditure exists, but also how such expenditure is used and its impact that is important. Also similar to Japan, there is felt to be a need to improve the general conditions surrounding innovation, especially for private sector R&D activities in the EU.

The specific policies within the “Innovation Union” concept are the following:

• To complete the European Research Area, to develop a strategic research agenda focused on challenges such as energy security, transport, climate change and resource efficiency, health and ageing, environmentally-friendly production methods and land management, and to enhance joint programming with Member States and regions;
• To improve framework conditions for business to innovate (i.e. create the single EU Patent and a specialised Patent Court, modernise the framework of copyright and trademarks, improve access of SMEs to Intellectual Property Protection, speed up setting of interoperable standards; improve access to capital and make full use of demand side policies, e.g. through public procurement and smart regulation);
• To launch 'European Innovation Partnerships' between the EU and national levels to speed up the development and deployment of the technologies needed to meet the challenges identified. The first will include: 'building the bio-economy by 2020', 'the key enabling technologies to shape Europe's industrial future' and 'technologies to allow older people to live independently and be active in society;
• To strengthen and further develop the role of EU instruments to support innovation (e.g. structural funds, rural development funds, R&D framework programme, CIP, SET plan), including through closer work with the EIB and streamline administrative procedures to facilitate access to funding, particularly for SMEs and to bring in innovative incentive mechanisms linked to the carbon market, namely for fast-movers;
• To promote knowledge partnerships and strengthen links between education, business, research and innovation, including through the EIT, and to promote entrepreneurship by supporting Young Innovative Companies.

The strategy will be discussed and approved by the EU’s heads of state and government at the end of March and rolling out will begin after they meet again in June to agree on a few remaining points.

The full document can be downloaded from:

European Commission, (2010), Europe 2020: A European Strategy for Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth, Brussels, 3.3.2010, COM (2010) 2020

Although Japan has a number of schemes for the internationalization of their universities, such as the Global Centre of Excellence Initiative (GCOE), the Global 30 initiative (G30), or the Strategic Fund of establishing International Headquarters at Universities, the WPI is perhaps the most ambitious such project. Given the international focus of this WPI initiative, there are a number of opportunities for foreign researchers at these centres.

Global Ambitions

The programme aims to create prominent research centres in Japan like the Media Laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, or the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in the UK as well as respond to new challenges that have developed elsewhere, such as the Research Centres of Excellence (RCEs) in Singapore, or the Global Research Lab (GRL) in Korea, amongst other such schemes.

To do this, the WPI project aims to give support for projects aimed at creating top world-level research centers staffed by the world's leading researchers. This will heighten the overall levels of research in Japan and give each of these WPI centres a "global visibility", thereby becoming ever more attractive to excellent researchers.

Five Research Centres

The programme was initiated in 2007 on the basis of an open call issued by the JSPS. For this, 33 applications were received from 22 institutions. From these, five centre projects were selected for funding by the programme committee (this comprises 15 members, 6 of whom are from overseas). As we have noted above, there is currently a new call currently open for the establishment of a sixth centre in the environment field.

The five centres selected in 2007 were:

• Tohoku University Advanced Institute for Materials Research (AIMR)

• The University of Tokyo Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (IPMU)

• Kyoto University Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS)

• Osaka University Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC)

• National Institute for Materials Science, International Center for Materials Nanoarchitechtonics (MANA)

Each of these centres are funded for 10 years, with the possibility of extending funding by another 5 years in such cases where excellent results are discovered. In 2009 the total funding for the five centres was Y28b (€231m).

Let us now look at what each of these centres are doing.

He was also Vice President of Tohoku University. The advisory board features two Nobel Laureates, Professor Heinrich Rohrer (1986 – Physics) and Georg Bednorz (IBM Zurich Research Laboratory (1987 – Physics).

The research objectives of the AIMR centre are: (1) to create new materials and substances through deep understanding and control at the atomic and molecular levels, (2) to construct processes and devices through those materials, and (3) to construct new systems using those devices and materials leading to social welfare.

There are four research groups within the centre:

• Bulk Metallic Glasses Group
• NanoChemBio Group
• Nanophysics Group
• Device System Group

As of the end of fiscal year 2008, there were 83 foreign researchers at AIMR, this is 33.4% of the total staff. The final goal of the centre is to have 120 foreign staff (38.3%). The performance review undertaken in 2009 noted that Principal Investigators (PIs ) conduct their business in English; with English language competences also existing amongst administrative staff, with foreign administrators also employed at the centre.
AIMR has a satellite office at the University of Cambridge and has partner agreements with institutions in the USA, UK, Germany, Japan and China.

For open positions at AIMR at the Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, and postdoctoral research fellow levels, please see here. (No deadline is specified).

AIMR Advisory Board Members
• Heinrich H. Rohrer (Tohoku Univ.)
• Georg Bednorz (IBM Zurich)
• Robert Bigeneau (Berkeley)
• Herbert Gleiter (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)
• Bing-Lin Gu (Tsinghua Univ.)
• Chenming Hu (Berkeley)
• Akihisa Inoue (Tohoku Univ.)
• Venkatesh Narayanamurti (Harvard Univ.)
• Tadashi Onodera (KDDI Corp.)
• Konrad Osterwalder (UN Univ.)
• Robert Silbey (MIT)

The centre is a multidisciplinary research institute that seeks to understand the universe from the synergistic perspectives of physics, cosmology and mathematics.

The research programme at the centre looks at alternative gravity theories, collider phenomenology, dark matter experiments, detector developments, inflation and the early universe, mathematics, models beyond the standard model, neutrino physics, observational cosmology, particle astrophysics, proton decay, statistics of geometrical data, string theory, structure formation and supernovas.

As of the end of 2008, there were 125 foreign researchers at IPMU. This is 60.48% of the total. The final goal is to have 195 foreign researchers (69%).
IPMU has collaborative relations with institutes in Japan, the USA and France (Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHES)).

Recruitment to IPMU is held in December each year, at Postdoctoral, Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow, Assistant Professor, Associate and Full Professor, and Visiting Professor levels. See here.

IPMU External Advisory Board
• J. Ellis (CERN)
• M. Gonokami (Tokyo Univ.)
• N. Kaiju (NAOJ)
• Y.K. Kim (Fermilab/Chicago Univ.)
• S. Kojima (TITECH)
• D. Morrison (UC Santa Barbara)
• R. Peccei (UCLA)
• N. Reshetikhin (Berkeley/Amsterdam Univ.)

Research conducted at the iCeMS is built around two key concepts: Meso-Control and Stem Cells. More specifically, they intend to establish the sciences of 1) Meso-Control of Stem Cell Systems and 2) Meso-Control of Functional Architectures. They expect this research to contribute in three main areas: A) environmentally-friendly chemistry by meso-control, B) detoxication and drug synthesis in the body, and C) regenerative medicine by controlling stem cells with smart materials.

iCeMS also features the newly established Center for iPS Cell Research and Application which is to be formally opened on 1 April. The head of this laboratory will be Dr Shinya Yamanaka, a leader in the field of iPS research. This laboratory will become Japan's core institute for the advancement of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS cell) research and applications. It will conduct basic research into the development of core technologies in regenerative medicine by controlling the induction, proliferation and differentiation of stem cells. This remit includes both iPS cells and embryonic stem cells, one of the three core areas of the iCeMS mission. It will also carry out studies leading to clinical applications for
iPS cells in collaboration with Kyoto University's Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences and Graduate School of Medicine.

There is only one satellite office, which is at the Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences at Gifu University. Partner institutions include Oxford University, Cambridge University, the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) (India), the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology, UCLA, Purdue University, and the Riken Center for Developmental Biology.
As at the end of 2008, there were 90 foreign researchers at iCeMS (16.2%). The total objective is 171, or 52.3% of the total research staff.

For positions open at the laboratory technician, postdoctoral, Assistant Professor, Lecturer, and Associate Professor levels, see here.

iCeMS Advisory Committee
• Fiona Watt (Cambridge Univ.)
• Lee Eng-Hin (Singapore Univ.)
• Barbara Baird (Cornell Univ.)
• Kenneth Poeppelmeier (Northwestern Univ.)
• Ferdi Schüth (Max Planck)
• Daniel Choquet (Univ. de Bordeaux 2)
• Masatoshi Takeichi (RIKEN)
• Noriko Osumi (Tohoku Univ.)
• Keiji Morokuma (Kyoto Univ.)

The aim of Osaka University Immunology Frontier Research Center is to unveil the whole picture of dynamic immune system by employing a variety of imaging techniques to visualize the immune cells within live animals. They will attempt to improve imaging technology, allowing them to track the dynamic behavior of immune cells and their communications more directly and understand how immune cells respond to things like pathogens and cancers in vivo.

There are three groups in the following fields:
• Immunology
• Imaging
• Bioinformatics
As of the end of 2008, IFReC employed 89 foreign researchers (24.3%), the final goal is to have 147 foreign researchers (47.3%)

For employment information, see here. See also the recent call for the IFReC Kishimoto Fellowships (Deadline: 2 May 2010).

The advisors to the MANA include two Nobel Laureates, Heinrich Rohrer (Physics 1986), who is also one of the advisors for Tohoku’s centre, and Sir Harry Kroto (Chemistry 1996).
MANA has four research fields:

1. Nano-Materials: to utilize new synthetic methods to explore novel nanoscale materials, such as nanotubes, nanowires, nanosheets, nanoparticles and
supramolecules in organic/inorganic/metal systems and to artificially assemble these materials to produce new innovative functions.
2. Nano-System field: to create novel functionality as a system through systematic organization of nanostructures by various novel methods for fabrication/organization, property measurement,
and theoretical modeling.
3. Nano-Green field: to develop highly-efficient energy conversion systems for solar energy, fuels and biomass, which are essential for sustainable society, by controlled arrangement of atom and molecules based on rational design, i.e., nanoarchitectonics.
4. Nano-Bio Field: to develop innovative biocompatible materials and functional biodevices for regenerative medicine, cell therapy, minimum-invasive surgery and clinical diagnostics by integrating materials science and biological science.

Satellite offices are at Cambridge University and CNRS in Europe, the University of Tsukuba, as well as other offices in the US at Georgia Institute of Technology and UCLA. Collaboration is occurring with the Max Planck Institute in Germany, Charles University in the Czech Republic, and other centres in China and the USA.
MANA is currently recruiting through the International Centre for Young Scientists (see here (deadline: 31 March)). For other positions, see here (English), and here (Japanese).

MANA Advisors
• Heinrich Rohrer
• Harry Kroto
• C. N. R. Rao
• Galen Stucky
• Teruo Kishi

Evaluation in 2009

Given the key role these centres are to play in the Japanese innovation system, Mitsubishi Research Institute (MRI) were commissioned to perform a study of the international prominence of these institutes.

To do this they launched a web-based survey with research scientists in fields related to the WPI initiatives. In total, they sent the survey out to 5,721 researchers between July and September 2009. This list of researchers was based on scientists recognized and recommended by programme officers at the WPIs and publications in internationally known journals. From this they obtained a response rate of 32.4% (1,851 responses).

Respondents were typically at the PI or Group Leader levels (60.5%), followed by researcher (16.7%) or Head of Organisation or Department (15.5%). 77.4% of respondents had tenure, and 75.7% were based at universities. For nationality, most respondents (27.6%) held American citizenship, followed by Japanese (9.5%), Chinese (8.5%), and German (8.2%). 67% performed their work in the USA, 29.8% in Germany, 25% in the UK and 21.5% in France.

For each of the WPI centres, respondents were asked about their familiarity with the institute. Unsurprisingly given the short time scale within which they were established, most respondents were unfamiliar with a WPI centre prior to receiving the questionnaire. This was in the range of 34.4 to 65.7% of answers. For those that were familiar with the WPI in their field, publications served as the chief means through which familiarity arose.

In evaluating the WPI Centres, about half the respondents could not give an opinion, due to unfamiliarity with the project. For those that did give an evaluation, in many cases this was an “outstanding” rating. Some centres were more “average” than outstanding.

According to the results of the evaluation it was recommended that the WPIs should:

• plan symposiums and similar events;
• strengthen publicity; advertising and information dissemination;
• promote globalization (hold international conferences, invite and accept foreign scientists, promote international exchanges);
• accept, develop and make use of outstanding young research talent;
• increase exchanges and ties with outside research organization and scientists.

Further Information:

For an overview of the scheme, see: MEXT (2007), World Premier International Research Center (WPI) Initiative, Strategic Programs Division, Science and Technology Policy Bureau, MEXT.

For the evaluation results, see: MRI, (2009), Report on the Results of the Questionnare on the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (Summary Edition), November 2009

For the most recent call under the WPI scheme, see: JSPS (2010), Outline

Centre URLs:
AIMR (Tohoku University): http://www.wpi-aimr.tohoku.ac.jp/en/index.php
IMPU (Tokyo University): http://www.ipmu.jp
ICEMS (Kyoto University): http://www.icems.kyoto-u.ac.jp/
IFReC (Osaka University): http://www.ifrec.osaka-u.ac.jp/index-e.php
MANA (NIMS): http://www.nims.go.jp/mana/

Please contact us if you would like to notify us of an event.

Sources: Science Links Japan; various

See also J-Recin for 1,381 advertised positions, or 85 positions advertised in English. See the Euraxess Portal for 891 research jobs in Europe.