Universities and Government in Post-War Japan

Japan's higher education system, in which private universities and colleges play an important part, has embarked on far-reaching reform in the 1990s. Its main objective was to free the national (public) universities from tight control by the central government and to give them more autonomy. In light of dramatic demographic changes, especially a much smaller proportion of people of traditional university age, and considering that higher education research was not useful to Japanese industry, the status and management of public universities have been transformed to allow more autonomy, competition, and private sector-style management. Meanwhile, mechanisms have been introduced to hold the newly independent universities more accountable.Le système japonais d'enseignement post-secondaire, où les universités et collèges privés jouent un rôle important, s'est donné l'objectif de se réformer dans les années 1990. Il s'agissait de libérer les universités d'un contrôle étatique excessif et oppressif. Considéant l'évolution démographique du pays, surtout la faible participation des jeunes gens d'âge post-secondaire, et considérant le peu d'utilité industrielle des recherches alors en cours dans les universités, le statut de l'enseignement supérieur a été profondément modifié. Parmi les conséquences des réformes, il faudrait souligner l'autonomie des institutions, y compris en matière de management, et une franche acceptation de la compétition, style libre marché. D'ailleurs on a fait introduire une suite de mécanismes pour que, dorénavant, ces institutions autonomes restent tout de même imputables

High temperature fatigue characteristics of P/M and hot-forged W-Re and TZM for X-ray target of CT scanner

The fatigue strengths at 1000 °C of layered W-Re/TZM, bulk W-Re and bulk TZM for x-ray target materials were successfully evaluated under load-controlled four-point bending by introducing a fatigue failure criterion as twotimes increase of initial compliance. The obtained fatigue strengths at 1000 °C for layered W-Re/TZM and bulk WRe were similar and 280 MPa and 290 MPa at 106 cycles, respectively, while that of bulk TZM was 200 MPa. During fatigue loading at 1000 °C, dominant fatigue damage would be multiple intergranular crack nucleation and propagation, which would induce the increase of compliance. The reasonability of the fatigue failure criterion was confirmed by the fatigue process observations and the results of room temperature fatigue tests of the specimens tested at 1000 °C up to the cycles corresponding to the fatigue failure criterion

ロンブン コウトウ キョウイク セイサク ト ダイガク ウンエイ ダイガク ケイエイ ジンザイ ヨウセイ ノ カンテン カラ

今年(2001)は、21世紀最初の年である。世紀の変わり目には何かにつけ、特別の感慨が語られるものだが、大学関係者にとっては、我が国に近代的大学制度が導入されて120年余りが経過する中で、この10年間に経験した改革の動きはまことに ..

Reconstruction of Anterior Chest Wall with Polypropylene Mesh: Two Primary Sternal Chondrosarcoma Cases

　Primary sternal chondrosarcoma is a rare malignant tumor that is refractory to chemotherapy and radiation. Effective therapy is radical resection of the tumor. We present two patients with primary sternal chondrosarcoma who underwent a radical resection of the lower half of the sternum and bilateral ribs, followed by reconstruction with 2 sheets of polypropylene mesh layered orthogonally. The patients have maintained almost the same pulmonary function as preoperative values, with stability of the chest wall. Although there are various ways to reconstruct the anterior chest wall, reconstruction with polypropylene mesh layered orthogonally is an easy-to-use and sufficient method

An analysis of university research

In Japan, the common criticism is that college and university professors prioritize their research activities excessively; it is generally considered that they allocate more time for teaching and other services. However,university research, despite its merit, has not been able to find significance in industrial and governmental laboratory research. Universities have contributed to a great extent toward the development and welfare of society through their basic research. Moreover, the biggest incentive for university professors to conduct research is the fact that they are mostly evaluated based on their research activities. Thus, it is imperative for us to understand the current situation of university research. A recent survey that I conducted for the purpose of this study revealed several interesting facts about university research. One finding is that there is considerable diversity in the funding of research; many professors in the fields of humanities and social sciences receive a size able amount of research funds. Another interesting fact is that, in some fields, professors require more funds, while in some other fields, professors require more research staff and facilities. The priority of various research resources differs within each field. In fact, some professors claim that an extremely large amount of money does not contribute to more comprehensive research results. Hence, based on the analysis conducted in this study, it is evident that a more comprehensive research policy is required to enrich the research infrastructure rather than merely increasing the amount of research funds. Shifting the focus to international matters, the discussions held at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) cannot be overlooked. OECD has held many discussions, conducted numerous analyses, and has also published several reports. The Ad-hoc Group for university research under the Committee on Science and Technology Policy (CSTP) is one of the achievements of the OECD. This group was established in 2000, and its final report“ Governing Public Research" was published by the OECD in 2003. In fact, I was personally involved with the activity from the beginning to the end. During their tenure, the Ad-hoc Group identified the following three major issues: (1) setting priority on research policy,(2) competitive funding for research, and (3) research training (human resources). Based on a comparison of these issues among member countries, policymakers and people from the university with useful and practical information were provided as resources for policy making and research. In addition, based on personal experience, the Workshop on Human Resources for Science and Technology conducted in Rome in 2003 was impressive. There were certain issues that could be shared with Japan because Japan was confronted with the problem of enriching the graduate program, especially at the doctoral level. In Japan, regardless of where they work, university professors are regarded as researchers. Moreover,research activities are held in high esteem. However, based on the official statistical data, Japan's research economy in the university sector is far bigger than expected. This is because, in every country, the data pertaining to research funds include the salaries of professors who conduct the research as well as the funds provided for purchasing equipments and materials and travel. Since Japan has a large private university sector within the higher education system, after calculating the research money, a large amount of money for the professors' salaries is also included in the research funds and is paid by the universities. In most countries, data is collected in a full-time equivalent manner, i.e., based on the extent to which professors devote their time to research. Thus, based on the abovementioned facts, it is clear the statistical data of the research economy in Japan should be reexamined