10 universities seek to tap into huge government research fund

Ten universities have applied for slots under the new government initiative to nurture world-class research institutions with tens of billions of yen in annual funding per school.

There are eight national universities applying, including the University of Tokyo, and two private institutions that include Waseda University, the education ministry said April 4.

The project calls for tapping into the returns on a national endowment fund worth about 10 trillion yen ($75.27 billion) to prop up the sagging research capabilities of domestic universities.

The government hopes selected universities will improve their research environments, such as with better facilities, remuneration and support systems, to attract talented personnel from around the world.

The ministry said it will choose several schools eligible for financial and other assistance in six months or so based on plans the applicants submitted, interviews and on-site visits.

The successful applicants will be able to receive tens of billions of yen annually for up to 25 years from fiscal 2024. Their performances will be reviewed every six to 10 years.

Selection criteria include systems to promote technological innovations, strategies to achieve a 3-percent annual growth in operations and plans to support young researchers.

Applicants will be asked to set specific goals, such as plans to exempt tuition and provide living expenses for aspiring doctoral students and use English as a standard language among researchers.

The other eight applicants are Tohoku University, Tsukuba University, Nagoya University, Kyoto University, Osaka University, Kyushu University, the Tokyo University of Science, as well as the Institute of Science Tokyo, which will be created through the merger of the Tokyo Institute of Technology and Tokyo Medical and Dental University.

The government expects that the universities will fundamentally reform their operations to enhance their research capabilities. It plans to support their efforts by revising laws and regulations on admission quotas and fund management if necessary.

A 10-member advisory board will be tasked with screening and selecting the applicants. Members of the Cabinet Office’s Council for Science, Technology and Innovation, as well as heads of domestic research facilities and foreign experts, will serve on the panel.

Critics say concentrating financial assistance on a handful of schools will widen the performance gap among universities and that stable assistance may be difficult to achieve if funding relies on investment returns.

The government expects the new fund, which started investments in March 2022, will generate about 300 billion yen in annual returns. It incurred about 180 billion yen in appraisal losses during the first half of 2022, however.