An Examination of Policy on University Research Institutes

Focusing Primarily on the Process of Incorporation

Abstract

　 The purpose of this study is to clarify the way in which policy on research institutes in Japanese universities has developed, and to analyze how the transformation of national universities into national university corporations has impacted on such institutes.

　 Although, at the time when national universities were incorporated, discussions within the Council for Science and Technology had anticipated that ministerial ordinances regulating research institutes would be issued, the legislative processes did not progress as expected, and as a result, the character of research institutes as internal organizations of universities has been strengthened. In actual fact, the reorganization of research institutes has taken place only at individual university level.

　 This paper suggests that a polarization phenomenon, in the form of increases and decreases both in institutional size and budgetary provision, is occurring among research institutes. The acquisition percentage of competitive external research funding is relatively high, and research institutes are becoming exposed to the system of evaluation and corresponding compensation. In the light of anticipated future resource reductions, it is a reasonable presumption that research institutes will require new support structures to be introduced.