Abstract
It has been about 10 years since the University Research Administrators (URAs) were introduced into the academic organizations in Japan. Through the development programs of URAs (2011-2012) by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Japan (MEXT) and its follow-ups, many URAs are engaging in research promotion activities and are acknowledged as specialists in the field of research management. Prior to the introduction of URAs, many other specialists, such as academy-industry coordinators or license associates, had committed to the research promotion activities in the universities. For the development and establishment of specialists for academy-industry collaboration, MEXT carried out some development programs (2008-2012). At present, national universities are required to meet social demands and to decide their manner of administration. Such universities have developed the specialists for research promotions based on the results or models shown by previous programs. In the feature articles, URAs belonging to three national regional universities, Kagoshima University, Saga University and Fukui University, introduce their activities on academy-industry collaboration and research promotion.
