Paradigm Shift in the Researcher Training System and its Impact on the Research System

Abstract

This paper focuses on "researchers" at universities, and provides an overview of the historical changes in the researcher training system and the changing environment for researchers, especially from around the 1980s to the present, based on literature and data. In particular, it will focus on the training system for researchers, the labor market and career paths of Ph.D. holders, changes in faculty organization, research time, and university staff supporting research. The researcher training policy of the past 40 years has produced young researchers who cannot find stable jobs at universities even after obtaining Ph.D. and who have no prospects for the future. In addition, industry has not been actively recruiting doctoral students. On the other hand, researchers who have found jobs at universities also face a challenging research environment, and the severity of the situation increases. It is not easy to conclude that these consequences depend on a series of university reforms but the decline in Japan's research capabilities has been pointed out worldwide. In light of the fact that it is researchers who support scientific research, there is a need to redesign the research system from the perspective of researchers.