University reforms are required in order to meet the demands of society. In the graduate schools, the research facilities are not adequate and researchers are short in supply. This needs to beurgently improved. Japanese corporations, for example, cannot help sending their graduates to graduate schools in the United States to educate them to become key persons for technological innovation or management. On the undergraduate level, it is necessary to reform the educational system in order to adapt it to the needs of society and to provide the students with attractive classes.

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At first, Dr. Takeuchi (chairman) suggested that the discussions center around problems in universities and research in Japan, and their countermeasures. The discussion began with Dr. Arima pointing out three major problems: financial problems, problems in evaluation systems, and problems in personnel. Regarding financial problems, all participants were of the opinion that the budget of universities was too small. Researchers, it was recommended should appeal for needed research funding (Dr. Arima), and private funds should be introduced (Dr. Inose). As another financial problem, the inefficiency of allocation was pointed out. Some participants thought that one of the reasons for this inefficiency was the Japanese bureaucracy, but it was pointed out that the bureaucracy had merits as well as demerits (Dr. Inose). As another possible remedy, the necessity of an overhead cost system was emphasized (Dr. Nagakura). In relation to "big science", it was strongly urged that the budget of "big science #and that of ordinary science be divided. Regarding personnel problems, the following four points were emphasized: 1) supporting staffs, 2) supporting systems for younger researchers, 3) mobility of researchers, 4) insufficiency of time for researchers. On the first point, in addition to financial support, the organization of supporting staff should be promoted to raise their level in salary and ability (Dr. Arima). On the second point, using a reservation system for researchers was pointed out as a possible solution for this problem. On the third point, all participants had the same opinion that the mobility of researchers should be promoted. On the final point, it was felt that although this problem was due primarily to the insufficiency in financial support and supporting staff, researchers themselves, had a tendency to engage in miscellaneous affairs (Dr. Takeuchi). In the context in which these problems were discussed, various aspects of evaluation systems were at issue. In particular, it was emphasized that the roles and views of universities had to be discussed, and that universities and their outputs had to be evaluated by universities, themselves, and by society. Finally, it was concluded that Japan, as an economic power should promote culture and the arts as a national policy (Dr. Inose and Dr. Nagakura).

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Talk Session B which was aimed to discuss the role of university as research institute, its problems and its solutions, was held on April 14, 1990, at Restaurant Castle in Hibiya in Tokyo. Kei Takeuchi, Professor, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), the University of Tokyo took the Chair and the following members participated: Shun'ichi Amari, Professor, Faculty of Engineering, the University of Tokyo. Daiichiro Sugimoto, Professor, College of Arts and Science, the University of Tokyo. Yoichiro Murakami, Professor, RCAST, the University of Tokyo. Kenji Mori, Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, the University of Tokyo. Hiroki Yanagida, Chief of RCAST (at that time), the University of Tokyo.1. Some Features of Research Activity and Circumstances in Japan In evaluating the level of university research in Japan, although some researchers are internationally renowned, on the whole researchers in universities in Japan can not be perceived as first-class. The strata of upper-level research is thinner in Japan than in the United States. Japanese researchers do not often refer to the papers written by the other Japanese researchers although they are very careful to cite those by Western researchers. Thus the importance of research in Japan is often underestimated. Further more, the international scientific society tends to misunderstand that original work is not just that done by the one who started the work but could not realize its structure, but also by the one who had reconstructed the idea and could complete its structure. It is sometimes perceived that researchers in Japan are on a 吝roup tourled by the foreign researcher that is, as soon as someone finds good research seeds, the others set about its development. In Japan, the society is rather egalitarian as a whole. This, however, prevents the universities from being flexible and fixes the system. A professor who carries out important research as an international leader, for instance, cannot gather the number of graduates, post-doctoral and foreign researchers who are necessary because the department decides how many students each professor may lead.2. On Research Expenditure and Research Supporting System With regard to research expenditure, an increase in its flexibility is needed more than an increase in its amount. In this sense, the donation from the private sector has a suitable degree of flexibility. The kakenhi and koza research budgets from the government, on the other hand, are too rigid. In engineering research, universities cannot conduct research which requires a large amount of money; companies, however, can. So, universities conduct research which is aimed at confirming ideas. However, experimental research laboratories are extremely short of research funds, with the expendable supplies chronically insufficient and the equipment significantly out-of-date. There is also a need to consider how to preserve fields which have difficulty collecting research funds. It is desirable that a flexible system be developed so that the university can pool funds which researchers can use as the occasion demands. In universities in Japan, systems research supporting, especially human resources, are insufficient. For instance, it is difficult to acquire residences for foreign researchers. In addition, the secretarial system in the university is very inefficient, and it creates the impression with the researchers that the university has decided to be an institute for teaching, with its role of research like an appendix. Research support is also insufficient, with a system of research assistants desired.3. System of University The origin of the problems with universities, lies in the fact that the university is one of our national institutions. Even private universities are based on regulations by the government. This prevents universities from being flexible. Thus the deregulation of universities should be examined. It is believed that the ex

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Talk Session C was aimed to discuss problems related to R&D in Japanese universities and potential solutions. The following members joined this session: Sususmu Inui, Professor, Nagaoka University of Technology Atsunobu Ichikawa, Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology Shun'ichi Tsuge, Professor, Tsukuba University Ryo Hirasawa, Professor, the University of Tokyo. In the beginning, Inui showed some data of the present state and problems of universities in Japan. The research expenditure per university researcher in Japan is about half as much as that in the leading countries. The extent of the university research expenditure funded by the government in Japan is also less than that of the leading countries, and the increase in the research expenditure of universities is less than that of other sectors in Japan. Kakenhi, which is one of the main sources of research expenditure of universities in Japan, is rather small compared with NSF grant and other investors in university research have been limited. The average of the age of the teaching and research staffs in universities has also been increasing. Finally, although the number of scientific papers is increasing in proportion to GNP, the quality does not seem to be up to the international level yet. In the faculties of the universities, only engineering has comparable institutions in other sectors of the economy. The relative problems of the research level of universities, therefore, occurs mainly in engineering research. With regard to funds and human resources, universities are no match for the private sector. University staffs have still kept their role of arranging scientific societies and promoting technological development, so they have partly decided the direction of technological development in Japan. However, as firms also foster research because of a low expectation of the role of the university, their basic research laboratories are increasingly active. As a result, it firms have also come to play an important role in science and education. Universities in Japan do not have a system which makes productive use of post-doctoral researchers. In addition, they have not yet established a Ph. D. course system in which a student is trained to be independent as a researcher. Universities consider all studies in the humanities are the social sciences to be theology because they mainly examination previous papers. In these fields, scientific research which society requires has yet to be developd. However, even the natural sciences started like theology. This is still reflected the Japanese educational system which is based on knowledge introduced from other countries. Ideally, research activities should start first, then graduate courses which aim to foster the researcher should be established, and organized education through undergraduate courses should follow. The restructuring of universities is not progressing. This is partly because the Ministry of Education regard university as only an educational institution, even though the university staffs are evaluated only through their research products. This is also partly because in universities, the staff has power, and personnel affairs can change only if all the staff has the same opinion. This is aggregated by the reality that mobility between universities is low. About ninety percent of the staffs in the University of Tokyo and the University of Kyoto have also graduated from those schools. It is a characteristic of Japanese engineering education that it mainly deals with the fundamental level of subjects. It was suggested that most of the staff should conduct both research and teaching, with a specialization in either still permitted. The work of the staff would then be evaluated by its content, that is, teaching should also be included in the evaluation system of university staff. In Japan, it is difficult for university researchers to cooperate in research with those in other institutes. In Tsukuba area

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This is a discussion on the system prevailing at Japanese universities based on the experiences of six people studying at the University of Stanford. The comparison between American and Japanese universities brings out that Japanese students study harder than it is commonly believed, that the scholarship system in Japan is underdeveloped, that Japanese teaching staff seem reluctant to perform their tasks and fail to make classes attractive to the students, that Japanese students have few chances to communicate with their teachers but, on the other hand, have more time available to pursue their own interests, and that there is no close co-operation between universities and corporations unlike in the U.S.A.. other matters discussed in relation to Japanese universities concern the lack of campus space, the high number of students per teacher, the feasibility of introducing teaching assistants, and the need for improving facilities and equipment.

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Politics is series of integrating activities which would mobilize various kinds of material and intellectual resources in society, e.g. religion, wealth, science/technology, in order to realize the collective goals. In the twenty-century science/technology have been thought by politicians and bureaucrats as vital factors of victory in war, as symbols of distinguished power individual political regime and of remarkable leadership of each politician. The most serious interest of politics in science/technology is illustrated typically by competitive developments of nuclear arms and space development projects between U.S.A. and U.S.S.R.. Since last year leaders of major countries have begun to be involved in environmental problems as a new, post-cold war agenda. In spite of "the end of cold war" politicians expect science/technology policy to become more important in relation to environmental problems and technohegemony in international competitions. But the more increasing technological control of human life is the more serious the problem becomes how to make democratic control of science/technology policy possible in the age of specialization. It would be possible on the condition that professionals provide informative, pluralistic forums for politicians and people which can analyze and evaluate public policy continuously. Today the collaborations between politics and science/technology are more or less unavoidable. What is to be avoided is the mystification of the collaboration.

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This paper clarifies the points to remember in making surveys of number of researcher by existing statistical data, and investigates the problems in making comparisons between Japan and other countries. (1) Number of Researchers in Japan is found out by "Survey of Research and Development" and "Population Census". However, statistical data of these two sources are different from each other. This inconsistency is caused by the variance of survey methods and definitions of researcher. (2) It is a serious problem to compare research personnel data of Japan with other countries' that full time equivalents has been not grasped in Japan. As one necessary task is to develop data of FTE.

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