Selection for the JST Support for Pioneering Research Initiated by the Next Generation Program: Launching "Developing Doctoral Talent to Design the Grand Design of Future Society"

2021/12/10

President Kohei Itoh, as part of the Keio University Action Plan 2021-2025 formulation policy, set forth the "Pursuit of Ideals as Future Leaders and Global Citizens." He declared that the university would thoroughly raise the sense of ownership among faculty, staff, and Keio students regarding the state of society 10, 30, and 50 years from now, and establish an environment where they can focus on leading the future. Key themes include enhancing the education of Keio students as future leaders and creating new comprehensive knowledge that the world will reference through cutting-edge research where researchers and Keio students connect boldly.

This program, "Developing Doctoral Talent to Design the Grand Design of Future Society," targets doctoral students—excellent young researchers who play a central role in this vision. It aims to provide a living environment where students can concentrate on their research and establish a university-wide system that offers a free environment where they can challenge themselves to develop their research or careers with their own new ideas. It was selected as one of the Support for Pioneering Research Initiated by the Next Generation programs started this fiscal year by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), and support for students began this October.

At Keio University, 14 graduate schools are each advancing unique education and research. To address the challenges the world currently faces and to seek and realize an unprecedented society, it is essential to have comprehensive capabilities that go beyond technological innovation, as well as deep understanding and insight into human and social activities themselves to create new value.

There is great potential here for the depth of Keio University's graduate education to be fully demonstrated. Depending on their origins, the 14 graduate schools consist of those based on academic disciplines—namely, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences and Life Sciences—and those that are cross-disciplinary with a strong intent to solve social issues. Each operates at a high international level, aiming for value creation, new technology generation, and new social creation. There are not many universities in the world that have such a deep and wide range of graduate schools operating across domains. Recent popular world university rankings are designed so that universities emphasizing natural sciences rank higher, but the creation of comprehensive knowledge to design the society beyond that requires a different yardstick. The pursuit of ideals as future leaders advocated by the President clearly presents this point.

To leverage the depth of Keio's graduate education, it is necessary to connect the graduate schools that operate in a decentralized manner. In formulating this program, we interviewed all the deans of the graduate schools regarding the future directions they should aim for based on the current status of each school, and held a forum to discuss the plans for this program. Each had a sharp awareness of issues and solutions, and a strong shared desire for cross-graduate school initiatives.

This program aims to cultivate the following four competencies (abilities and qualities):

(1) The ability and quality to personally discover the issues that need to be solved in the field; (2) The ability and quality to create value itself in an unprecedented society based on the accumulation of humanities and social sciences; (3) The ability and quality to create science and technology or scientific knowledge through the study of theory and research; (4) The ability and quality to realize a diverse and sustainable society by appropriately allocating social resources through discussion with diverse stakeholders and engagement with society. The outline of this program received high praise from the reviewers, and we secured support for 263 doctoral students per year, the highest among private universities (9th overall).

This program targets motivated students in Doctoral Programs, regardless of their field, who sincerely engage in their own research topics and autonomously participate in efforts to develop the skills required to succeed in diverse career paths. Between 80 and 90 students from each year, including domestic and international students, will be selected (those with income above a certain level or international students on government scholarships are not eligible for support). As a result, combined with those selected for the Research Fellowship for Young Scientists program by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), 20–25% of doctoral students will be covered by doctoral student development support systems that include living expense support.

Recipients of this program will receive research grants (base amount of 300,000 yen per year) and an amount equivalent to living expenses (2.2 million yen per year). Furthermore, for ambitious efforts to develop research—such as internships at domestic or international institutions and companies, field work, and other proactive activities outside the university, or cross-disciplinary integration—an additional research grant of up to 1 million yen per year will be provided as "Challenging Initiative Expenses." A University-wide Selection Committee has been organized as an evaluation system that transcends the framework of individual graduate schools, with faculty members representing each graduate school conducting the evaluations.

It is also an important role of the university to establish an environment where doctoral students can challenge themselves in research and career development through a system called Career Development and Cultivation Content. This provides courses and other opportunities divided into six elements: (1) Venues for dialogue between the humanities and sciences and across domains, (2) Venues for dialogue with society, (3) Human interaction and colloquia, (4) Global leadership, (5) Overseas exchange, and (6) Mentoring. Starting this fiscal year, the "Introductory Course in Artistic Expression, Design, and Communication" led by the Graduate School of Human Relations, the "Global Leadership Introductory Course" led by the Graduate School of System Design and Management, the "Industry-Academia Collaboration Human Resource Development Forum (Data Science)" led by the Graduate School of Economics, and the "Keio Colloquium" led by the Graduate School of Media Design (KMD) will begin.

Additionally, videos on "Intellectual Property Strategy," "Ethics and Personal Information Protection," and "Research (Data) Management and Information Utilization" will be available for viewing at any time as subjects aimed at acquiring core skills for success in all areas of society.

This development of doctoral talent has only just begun. Support from JST for this program is expected to end in about three years, after which the government plans to concentrate support resources on universities capable of producing doctoral talent with global research capabilities who can succeed in all areas of society. To demonstrate the strengths and depth of Keio University and to continuously send out talent who can succeed globally from our graduate schools, dialogue and cooperation with all members of society are essential. We ask for your candid opinions and support.