2015.01.13
To All Faculty Members Takeshi Kawazoe, Dean, Faculty of Policy Management Jun Murai, Dean, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies Hideyuki Tokuda, Dean, Graduate School of Media and Governance Yasushi Ikeda, Chair, Facilities and Environment Committee Regarding the Resubmission of Joint Research Lab ApplicationsToday, in preparation for allocating next fiscal year's joint research labs (including those for specific purposes such as language studies), we conducted an inspection of the actual usage of each lab. However, we found many labs that appeared to be used improperly, with little evidence of use, being used as meeting rooms or storage spaces, or being used by only specific faculty members among the listed joint researchers. In recent years, amid a shortage of not only joint research labs but also individual research offices, it has been difficult to secure a sufficient number of labs to meet various requests and new demands. If the users of joint research labs become fixed, it becomes a critical issue, especially for new and junior faculty members. Based on the results of this inspection, we have determined that a fundamental review of the allocation of joint research labs is urgently needed. Joint research labs are allocated to collaborative research projects by multiple faculty members, not to individual labs, and must be vacated immediately upon completion of the project. Returning to this original purpose, we will require the representatives of joint research labs that fall under the following categories to revise and resubmit their applications or to vacate the lab.・Applications submitted under the name of a study group instead of a collaborative research project.・Applications submitted by a single faculty member instead of multiple full-time faculty members.・Cases of so-called "name lending," where individuals are listed as joint researchers but do not actually use the lab.・Other cases where the actual usage differs from the content of the application.The resubmission period is until 5:00 p.m. on Monday, January 19, 2015. Please be aware that if the documents are not resubmitted by this deadline, or if the actual usage is found to differ from the application content, measures such as suspending the use of or not allocating the joint research lab may be taken. Additionally, for joint research labs (including those for specific purposes) whose usage was deemed unclear during today's inspection, we will individually request the submission of this fiscal year's usage reports, so please follow the instructions from the administrative office. We ask for the cooperation of all faculty members to ensure the proper use of joint research labs.