Should Japanese Scientists Leave Japan?
NTV’s “Bankisha” takes a look at the state of scientific research in Japan following the Nobel Prize win of professors Akira Suzuki (Hokkaido University) and Eiichi Negishi (Purdue University):
- Of the 15 Japanese who won Nobel prizes for achievements in science or literature, six have made their careers in the United States.
- Young Japanese scientists and grad students in the sciences tend to agree that America is number one when it comes to scientific research. There is more research grant money to go around and researchers are allowed much more freedom to spend that money. [Many of those interviewed were students at MIT, so they had already made the choice to go to America.]
- One Japanese researcher at Purdue says that competition is fierce in America and there is constant pressure on researchers to show results for their work.
- At Japanese universities, younger researchers face restrictions on research funding. The annual research stipends are often less than the cost of basic lab equipment.
- The DPJ-led Japanese government has cut funding to technological research programs. It is the first funding cut in 17 years, and it has made young Japanese scientists very pessimistic about their future prospects. [ Cue clip of budget review panelist and DPJ lawmaker Renho aggressively demanding to know "what is wrong with Japan being second place" in high tech research. ]
- Over the last decade, scientific research spending by the Chinese government has skyrocketed, and it continues to grow.
- Many of the young Japanese scientists interviewed by the program want to go abroad to conduct research, but statistics show that the number of Japanese researchers who go abroad is in decline. Many fear that going abroad will make it hard for them to find employment if they ever choose to return to Japan. Japanese research institutions have a very limited number of job openings, and seem to favor people who have stayed in Japan.
- Prominent scientists such as Professor Negishi are very concerned about the lack of young Japanese researchers who are seeking the opportunity to study and work outside of Japan.
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