Photo/Illutration Executives of the labor union at the Riken research institute hold a news conference in Tokyo, May 18. (Takashiro Takenouchi)

Ten years have passed since a system was adopted to provide research academics with long-term job security by setting their employment periods at 10 years (and transferring employees to unlimited-term positions after 10 years). Now, researchers are being terminated one after another, dealing a further blow to Japan’s research capabilities.

At RIKEN, the nation’s largest research organization for basic and applied sciences, 97 researchers were let go this past spring, out of a total of 203 whose fixed-term employment period exceeded 10 years. Among those shown the door were so-called team leaders--a status equivalent to that of a faculty position at universities.

A survey by the education ministry survey found that as of September last year there were 12,137 people whose period of employment at universities and research institutions was about to reach 10 years this past spring, but less than half of them expected to remain employed beyond then.

The government’s policy of transferring employees to unlimited-term positions, after they have been in the job for 10 years, is destabilizing the employment situation rather than stabilizing it.

A lack of stable research funding is to blame. The root of this problem lies in a budgetary policy shift, whereby short-term, area-specific funding gained priority over routine budgetary requirements.

The education ministry says it “does not favor terminating researchers just to avoid transferring them to unlimited-term positions.” But that is inane reasoning if its budgetary policy works to the contrary.

When employment is unstable, researchers tend to go for projects that are small in scale and likely to produce quick results, so they can protect themselves while they are between contracts. They prefer not to engage in “serious research” projects that may produce groundbreaking results, but will be time-consuming and possibly lead nowhere. Thus, the researchers effectively nip their own chances of outstanding success in the bud.

Japan fell to 12th place in the latest global ranking of most highly-cited academic papers. The “selection and concentration” policy, by which the government determines areas of importance and disburses short-term budgets, has obviously failed--a fact that is still being pointed out. But the parties concerned appear not to harbor any sense of crisis.

The business community is increasingly forced to rely on universities, even for research aimed at commercialization, and the government is doing the same. This policy will only further erode Japan’s research capabilities and weaken its corporate technological base. But perhaps this can’t be helped as long as academics continue to be treated so shoddily.

And yet, a person capable of becoming a researcher can secure stable employment and income by taking a job at a government office or private corporation. Moreover, a government official or company employee doesn’t need to worry about suddenly being fired for not achieving outstanding results.

It is only natural for people to seek stability rather than study for years to become an academic researcher and risk becoming jobless. The number of university students applying for doctoral programs continues to fall.

Competition is necessary, but treating researchers as disposable will only encourage a brain drain to overseas. To fight this, corporations need to create more research posts and contribute to “brain recycling” by hiring more doctorate holders to positions other than those of researchers.

Should this come to serve as a safety net, it will be easier for young people to consider becoming researchers.

A desirable working environment is key. The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) started attracting highly qualified applicants after it did away with the limited-term employment system last spring.

Japan will keep drifting farther from the government’s avowed goal of becoming a “science and technology nation” unless it builds a social structure that appropriately rewards capable workers.

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 31

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