National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP) » Research » Human Resources in Science and Technology

Fostering and securing human resources in science and technology are important issues for STI policy in Japan. NISTEP endeavors to ascertain the conditions surrounding the cultivation of S&T human resources in universities, graduate schools, and other institutions as well as available career paths, including international mobility of researchers. It also elucidates and analyzes challenges affecting such human resources, the people needed to advance and develop S&T in Japan.

As the science and technology that support our daily lives and society become increasingly sophisticated and complex, the roles of S&T people are more important than ever, and opportunities for such people are needed. If Japan is to continuously produce S&T-spawned achievements and innovation and be a leading nation based on its creativity in science and technology, it must address the key challenges of pouring even more effort into fostering S&T human resources capable of leading Japan and the world in various fields at universities, public research institutions and private enterprises, and of establishing development environments that allow such human resources to make the best use of their abilities.

Of course, cultivating and encouraging the future success of S&T human resources requires more than simply shedding light on the conditions surrounding human resources development and on career paths. It also requires work to accurately identify problems and issues at sites for human resources development and career-building and to find hints for resolving them. Understanding the challenges that this situation presents, NISTEP seeks to illuminate the circumstances of S&T human resources development, particularly from the university and graduate school levels, as well as international mobility of researchers and other aspects of career-building. It also endeavors to discover, elucidate, and analyze problems affecting the human resources who advance and develop S&T in Japan.

Surveys and research

Surveys and research on developing human resources in science and technology

Universities and graduate schools in Japan are working on a number of distinctive initiatives aimed at developing human resources through high-quality education and research and reinforcing or fully implementing their organizational approaches to education. NISTEP’s surveys and research in this area are intended to identify the realities of human resource development and clarify challenges for the future. They do this by examining education, research, and human resource development in Japan’s graduate schools (particularly at the doctoral study level) and investigating how initiatives by overseas universities compare with circumstances in Japan.

Surveys and research on career-building by S&T human resources

Japan’s PhDs and post-doctoral researchers are building up their careers and playing active roles in universities and public research institutions as young researchers. Opportunities for them to work in the private sector have also been growing in recent years, and thus their career options and available career paths are expanding and diversifying in ways never seen before.

NISTEP’s surveys and research in this area seek to shed light on the post-doctoral career options for PhDs and post-doctoral researchers, as well as their activities and mobility in various situations after they choose their career paths.

Research on the diversification and mobility of S&T human resources

If Japan’s S&T human resources are to engage in first-rate research, it is important to raise researcher mobility, including the ability to move between organizations, and to create settings where researchers can learn from each other. Moreover, there are expectations that outstanding results can be generated from further diversification of human resources by means such as making greater use of female and foreign researchers.
NISTEP’s surveys and research in this area identify objective evaluation indicators and gather quantitative data, using them to conduct data analyses on the mobility and diversification of S&T human resources.

Other surveys and research connected with S&T human resources

As it identifies and analyzes the various problems that affect human resources involved in implementing and advancing S&T in Japan, NISTEP conducts studies and research on working environments that are conducive to S&T activity as well as on research hours, pay, and other relevant matters.

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