Introduction
Tokushima University has established the Interdisciplinary Next Generation Researcher Development Program (Uzushio Program) to provide a research environment in which doctoral students can concentrate on challenging and interdisciplinary research and to support the formation of diverse career paths. The program aims to develop doctoral students who can play an active role in various fields as interdisciplinary innovative human resources.
Project Description
The following two projects, which were adopted in FY2020 and FY2021, are being accepted and supported as the "Challenging Research Program for Next-Generation Researchers" (New SPRING) from FY2024.
【Adopted in FY2024】Next Generation Researchers Challenging Research Program (SPRING)
Cultivating interdisciplinary innovation talent with a research cluster at its core - Tokushima University Uzushio Program -
Purpose: Cultivating doctoral talent who can play an active role in various fields as interdisciplinary innovation talent
Number of people supported in FY2024: 56
Support details: 2.46 million yen/year
Research incentive grant: 2.16 million yen per year (180,000 yen per month)
*Provided as an amount equivalent to living expenses so that recipients can concentrate on their research.
Research grant: 300,000 yen per year
*Research grants are used appropriately under the management and guidance of supervisors.
Support period: Up to 3 years (4 years for 4-year doctoral programs)
Human resource development using the Research Cluster System
Tokushima University's philosophy is to "strive to seek truth and create knowledge based on a spirit of autonomy and self-reliance, inherit and improve academic excellence and culture, and contribute to the realization of a rich and healthy future society as a university open to the world." In addition, during the fourth mid-term target period, in response to social changes and the challenges of the SDGs, we have set a basic policy of utilizing our university's strengths in science and technology to enrich and strengthen education and research in order to realize a sustainable, inclusive, and diverse society, as well as to lead regional revitalization through the promotion of cutting-edge medical care and industry-academia-government collaboration.
In order to promote research aimed at realizing these ideals and basic policies, we need to create an environment in which the university can create new innovations, such as by conducting cross-disciplinary research that transcends faculties and research fields. Therefore, we will organize research groups (Research Clusters) made up of multiple researchers from different fields, and create a system to effectively allocate research funds and select and support research that can contribute to realizing the university's ideals. Furthermore, this system aims to create an effective social impact by providing focused and strategic support to research conducted by our researchers that is expected to develop further and that can be implemented in society.
Therefore, by inviting Scholars to participate in this advanced interdisciplinary research space and being guided by multiple researchers in research clusters, we aim to foster innovation-creating human resources who can fuse various disciplines to create solutions and continue to take on challenges.
The significance and purpose of the Research Cluster System
The Comprehensive Promotion Package for Regional Core and Distinctive Research Universities (decided by CSTI in February 2022) requires that regional core universities will be required to realize strategic management based on their mission and vision that will enable them to maximize their strengths and characteristics and develop in order to strengthen their high-level research capabilities in specific fields, contribute to the regional economy and society, and to solving problems in Japan and the world through human resource development and industry-academia collaboration activities.
Based on this policy, from the 4th mid-term target period, in order to further accelerate the realization of each university's mission, mission realization acceleration expenses were allocated within the management grants that form the basis of university management. This cost framework will continue throughout the 6-year mid-term target period, and the degree of achievement of this mission will be greatly reflected in the allocation of management grants for the 5th period.
Mission Realization Cluster
In the future, in order to continue the efforts made so far and link this cluster system to the realization of the mission, we have set the following research strategy goals: "Inter-university collaboration," "Industry-government-academia collaboration," "International collaboration," "Young researchers' development," and "Formation of research bases." To achieve each goal, we have set six priority research areas in which Tokushima University has a strong track record: "Optical engineering," "Immunity and chronic inflammation," "Food and nutrition," "Drug discovery and synthetic chemistry," "Cancer," and "Disaster prevention." In addition, we have appointed researchers with excellent research results in their respective fields as PMs (project managers), and established mission realization clusters in each field in hopes of realizing the mission.
