Budget screening casts a shadow on science and technology development

Japan Press Weekly

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Budget screening casts a shadow on science and technology development

Akahata, ‘current' column

"The government panel screening public projects may judge them based only on how much they cost," said a young participant in a discussion meeting on Japan's science and technology policies. "But there are young researchers who are employed with the budgets allocated to each project," he added in a harsh tone, warning that they will lose their jobs due to the budget cuts.

In its budget screening process, the government revitalization unit judged that college-related projects for human resource development should be subject to revision or budget reduction. The Chemical Society and 29 other academic societies then released a joint statement in protest against the decision, raising a "major question on what kind of strategy the government intends to responsibly employ for the nation's future."

The government has not been able to establish a way to improve the low-pay and unstable positions of short-term contract researchers, so-called "post-docs." Screening the budgets of projects only from a cost-cutting point of view will merely make the situation worse.

The matter casts a shadow over Japan's future. The weekly magazine "The Economist" in its November 16 issue revealed a major decline in the number of people involved in science and technology fields with the following estimate: The number of college applicants for science and engineering majors rapidly decreased from around one million in 1992 to 630,000 in 2008, and in 2030 Japan will face a shortage of science and technology specialists amounting to more than one million.

Justice Minister Yanagida's recent improper remarks may not be the only reason for the steep fall in the support rate for the Kan Cabinet.

- Akahata, November 24, 2010