"JSPS External Review Report" was issued.(PDF File 1.22MB)

Review Committee cannot recommend a specific staffing level, there is a consensus among themembers that the current level is far too low in view of the scale of JSPS’s program.Taking the transfer of the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from MEXT as an example,though it caused a big increase in JSPS’s workload, it was only accompanied by a small increase instaff. In the future, it should be a rule that commensurate staffing be provided when new programsare launched or existing ones enhanced. Furthermore, there currently exists no allocation for permanentJSPS staff at its eight overseas liaison offices. Faculty and administrators of universities orresearch institutes are dispatched to man these offices, however, permanent JSPS staffs are needed toeffectively conduct the offices’ operations.Current JSPS programs are being sustained by increasing the workload of its existing employees;however, at the present staffing level it will be impossible for JSPS to add new functions, start newprograms or make program quality improvements, including those recommended in this report.The need to increase staff is also pointed out where appropriate in the Committee’s various otherprogram recommendations.Staff qualificationsOther than among its executives, JSPS does not presently have any employees with researchbackgrounds. Similar science-promotion agencies both in Japan and abroad do employ such staffs.Like them, JSPS needs to recruit staff with research experience who can (1) participate in policy formulationrelated to its overall operation and individual programs and (2) play a role in its selectionand evaluation of projects.With regard to policy formulation, when JSPS becomes an independent administrative institutionin 2003, it will need to be proactive in planning its programs. (This point is elaborated in Section 7,“Envisioned Role for JSPS in Future.”) This will require the strengthening of JSPS’s own planningcapacity, which must entail the staffing of people with research experience.Regarding grant selection and evaluation, JSPS must strive to ensure that research based on thebest and most innovative ideas of researchers is always accorded suitable support. (This is also discussedin Section 4, “Fostering Researchers.”) In so doing, JSPS must employ staffs with researchexperience to participate in the grant process, starting with the proper operation of external reviewsand selection decisions and running through to post-award evaluations.At the U.S. National Science Foundation, a personnel exchange program is carried out with variousuniversities. It allows university researchers to work at NSF for one or more years, while maintainingtheir employment status at the university and receiving their paychecks from it. NSF reimbursesthe university an amount equivalent to the researcher’s salary. This mechanism for staffingpeople with research expertise might be of use to JSPS.26