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

ation. This advisory body, or board, should, as stated previously in this section, reflect the opinionsof researchers.The Review Committee will not make specific recommendations regarding the organization orauthority of the board, but would like to offer the following example for reference.The legislation that established the U.S. National Science Foundation requires the establishmentof a National Science Board, which comprise external members (a majority being eminentresearchers with a few representatives of industry) appointed by the President and confirmed by theU.S. Senate. NSF’s Director serves, ex officio, as a member of the Board. The Board approves theFoundation’s budget, approves new programs and the abolishing of existing programs, issuesreports, e.g. the biannual ‘Science and Engineering Indicators,’ and provides consultation on themajor issues concerning the Foundation. NSF’s board is neither a board of directors nor a board oftrustees because it does not have those legal obligations. Instead, it is a very important policy-makingboard, which, first, provides a high-level, external-checking function to assure that all theFoundation’s programs are operated properly and, second, protects the Foundation from inappropriatepolitical interference, such as attempts to circumvent the competitive peer-review selectionprocess.As JSPS’s board will in the same way represent the academic community, its membership shouldalso be comprised of a majority of eminent researchers, and its function should be to provide JSPS’shead with independent advice and share, appropriately, in JSPS’s major policy decisions.ConclusionIn concluding this section, the Review Committee offered the following comments.As JSPS’s basic posture, it should continue to place the highest priority on supporting the bestresearchers and best ideas, and carry out its programs with a high degree of flexibility to function asa prime mover for the organization of science operating independently of the government.To facilitate this independence, JSPS should put in place a new governance based on a Directoroperating in conjunction with a Board composed of active scientists and technologists. The compositionof the Board should reflect the shared interests of JSPS with a majority of representativesnominated from the academic community together with nominations from government and industry.46