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

A closer look at the structural organization for research activities inuniversities shows that undergraduate and graduate schools are dividedinto about 3 to 4 different strata. For the minimum unit, especially inuniversities that have traditionally had graduate schools, a system ofresearch groups (koza) in which each specialized field is systematized indetail holds pride of place. In the past, this koza system at most universitieswas uniformly comprised of one professor and two to three other teachingstaff (associate professor, research associate, etc.), but at present there istendency for the composition and scale of such koza systems to become muchmore diverse, and the fields dealt with to be much more interdisciplinaryand flexible. The actual state of activities within each of these programsvaries according to the field and the university, but one typical way in whicheducation and research is carried out is for several postgraduate studentsand doctoral students to be regularly participating in the koza programs,and for each education and research activity to be pursued in an integralmanner.Further, in university research institutes (a designation that includes manyvarieties, including institutions that belong to undergraduate and graduateschools, and shared facilities used by researchers inside the university andthose open to all university researchers) and the above -mentionedinter-university research institutes as well, koza systems and comparableorganizational systems exist. Through collaboration with graduate schools,many of them carry out research activity with students as well.University research fundsOf the 16.010588 trillion yen Japan spends on R&D (FY1999), 3.2091trillion yen (or 20 percent) comprises university spending funded by thegovernment (1.6653 trillion yen, or 51.9 percent; national government,municipal bodies, special public institutions, national universitiesthemselves), private universities (1.4661 trillion yen, or 45.7 percent), andindustry (71.6 billion yen, or 2.2 percent).Compared to other major counties, the government burden in terms ofuniversity research in Japan is light, while funding by universities79