The Education, Science and Technology Ministry plans to begin next academic year drawing up measures to improve cooperation between Japanese universities and foreign firms, according to ministry sources.
Currently, the number of research projects for which foreign companies commission Japanese universities is very small, while that of studies farmed out to foreign universities by Japanese companies is large. The new measures are aimed at rectifying the situation, the sources said.
The ministry will select 10 universities and budget tens of millions of yen annually per university to improve systems and staffing for cooperation with foreign companies, the sources said.
According to the sources, the ministry's survey of 966 universities nationwide showed that 16,936 research projects had been funded by the private sector in the 2005 academic year, but only 41 of those--a mere 0.24 percent--were paid for by foreign firms.
Japanese firms, meanwhile, farm out research far more often to foreign universities than they do Japanese universities, spending 198.5 billion yen in fiscal 2003, the sources said.
The ministry has concluded that the universities' failure to establish a policy for cooperation with foreign firms has led to the current situation, and intends to help domestic universities improve such activities.
The ministry plans to assist universities cooperating with the private sector to establish an office within their intellectual property departments in charge of negotiating with foreign companies.
It is also considering posting experts in other countries' patent laws and those knowledgeable about who owns the rights to the research.
The ministry will use the system to promote the use of business management firms acting as negotiators with foreign companies.
(Aug. 6, 2006)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20060806TDY02002.htm
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