Jan 9, 2023 11:34 PM
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14800258
EXCERPTS: Scientists who left Japan for better prospects elsewhere said the nation’s decision-makers could learn from China’s massive push to become a world leader in scientific research.
China has aggressively invested in research and development, poaching more and more scientists from places like Japan, where researchers face restrictive work environments and a dearth of funding.
One expert said if Japan wants to improve its international research standings and stop the brain drain of its fledgling researchers, it will have to foster work environments that allow scientists to devote themselves freely to their research.
[...] Motoharu Nowada, a 49-year-old space plasma physicist, was employed as a postdoctoral research fellow at Peking University in Beijing in 2010. His monthly take-home pay was only about 32,500 yen ($245) at the time.
Nowada said he ended up in China by chance [...] He is being paid five times what he received five years earlier, thanks partly to China’s economic growth. Although his job comes with a term that expires in 2024, Nowada said he has no regrets about his choice.
One thing that he finds strikingly different between Japanese and Chinese universities is the way people communicate within a lab.
In China, researchers form strong connections not only with supervisors but also with fellow lab mates, who respond immediately to social media messages. But at many universities in Japan, the hierarchy is much more rigid, with the professor being the king of the castle.
After spending more than a decade at Chinese universities, Nowada said he does not necessarily agree with the popular view that China’s remarkable scientific results are made because research is better funded there than it is in Japan. “I believe the environment that allows scientists to discuss anything among themselves is a major reason that China’s research capabilities improved,” he said.
Nowada said he has the impression that more Japanese scientists in recent years hope to go to China, where they believe there is better funding and more time set aside for research. “By basic principle, however, your research proposals will not pass the screening and you will not be given posts in China unless your research is novel and you have delivered results,” he said.
Nowada said that had he stayed in Japan, he would not have published as many research articles. “I hope young Japanese scientists will think of China as one optional destination on the understanding that competition is tough in the country,” he said... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS: Scientists who left Japan for better prospects elsewhere said the nation’s decision-makers could learn from China’s massive push to become a world leader in scientific research.
China has aggressively invested in research and development, poaching more and more scientists from places like Japan, where researchers face restrictive work environments and a dearth of funding.
One expert said if Japan wants to improve its international research standings and stop the brain drain of its fledgling researchers, it will have to foster work environments that allow scientists to devote themselves freely to their research.
[...] Motoharu Nowada, a 49-year-old space plasma physicist, was employed as a postdoctoral research fellow at Peking University in Beijing in 2010. His monthly take-home pay was only about 32,500 yen ($245) at the time.
Nowada said he ended up in China by chance [...] He is being paid five times what he received five years earlier, thanks partly to China’s economic growth. Although his job comes with a term that expires in 2024, Nowada said he has no regrets about his choice.
One thing that he finds strikingly different between Japanese and Chinese universities is the way people communicate within a lab.
In China, researchers form strong connections not only with supervisors but also with fellow lab mates, who respond immediately to social media messages. But at many universities in Japan, the hierarchy is much more rigid, with the professor being the king of the castle.
After spending more than a decade at Chinese universities, Nowada said he does not necessarily agree with the popular view that China’s remarkable scientific results are made because research is better funded there than it is in Japan. “I believe the environment that allows scientists to discuss anything among themselves is a major reason that China’s research capabilities improved,” he said.
Nowada said he has the impression that more Japanese scientists in recent years hope to go to China, where they believe there is better funding and more time set aside for research. “By basic principle, however, your research proposals will not pass the screening and you will not be given posts in China unless your research is novel and you have delivered results,” he said.
Nowada said that had he stayed in Japan, he would not have published as many research articles. “I hope young Japanese scientists will think of China as one optional destination on the understanding that competition is tough in the country,” he said... (MORE - missing details)