The ILAC 2006 Committee met at the Wako campus on February 27-28, 2006.
The organization of the review differed from ILAC 2004, with detailed presentations
on the organization of RIKEN being submitted by RIKEN administrators and
Chief Scientists(CS) and a selection of scientific presentations by Chief
Scientists and young scientists.
ILAC 2004 made seven general recommendations, including the maintenance
of the Institute Laboratories (ILs) in one coherent organization, maintenance
of funding level, expansion of the Research Initiative program, appointment
of more women Chief Scientists, the promotion of more interdisciplinary
research, and a recommendation for the operation of the large facilities
at Spring8 at Harima and the Cyclotron facility at Wako.
The recommendations of ILAC2004 were made in the light of the Committee's
understanding that an important and characteristic feature of RIKEN was
the IL system of laboratories headed by Chief Scientists organized into
the Chief Scientists Assembly (CSA). RIKEN Chief Scientists play a key role
in the dynamism of research activity by creating new organizations, such
as the Brain Science and Genomics Centers, and absorbing members from Centers
once project-oriented, limited-term Centers have fulfilled their missions.
We are concerned that, without continuing its vital core of ILs, RIKEN will
lose its present status as a highly creative and innovative research organization.
For ILAC2006, three items were presented to the committee as terms of reference
by Dr. Koji Kaya, Director of the Discovery Research Institute (DRI):
- Reviewing and advising on RIKEN's response to the recommendations
of ILAC2004.
- Reviewing and advising on the management of the Institute Laboratories
(ILs).
| (1) |
Overall personnel policies and organizational management of
the ILs. |
| (2) |
Effective implementation of new posts and personnel policies
(Distinguished Senior Scientist, Associate Chief Scientist, Senior
Research Scientist, fixed- term contracts, incentive bonuses),
as well as of the tenure system of employment. |
- Enhancing research activities so as to take full advantage of the
unique characteristics of ILs and the Discovery Research Institute.
| ・ |
Is enough being done to direct the diverse interests of the
ILs towards fulfilling their collective mission to create new
fields of research? And what measures might be introduced to guide
them to higher levels of achievement? |
Dr. Kaya stressed in his presentation the particular mission of ILs within
RIKEN by quoting the description of the former president Oda that, "the
ILs have amoeba-like qualities that make the most of the system's unique
characteristics to create an ever-changing kaleidoscopic array of endeavors,
to undertake the challenge of diverse research fields, forging dynamic
responses to the needs of society while also reaching out to explore unknown".
Since the terms of ILAC2006 are interrelated and also strongly related
with recommendations of ILAC2004, ILAC2006 addressed the following four
as being of prime importance:
| I. |
The maintenance of a single umbrella organization for the Institute
Laboratories. |
| II. |
Funding of Chief Scientists' laboratories to ensure continuation
of high quality research. |
| III. |
Expansion of the new Institute Research Unit. |
| IV. |
The appointment of more women scientists at RIKEN. |
We deal with each of these issues in turn in our report.
| Chief Scientists and the IL System |
|
The maintenance of a single organization for ILs was seen by ILAC
2004 as a critical step in maintaining the essential role of Chief
Scientists at RIKEN. Budgetary circumstances that require large facilities
with high operating costs in some particular areas of science may
require some organizational compartments, such as the Harima Center
and the Nishina Center. ILAC 2006 recommends that every effort
be made to keep the coherence among Chief Scientists particularly
in the selection of new Chief Scientists and other tenure appointments. |
|
| The Scope of ILAC2006 Responsibilities |
|
ILAC has the responsibility to review all RIKEN ILs. The detailed
scientific oversight of ILs at the Harima and Nishina Centers should
fall under the purview of the appropriate Advisory Committees, but
the ILAC committee has the responsibility of commenting on the operation
of the RIKEN-wide IL system, interfacing with the Chief Scientists
Assembly as well as the administrative officers of RIKEN. We strongly
support an essential and unique feature of RIKEN that Institute Laboratories
have the support and freedom to conduct curiosity-driven research. |
|
| The RIKEN Science Council |
|
A new RIKEN Science Council (RSC) has been established in
2005. The RSC has 30 members, eleven of whom are Chief Scientists,
the others researchers and directors from other branches of RIKEN.
We have not been presented with enough information to have a good
understanding of this Council, its responsibilities and sphere on
which it is asked for advice, nor how its members are chosen. Are
representatives elected to the RSC or are they appointed by the administration?
We believe that it is important that, in any new organization that
represents RIKEN, researchers should be chosen by the researchers
independently of the administration. For the best interests of
the whole of RIKEN, we recommend that Chief Scientists have a privileged
representation in the RSC, perhaps making up 50% of the RSC membership.
We make this recommendation to ensure that Chief Scientists, who are
selected to work at the frontiers of their science, continue to have
a strong voice in determining future developments in research at RIKEN. |
|
| Institute Laboratories |
|
ILAC2006 feels strongly that the IL system is what makes RIKEN unique
- it is an engine that provides a continuing source of innovation
and has had considerable success in starting new initiatives, Centers
and Institutes under RIKEN. We strongly recommend that every effort
be made to maintain the present levels of Institute Laboratories at
RIKEN - the incremental cost of maintaining their number and funding
level is small compared to the great benefits and the total budget
of RIKEN. Reducing ILs would be seen as cutting back on the major
systemic source of RIKEN's success. |
|
| Associate Chief Scientists |
|
While this was presented as a solution to budgetary problems, such
appointments could be a good way of enhancing the range of research
areas and attracting new young scientists. The value of advertising
these positions open without specifying research field is a successful
strategy as the recent appointments of four new researchers have shown.
However, there is some concern in ILAC that this establishes two classes
of Chief Scientists and that tenured appointments without promotion
to full CS may lead to problems later. We recommend that the Associate
Chief Scientist appointment be tried at some level (perhaps 5 appointments)
and that it then be reviewed for its effectiveness, after it has operated
for perhaps 3 years. We also repeat what we recommended above, that
these new appointments not be tied to a reduction in the number of
regular CS appointments. |
|
| Women Scientists at RIKEN |
|
ILAC 2006 members continue to strongly support the appointment of
more women Chief Scientists and scientists at RIKEN based on their
expertise and performance. Therefore, we urge RIKEN to make the
appointment of women scientists at all levels a very high priority. |
|
| Joint Appointments |
|
Some of the Chief Scientists at RIKEN have their primary appointment
as professor at universities. Some of these joint appointments have
been very successful, bringing excellent students to RIKEN and enriching
the teaching of the professors. On the other hand, such appointments
place a greater burden on the scientists who hold them, and they may
not work out well in all cases. Some of the most successful RIKEN
scientists have held and do hold joint appointments. ILAC2006 strongly
endorses the joint appointments, but also cautions that these be monitored
carefully so that the interests of RIKEN are not adversely affected.
|
|
| The Distinguished Chief Scientist and Super Scientist
Program |
|
The introduction of the Distinguished Chief Scientist Program at
RIKEN is a positive development to exploit the talents of Chief Scientists
who have reached retirement age. For many researchers, retirement
at age 60 may prematurely terminate a productive research career and
we support the idea that this program be continued and extended to
offer this opportunity to other Chief Scientists.
New schemes are also being proposed for mechanisms to extend the retirement
age to 65, such as the Super Scientist Program which was mentioned,
but not fully described to the Committee. ILAC2006 supports attempts
to utilize talented individuals who are past age 60 and welcomes the
development of more detailed plans in this direction. |
|
| Scientific Presentations |
|
The ILAC members were impressed by the quality and the originality
of the selected scientific presentations, and especially those that
emphasized collaborations between ILs. Innovative research is increasingly
interdisciplinary and we encourage interactions at the interface of
disciplines. We therefore favor the support of existing and future
interdisciplinary initiatives among RIKEN researchers. |
|
| Conclusion |
|
The members of ILAC continue to be impressed by the research activities
and the organizational development at RIKEN. The organization maintains
remarkable efforts to carry out cutting edge research as it evolves.
We strongly believe that ILs are largely responsible of what makes
RIKEN original among the excellent research institutions present in
the world. The changes since the last review have been impressive
and we look forward to similar progress over the next several years. |
|