University-Industry Research Cooperation

Research Cooperation

JSPS has created a great number of university-industry cooperative research committees since its establishment in 1932 as a non-profit foundation. Such committees, each focusing on a specific industrial subject, are organized at the request of academia or industry for the purposes of advancing intersectoral scientific information exchange and discussion of scientific application or technical development. JSPS supports these committees with aims at promoting their smooth operation and publishing scientific literature on their fruits. The operating expenses of these committees are paid for by membership fees from the private companies participating in them. Over the years, 180 such committees have been organized. Some of them have completed their work and been dissolved. There are currently 62 active committees.

In an effort to expand this program, in 1982 JSPS established an advisory committee, composed of members from both academia and industry. This committee serves two functions: 1) It receives and deliberates requests from academia and/or industry for organizing university-industry cooperative research committees on specific themes; and 2) it proposes new, budding fields of scientific research that have the potential to be advanced through university-industry cooperation. Research promotion committees are created upon recommendations by this advisory committee, and a committee is currently working actively in the field of high-power semiconductor device research. The activities of such committees are supported by government subsidies. 

International Symposia for University-Industry Cooperation

In 1990, JSPS set up a new program under which it provides partial financial support for international symposia on specific research topics. To be eligible, these symposia must be organized by JSPS university-industry committees, with an aim of advancing international scientific information exchange through university-industry cooperation. They must also have at least 100 participants, including no fewer than 20 foreign scientists. 

University-Industry Cooperative Research Committees