Tohoku Univ. becomes 1st selected for new Japan gov’t research grants

TOKYO (Kyodo) — Tohoku University on Friday became the first institution formally designated to receive substantial research grants from a 10 trillion yen ($65 billion) fund, part of a new government program aimed at raising the global rankings of Japanese universities.

Of the 10 universities that applied, including Japan’s top two, the university in the northeastern city of Sendai was the only candidate selected in August last year to receive the grants, which will be disbursed over a period of up to 25 years.

After completing the required procedures, Tohoku University is expected to receive hundreds of billions of yen from fiscal 2025 starting April.

The government plans to open a second round of applications within the current fiscal year to select a few more universities. Several institutions have already expressed their interest in applying.

Tohoku University placed 130th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024, with the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University ranking 29th and 55th, respectively.

While all three were short-listed last year for the grants, the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University were not chosen as final candidates as they did not demonstrate sufficient efforts to reform their research organizations and management systems, according to the education ministry.

Tohoku University has set six targets, including organizational reforms to promote internationalization and the creation of a dynamic research environment, outlining 19 strategies to achieve them.

The goals include shifting from a traditional professor-led class structure to one in which researchers form independent teams for ambitious projects, boosting revenue from collaborative research with private firms by about tenfold, and increasing the proportion of international students on campus.

Under a revised law on national university corporations enacted in October, Tohoku University has established a council that includes external experts to oversee its budget and management policies.

The ministry will review the progress of the university’s proposed plans annually, with government expert panels also conducting periodic evaluations.