【October 8th@Yamauchi Hall, 2F, Shirankaikan】Diversity and Sustainability: Challenges for Responsible Research Assessment and University Reform

2024.09.13 Events/Seminars

Jointly organised by KURA and L-INSIGHT

Program

9:30-9:35	Opening
9:35-9:45	Explanation of the purpose of the conference Kazuhiro Iwai [Provost, Kyoto University]
9:45-10:30	Lecture James Wilsdon [Professor (Research Policy), Department of Science, Technology, Engineering & Public Policy (STEaPP), University College London, and Executive Director of the Research on Research Institute (RoRI) ] *Presentation Slides
10:30-10:45	Comments Susumu Kitagawa
11:00-11:50	Panel discussion and Q&A Main speaker James Wilsdon [Professor (Research Policy), Department of Science, Technology, Engineering & Public Policy (STEaPP), University College London, and Executive Director of the Research on Research Institute (RoRI) ] Panelist Fuyuki Ishikawa [Director, Kyoto University Research Administration Center (KURA), Program Manager, Program for the Development of Next-generation Leading Scientists with Global Insight (L-INSIGHT), and Vice President for Academic Research Support, Kyoto University] Shiho Fujiwara [Director, Research and Development Strategy Division, Science and Technology Policy Bureau, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)] Keisei Sowa [Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Agriculture Sciences] Moderator Asa Nakano [Program-Specific Associate Professor, the Center for Enhancing Next-Generation Research, Kyoto University]
11:50-12:00	Closing

Registration
https://forms.gle/Timxn7W7g7wA1oAo6
Registration deadline: Friday 4 October 2024
* May close earlier if there are too many registrations.

Introduction

This seminar will review the current state of research assessment and ‘evidence-based’ analysis at universities and explore how their reforms can contribute to academic advancement. Currently, research assessment and ‘evidence-based’ analysis based on bibliometrics are considered effective tools for university management. At the same time, this is said to be hindering research diversity and contributing to prevent long-term academic advancement. What kind of system is needed to appropriately value and nurture the creativity and sustained scholarly contribution of researchers? This seminar invites Prof. James Wilsdon, an advocate of ‘responsible research assessment’, a comprehensive review of traditional research assessment practices, to reflect on how the concept was born and to explore the path to building a sustainable environment that enables researchers to engage in long-term or innovative research and supports diverse intellectual endeavours.

What are the limitations of traditional research metrics such as impact factor, h-index and citation counts? What long-term effects can they have on the advancement of science and knowledge and on the state of society?
How do current research evaluation practices affect the equity and inclusiveness of the research community?
Is it the research output of individual researchers that should be measured for the management of universities? How should university mission achievement be measured?
What are the challenges and barriers to implementing responsible research evaluation? How can these challenges and barriers be overcome at university and departmental level?

*This seminar is an open seminar organised jointly with the KURA and the L-INSIGHT programme.

Information

Date	Tuesday, 8 October, 9:30am-12:00pm
Place	Yamauchi Hall, 2F, Shirankaikan Kaikan, Kyoto University (on-site only) 11 Yoshida Ushinomiya-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8303, Japan
Eligibility	Any member of universities
Capacity	80
Language	Japanese and English (Simultaneous interpretation will be provided)
Fee	Free
Registration	https://forms.gle/Timxn7W7g7wA1oAo6

Profiles

Main speaker

James Wilsdon

Professor (Research Policy), Department of Science, Technology, Engineering & Public Policy (STEaPP), University College London, and Executive Director of the Research on Research Institute (RoRI). In 2014, he was invited to chair an independent UK government review, published as The Metric Tide (2015), which critically examined the introduction of metrics into the UK’s research assessment system REF with a diverse range of university stakeholders. Subsequently in 2022, he co-authored Harnessing the Metric Tide, deepening the debate on required reforms towards REF 2029. He has been instrumental in promoting responsible research assessment (RRA) and especially at RoRI, working on transforming research systems, cultures and decision-making.

Commentator

Susumu Kitagawa

Executive Vice-President for Research Promotion, Kyoto University.
Dr. Kitagawa, obtained Ph.D. degree at Kyoto University, is now Distinguished Professor at KUIAS and iCeMS and assumed the current position as Executive Vice-President in 2024. Kitagawa pioneered the Chemistry of porous coordination polymers (PCPs) and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), predicting their flexible framework, and developing applications in gas storage, separation, and conversion. He coined the term “soft porous crystals” (SPC), catalyzing a field now integral to materials chemistry. Kitagawa envisions a future where porous materials drive advancements across environmental, energy, resource, and health sectors, labeling the 21st century the “age of gas.” His contributions have garnered numerous accolades, including awards from the Chemical Society of Japan, The Medal with Purple Ribbon from the Japanese Government (2011), the Japan Academy Award (2016), and Chemistry for the Future Solvay Prize (2017). Kitagawa’s impact extends through memberships in the Japan Academy, Foreign Member of Royal Society, and significant recognition as a highly cited researcher (2014 – 2022).

Panelist

Fuyuki Ishikawa

Director, Kyoto University Research Administration Center (KURA), Program Manager, Program for the Development of Next-generation Leading Scientists with Global Insight (L-INSIGHT), and Vice President for Academic Research Support, Kyoto University. M.D., Ph.D. in Medicine, The University of Tokyo. After serving as Research Associate at Carcinogenesis Division, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Research Assistant at The University of Tokyo Hospital, Post-doctoral Fellow at Thomas R. Cech Laboratory, University of Colorado at Boulder, Associate Professor and later Professor at Department of Life Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Professor at Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, took the current posts.

Shiho Fujiwara

Director, Research and Development Strategy Division, Science and Technology Policy Bureau, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). She joined the Science and Technology Agency (now MEXT) after completing her Master’s degree in Science at Tohoku University in 2000. She was involved in the implementation of science and technology policies such as space development policy, life science policy, nuclear policy and science and technology human resource development. She was also involved in education-related policies, such as the revision of the Courses of Study for science and mathematics in the Elementary and Secondary Education Bureau and the development of facilities for national university corporations in the Education Facilities Planning and Disaster Prevention Department. She also worked in various capacities at national universities, including research support and international cooperation, and as a science and technology attaché at the Embassy of Japan in Canada, before being appointed to her current position in July 2024.

Keisei Sowa

Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Agriculture Sciences. Dr. Sowa graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture at Kyoto University in 2012 and obtained a PhD from the Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Kyoto University in 2017. After working as a researcher in private companies, he assumed the current position in 2021. Additionally, he has been an L-INSIGHT Fellow at Kyoto University since 2022. His research aims to elucidate the fundamental principles underlying the essential functions of living organisms (respiration, metabolism and photosynthesis) from a bioelectrochemical perspective, and to contribute to society through the development of biomimetic technology. In 2024, the European-based Bioelectrochemical Society (BES) bestowed him with the Young Researcher Prize of BES 2024, which is awarded to one researcher every other year. He has also been the recipient of several other awards, including the outside front cover of ChemCommun in 2022, the supplementary cover art (2 papers) of ACS Catalysis in 2023, and the encouragement award of the Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry in 2024.

Moderator

Asa Nakano

Asa Nakano is the Associate Professor (Program-Specific) at the Center for Enhancing Next-Generation Research, Kyoto University. She is in charge of designing and creating Center’s researcher development programs (MEXT-subsidised Program for the Development of Next-generation Leading Scientists with Global Insight, L-INSIGHT), and conducting surveys through networking with policy makers and government officials particularly in EU countries. Prior to joining Kyoto University, she was selected as an emerging artist by the Agency for Cultural Affairs and worked as a first-class architect in Spain. She designed national architectural projects, and also worked as a coordinator for international projects between Japan and Spain.