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Nature 394, 308 (23 July 1998) | doi:10.1038/28462

Plan for government researchers in Japan to work in industry

Asako Saegusa

Japan's Science and Technology Agency (STA) has asked the government to reduce restrictions on scientists who work at national research institutes as part of its efforts to create a more flexible, open and competitive research environment.The request, submitted last week to the government's personnel office, asks for 'research bureaucrats' — as researchers at national institutes are called — to be given more freedom to work in different sectors, such as industry and the academic community.