But leaders in the region have not been content to live on bygone glories. The past five years have been marked by generous initiatives to build and invigorate academic research. The changes, in combination with university reforms, are meant to make Japanese academic research younger, more dynamic, flexible and industry-friendly. Research leaders are looking to foreign scientists and industry to help them to achieve those ends.
Institutions in western Japan are spearheading these initiatives. A research community is taking shape in the region, where young scientists can find well-funded, independent positions that do not exist elsewhere — although this is an ongoing process. Two years ago, Kyoto University's medical school received a rap on the knuckles in one of the education ministry's first external reviews. Although it was credited with having world-leading researchers, it was criticized for having few independent leaders under 40 years old. Since then, a grant from the education ministry has helped the school add 22 group leaders, with an average age of 35, to a staff of 66 principal investigators as part of a five-year trial project that aims to switch the emphasis away from seniority and hierarchy.
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