Support for doctoral students About 2.9 million yen per person per year

In order to expand financial support for students aiming for a PhD, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has decided to start an initiative to provide about 2.9 million yen per person per year.

It means that it will be an unprecedented scale of financial support for doctoral programs.

There are more than 70,000 doctoral students nationwide, and it is said that they support science and technology nations, but the number of scholarships is smaller than in Europe and the United States, and the influence of the new corona also hinders research activities. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has allocated 20 billion yen to the third supplementary budget for this year in order to expand financial support.

Among these, a total of about 7,000 students will be selected, and the university to which they belong will provide up to 2.9 million yen per person per year for research and living expenses.

The target students are graduate students who engage in challenging research with free ideas, and detailed application conditions will be examined in the future.

With the scale of financial support for doctoral programs being unprecedented, the national government wants to raise its research capabilities through a series of initiatives.

A sense of crisis about international research capabilities in the background

There is a sense of crisis about Japan's international research capabilities behind the fact that the country first launched large-scale financial support for doctoral students.

The number of papers published in the field of natural sciences in the world is about 300,000 in China and 280,000 in the United States on average for three years until the end of the year. On the other hand, Japan, which was once in second place, was in fourth place with more than 64,000 bottles.

Japan ranked 9th in the top 10% of papers with the most citations.

According to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, about 20% of Japanese dissertations are doctoral students, but the number of students who go from master's to doctoral programs has continued to decrease after peaking in 2003, and has decreased by 40% by last year. I am.

The number of doctoral degree holders per million people in Japan has decreased from 131 to 119 in the 10 years until 2017, and while the number of countries is increasing, less than one-third of the United Kingdom, the United States, It has fallen to less than half the level of Germany and South Korea.

In Europe and the United States, many countries provide scholarships and compensation for research to doctoral students who are engaged in research, but Japanese doctoral students earn more than 1.8 million yen per year, which is equivalent to living expenses. Only 10%, more than half 55% are “unpaid”.

Against the backdrop of difficult economic conditions and uncertainties in careers after obtaining a doctoral degree, “leaving researchers” and “leaving doctoral degrees” have become issues, and Nobel laureates have also called for stronger measures.

Abandon research in harsh environment

Some people are enrolled in a doctoral program but give up on their research in a harsh environment.

A man in his thirties who is enrolled in a doctoral program at a local national university got a job at a manufacturer after graduating from graduate school, but retired because he wanted to do research to prevent pollution damage, and he was involved in environmental pollution in the doctoral program. I have been involved in research.

When I was a student, I heard a story directly from a victim of pollution, and I was impressed by the words, "Why do I have to feel so painful?" I wanted to use my research for people's health and the environment. "

However, life in the doctoral program was harder than I had imagined.

I aimed to get a subsidy from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, which can receive 200,000 yen a month, but I couldn't get the research results and plans that passed the selection because of the narrow gate of 1 in 5 people.

In my laboratory life, I can't afford to work part-time for experiments and writing papers at midnight, and I can only get about 30,000 yen a month with the help of a professor's lecture, so I have to rely on remittance from my parents. It is said that.

We are cutting down on food expenses, such as hoarding ingredients that are on sale at a bargain price and storing them in the freezer, but there are times when the income from helping with lectures has disappeared due to the corona virus, and there is constant anxiety about the future.

The man said, "When my friend asked me what I was doing, I said that I was living like half a student and half a working person. The doctoral program was not paid and was not recognized by society. It was hard for me to explain only that. I want to get married in my thirties, but I'm worried whether I can save enough money. "

Still, he continued his research steadily, and finally the treatise was published in a scientific journal, but the man gave up on his career as a researcher and decided to return to his hometown and become an office worker next year.

The man said, "I regret that if I worked without getting a PhD, I could save money and live a comfortable life. I think that if the environment is in place, I can continue my research with peace of mind. However, considering the low salary of the researchers and the inability to find the next post, I decided to quit. At present, I have to give up. "

Young bureaucrats set up a forum for discussion

While supporting young researchers is an urgent issue, young bureaucrats who have experienced a harsh research environment at graduate schools have set up a group to listen to the voices of active students and have begun discussions. ..

The group was launched in October by young bureaucrats in their 20s and 30s from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and when they called on active university and graduate students on SNS, more than 1000 people from all over the country have already joined the mailing list. Say you are.

Last week, an online workshop was held, and 32 people, including the participating students, talked about their position and discussed.

Students studying in the field of neuroscience said, "Many students have given up on their doctoral research due to improper faculty research guidance. Think seriously about their career paths and treatment. "There are few faculty members who can give me", and students studying in the field of organic chemistry said, "People who want to continue their research will not go on to the doctoral course."

In the discussion, in addition to the problems of lack of financial support and lack of employment, which are already pillars of policy, many environmental issues such as human relations and teaching methods in the laboratory were pointed out.

Mr. Sotaro Ikeda (29) of the Basic Research Promotion Division of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, who was the organizer, said, "I went to the doctoral course myself, but I dropped out on the way. There are various circumstances surrounding the students, but I liked research and went on to school. Since they are common, I want to listen carefully to the voices of students and become a bridge with the government. "

In addition, Yu Endo (27) of the Higher Education Planning Division said, "First of all, I would like to listen to the voices of young researchers and think about the support that they really should do. So that I can freely do my favorite research and give it back to society. It is necessary to make use of it in various policies. "

Experts also feel a sense of crisis "Japanese researchers will not be born in Japan"

Sanyo Onoda City Yamaguchi Assistant Professor Atsushi Onoda of Tokyo University of Science says that many sad voices such as "I can't see the future" are received while consulting with doctoral students on SNS.

Compared to Europe and the United States, Mr. Onoda said, "In many cases overseas, doctoral programs are treated as researchers rather than students, and most of them receive compensation for research, but in Japan, people who can live on money. However, about 10% of the total, students have two concerns about living expenses and whether they will have a job in the future. There are an increasing number of people who are aiming to become researchers going abroad, but at some point , Japanese researchers will no longer be born in Japan, their research ability will decline, and society as a whole will stagnate. "

On top of that, regarding the government's financial support this time, "It is a big loss to be unable to concentrate on research while having anxiety about life. In order to produce excellent research results with more impact, such an environment After evaluating that "maintenance is the best", "in society, it is easy to recognize that research including the doctoral process is done by individuals, but it is a bud of industry and culture, and depending on the field, even the doctoral course is international. There are many studies that are recognized as being accepted. If a system is in place for doctoral students to obtain independent research funds, it may lead to growth. ”He said that it is necessary to improve the research environment.