OIST is pleased to announce that its proposal has been selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s (MEXT) “Program for Promoting the Enhancement of Research Universities with a Regional Core and Distinctive Characteristics.”
The MEXT program aims to create a powerhouse of Japanese research universities, each leveraging its unique strengths to elevate national research prowess. By improving their research environments, it boosts both regional core universities as well as universities with strengths in specific research fields. Under a management strategy that focuses on each university’s strengths and distinctive research capabilities, the program will not only speed up international research collaboration but also ensure practical application of findings. Working alongside the Japan University Fund's 'Universities of International Research Excellence' initiative, it's a coordinated effort to advance Japan's overall research capabilities.
*For more details, please see the following website. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology website: https://www.jsps.go.jp/j-chukaku/
The “OIST-neXus” Strategy will comprehensively promote strategic industry-academia collaboration with a wide variety of industry-academia-government-finance partners in the Okinawa region and beyond to strengthen research excellence, internationality, and interdisciplinarity, and to create innovations that contribute to solving global and regional challenges. In addition, by becoming a bridge between Japan and the world, OIST will contribute to the internationalization and advancement of researchers and human development at universities in Japan and promote initiatives to play a role as part of research universities that will drive the strengthening of Japan's research capabilities. To promote this project effectively, we will also take advantage of new facilities currently under construction, such as two open innovation facilities funded by “Project for Establishment of Facilities for Regional and Specialist Research Universities”, and the two incubator facilities subsidized by the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
In response to the selection, OIST President and CEO Karin Markides said, "We are very pleased that OIST has been selected for MEXT’s Program for Promoting the Enhancement of Research Universities with a Regional Core and Distinctive Characteristics. This project aims to maximize the potential of OIST in the new OIST strategy 2024–2029, with an outlook to 2034. It includes important developmental aspects that will be embedded in the yearly strategic prioritized process starting in FY2024. With this project, we will further enhance our research excellence to reach our mission goals, and develop as a role model for a 21st-Century university — one that will lead societal transformation through innovation. We are excited that this project includes collaboration with Keio University and the University of the Ryukyu, as well as with many industry-academia-government-finance organizations in Okinawa, Japan, and the world.”
The details of the planned projects will be announced in due course.
