Established in April 2020, the Research Development Section consists of URAs who provide support in various areas of the research cycle, including strategy, planning, communications, funds acquisition, and institutional analysis. Here we highlight some of the topics undertaken by these URAs in FY2020.
Understanding social trends, megatrends, technology roadmaps, etc., focusing on University priorities and strategic research fields, and conducting research analysis to support research strategy planning such as the formulation of research portfolios.
As macro research analysis for University research strategies, the Tokyo Tech URA is working, in parallel, to understand which research fields will be important in the future as the demands of society using a marketing intelligence (MI) approach, as well as to visualize the research capabilities of the University through a research IR approach.
Regarding the MI approach, science and technologies that will be important in the future are identified, focusing on megatrends and technology roadmaps for each research priority and strategic field of the University. This fiscal year, a survey was conducted focusing on the SSI (Sustainable Social Infrastructure) field. We are compiling a report of our surveys that targets industries in a wide range of fields including smart cities and nature conservation, and the latest green innovations.
Over the last few years, surveys have been conducted in each field. This is not a simple collection of articles. These are edited so that it is possible to systematically grasp elemental technologies and research trends. In combination with top-view maps of researchers, these are linked to support the formulation of research strategy plans and promote utilization within the university.
Hajime Nitta, Motoko Inoue
Macro research analysis for research strategies
Providing visualization of research capabilities that contribute to the examination of new research centers or frameworks.
When examining new research centers or frameworks, information such as which faculty members are working on what research, organized by category, is helpful for starting discussions.
This fiscal year, research capabilities related to information, energy, and CPS2 have been visualized. Visualization to make the Research Map and Emerging Research Profiles of the research pamphlet have also been conducted.
Supporting new projects by visualizing the research capabilities of the University.
Manami Matsubayashi, Tomoko Konishi
TOKYO TECH RESEARCH MAP 2021 - 2022
Providing a meeting place for supporting research exchange beyond the boundaries of fields and establishing interdisciplinary research.
The University-wide Tokyo Tech Research Festival (TTRF) event where researchers from various fields present their research and are able to interact with each other is held every other year. In FY2020, this event was held completely online over a period of three days with 13 presentations being made. This year, the first day was a special day for research related to COVID-19, and there were lively discussions among researchers interested in this issue. After the presentations, an online voting and a formal recognition ceremony were held. At the social gathering afterwards, there were virtual interactions using avatars. The aim was to establish a new type of event that allows interdisciplinary exchange even during this pandemic.
Over the past three years, more than 10 collaborative research projects were formed through interdisciplinary research events in the University. Some research teams have already acquired university internal funds (Interdisciplinary Research Support for Scientists), received external funds, and announced academic achievements. It is also expected that tenure will be acquired and that exchange among students will be promoted.
Motoko Inoue, Manami Matsubayashi, Shigetoshi Sugio, Machiko Nakatogawa, Hajime Nitta
Tokyo Tech Research Festival 2020
Providing a wide range of support, from early-career to large-scale project categories, for researchers seeking to obtain KAKENHI funding.
In collaboration with the Research Fund Support Division, Tokyo Tech URAs provide various support for obtaining KAKENHI. This year, we held seminars on the target categories of Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists, Scientific Research (A) / (B), and Transformative Research Areas (A). They were held online for the first time, and in addition to the seminar materials, video presentations were posted on the Office of Research and Innovation website. Interview practices were also held online this year, providing an environment as similar as possible to that of actual KAKENHI interviews.
In questionnaires after the writing seminars and peer review, every year most respond that they were glad they participated and that the programs were helpful towards their application preparation.
Tomoko Konishi, Manami Matsubayashi, Charles DaSalla
Support system for KAKENHI
Providing consistent support items from the selection of PRESTO areas up to interview practice so that as many young researchers as possible can be adopted.
Instead of the "PRESTO Seminar," which was a meeting-style briefing at the University, in FY2020, we created a "Cheat sheet" with tips based on records from past briefings and made it available to whoever wants. Practice interviews were held online to simulate actual interviews.
Discourses by many teachers whose projects have been adopted show that the point of PRESTO selection is not limited to past research achievements, knowledge, and experience. We are trying to provide accumulated know-how by linking PRESTO applicants with those who have experience.
Haruo Naruke, Motoko Inoue, Tomoko Konishi, Yoshikazu Kobayashi, Shigetoshi Sugio
To help Tokyo Tech researchers increase the visibility of their research through workshops on global dissemination.
"How do I get accepted?" is a question that all researchers face. To help with solving this question, Tokyo Tech URAs organize workshops on academic writing and presentation. In FY2020, we invited experts in research publication from organizations such as Springer Nature to hold an Authorship Webinar and an Academic Presentations Online Workshop. Over 400 researchers and students registered for the events.
With society facing the COVID-19 pandemic, dissemination of research has become even more crucial.
Charles DaSalla, Tomoko Konishi
Introducing a list of research topics related to COVID-19 and the ‘New Normal’ being conducted at Tokyo Tech
This Research Map is published on a website. We categorized research topics in a way that allows anyone to understand by clarifying connections with social contributions. When the page opens, a number of social issues that need to be overcome are first presented. When each social issue is selected, it moves to the next level and displays an approach for resolving it. At the final level, details on each research topic at Tokyo Tech corresponding to the approach are provided.
With the intuitive online operation, you can see a list of research topics related to COVID-19 and the ‘New Normal’ being conducted at Tokyo Tech. Our aim is to express science and technology in a way that is accurate, easy to understand, and attractive.
Emiko Kawaguchi, Tomoko Konishi, Haruo Naruke, Kazuhide Hasegawa, Charles DaSalla, Motoko Inoue, Manami Matsubayashi, Hajime Nitta
New Normal Research Map
The purpose of the pamphlet is to promote industry liaison and help the general public recognize Tokyo Tech’s research capabilities.
The research pamphlet, "Tokyo Tech Research," was first issued in 2017 and is revised every two years. In this revision, "Emerging Researcher Profiles" introducing researchers who will lead the next generation was newly added based on requests made by many companies. A total of 89 researchers are listed. Together with the "Research Map" that introduces representative researchers from the University, the aim is to create a pamphlet that introduces researchers. The school pages have also been revised to give a more unified appearance.
"Emerging Researcher Profiles" gives an overview of research, making it easy to recognize the essence of the research contents by each researcher.
Kazuhide Hasegawa, Manami Matsubayashi
Publications | Overview | About Tokyo Tech
Publications | Tokyo Institute of Technology Office of Research and Innovation
Emerging Researcher Profiles
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