Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > JAPANESE GOVERNMENT POLICIES IN EDUCATION,SCIENCE AND CULTURE1991 > Part 4

Part Promotion of Scientific Research

Scientific research is an intellectual activity of a universal nature searching for truth and its results should be shared as the common intellectual property of humankind. The promotion of international scientific exchange is one or the intrinsic purposes of scientific research, and Japan has been strongly requested, especially in recent years, to make international contributions in accordance with its elevated research level and its high position in the international society.

Today, research subjects, such as the global environment which needs to be solved jointly by the whole world, and research fields, like high energy physics and space science, which need large-scale facilities that are impossible for any single nation to supply, are both increasing.

If Japan is to further promote international scientific exchange and cooperation under these circumstances, and thereby contribute toward the scientific development of the world. Japanese researchers should exhibit their initiative and originality in a true sense. For this purpose, the Government should support domestic and international exchange of researchers and international cooperative research. Especially, the exchange of talented and intellectually versatile young researchers should be expanded. The Government should also make efforts to improve research conditions and the research level, for example, through the establishment of international centers of excellence, and to provide research environments which are more attractive, even to foreign researchers.