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Part Promotion of Scientific Research

Scientific research is aimed at the search for scientific facts based on the conceptual imagination of researchers, and its subjects are diverse and wide-ranging. The general situation of scientific research today is characterized by: there remarkable specialization and differentiation of research fields; the exact and advanced methodology; and the continuous cultivation of new frontiers at the spearhead of specialized sciences. Thus, scientific research undergoes a continuous process of change. On the other hand, the greater the specialization of science, the greater becomes the importance of inter- and multi-disciplinary research for the solution of complicated phenomena. Therefore, close cooperation among different fields and the integration of research activities should be promoted. It is very difficult to precisely grasp the whole range of scientific research, which is so rapidly developing.

However, in order to draw up policies for the promotion of scientific research, it is necessary to understand it in its totality and to identify important research fields to be promoted on a priority basis. For this purpose, while consideration should be given to varied social demands for scientific research, efforts should be made to accurately understand the trends of research in specific scientific fields, in terms of the current situation, future directions, issues to be tackled, and the areas and subjects which are important for the development of research in the fields concerned.

At the same time, the understanding of such research trends will provide individual researchers or groups of researchers with useful guides for deciding the direction in which to proceed with their research, because it will make clear the positioning and significance of their research in their specific fields and help them deepen their understanding of overall research trends in fields relevant to their research.

This section thus tries to sketch research activities in Japan in certain scientific fields, in view of the fact that the policies for the promotion of science should be drawn up in light of research trends. It is of course very difficult to discuss all the branches of specific fields in this limited space, and unfortunately, some important fields might be overlooked.