Part3 Measures Adopted for Promotion of Science and Technology
3.2 Priority Strategies for Science and Technology
3.2.1 Promotion of Basic Research
Basic research builds on the free thinking of researchers to
discover new natural laws and principles,to build original theories,and to predict
and discover unknown phenomena,thereby contributing to the expansion of humankind's
intellectual assets and bringing about break-throughs in research results of
the highest standards in the world,and in innovative new technologies that support
the economy.While the results of basic research do not always lead immediately
to practical applications,they rather accumulate as the common property of all
humankind,and they should therefore be widely,steadily,and continuously promoted.
In promoting basic research,attention must be given to the fact
that such research depends more on the capabilities of individuals than on those
of groups.It is therefore necessary to support individual researchers so that
they are able to achieve highly creative research through unrestricted thinking.There
is also a need to promote crosssectoral research whereby researchers from different
areas of expertise step outside their respective areas for exchanges and,in the
process,come up with new ideas.To this end,while keeping in mind global research
trends and conditions in Japan,research is being actively promoted in areas that
require organized and international promotion,and in areas that require large-scale
facilities and equipment for expansion of the frontiers of knowledge.In addition,the
universities,which play a core role in the scientific research that contributes
to the development of culture and the building of civilization,are comprehensively
developing both research activities and education activities as integral parts
of their entire systems.
