Tokyo

Moves are afoot to merge several of Japan's leading government laboratories into a single structure somewhat similar to Germany's Max Planck Society.

Advocates of the merger say that it would provide a focal point for top-quality research, and would aid collaboration between laboratories specializing in different disciplines. But critics are already preparing to resist the plan, which will surface later this month in a discussion paper to be published by the education ministry.

The High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) may merge with other labs. Credit: KEK

The plan would bring together some 14 government-run research institutes, including the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) in Tsukuba, north of Tokyo, the National Institute of Genetics in Mishima, south of the capital, and the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka.

Proponents of the reform in the education ministry are hoping to build a structure that could allow quick entry into new fields of research, close down outdated research facilities, rationalize administration and incorporate a more systematic approach to intellectual property (see page 354). They say that the new structure would give the laboratories a stronger footing to survive the Japanese government's continuing efforts to streamline all of its activities.

But the proposal is getting mixed reviews. Yoshiki Hotta, director of the National Institute of Genetics, points out that the merged group would still not be strong enough to be a central core for Japanese scientific research unless other major research institutes, such as the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), were included. “If it could give scientists more of a voice in the government, it would be good,” says Hotta, “but it's not clear that that will happen.”

Other institute heads say they fear that the merger would force them into negotiating their research programmes with other, unrelated institutes, instead of directly with the education ministry, as happens at present. “These institutes have such different purposes,” observes KEK's director, Hirotaka Sugawara. “How can they have a consistent organization that functions as one?”

But Hideo Mohri, president of Okazaki National Research Institutes (ONRI) in Aichi, another institute included in the plan, is enthusiastic. When the ONRI was formed from three institutes, they each retained autonomy, he says. “A merger is not a bad direction to go in,” Mohri says.

Most agree that a merger could create opportunities to share resources. KEK's X-ray facility could prove useful, for example, to archaeologists at the National Museum of Japanese History who want to identify artefacts, says Sugawara.

“It could work, but many things still need to be ironed out,” says Hotta. Details about how to split the financial resources between institutes with budgets of widely varying sizes are still under discussion.

If it is approved by the education ministry and the Council for Science and Technology Policy, the reform plan could be implemented by 2004, government officials say.