Youngsuk Chi, Chairman of Elsevier, one of the world's three major academic publishers, visited Japan to conclude an agreement with the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. The Science News asked him about his perspective on Japan's current situation from a leadership viewpoint.
Born in the United States in 1961. Graduated from Princeton University and earned an MBA from Columbia Business School. After working at banks and publishing companies, he became Vice President of Elsevier in 2005 and assumed his current position in 2011. He recently served as President of the Association of American Publishers and as President of the International Publishers Association for four years. He also serves on the boards of numerous charitable organizations, educational institutions, and industry bodies including Princeton University, South Federal State University, the Korean American Community Foundation, and McCarter Theatre.
International collaboration is insufficient
—— The decline in research capabilities has been a major topic of discussion in Japan. How do you view Japan's current situation?
I believe Japan's research capabilities are at the world's highest level. And this has remained unchanged for at least 75 years. Research capabilities encompass fundamental science, practical science, and applications. While other countries may be strong or weak in one area or another, Japan's strength lies in being top-class in all three areas.
Regarding the discussion about declining relative research capabilities, I think there may be too much focus on other countries rapidly advancing in one area or another, rather than all three, leading to an overestimation of Japan's decline. The fact that Japan is strong in all areas is truly remarkable.
One thing that cannot be changed is that economic scale needs to be considered. When China achieved tremendous economic growth and decided to focus on research, the volume of research also became very large. However, this doesn't mean Japanese research isn't improving, and I absolutely believe Japanese research will continue to get better.
For example, much of Japan's research is conducted among domestic researchers. While it's wonderful to find many partners domestically, I believe better results can be achieved through international collaboration. As has been said before, it's certainly true that high-impact research is often conducted through international cooperation.
While I believe research partners can be found within Japan, the best partners for specific research might be in other countries, so I think we should not stop pursuing the best. Unfortunately, looking at Japan's recent situation, I feel that international collaboration may not be sufficient.
I also hear that Japanese researchers don't receive sufficient government research funding and lack adequate research facilities. In this sense too, I hope they will look outward. I believe it's important to maintain an attitude of overcoming difficulties even when they arise.
"I dislike rankings"
—— There's much attention on world university rankings and such.
I really hate rankings. What's important is assessment. Take soccer as an example—no one remembers how many shots or corner kicks there were in a single match. What everyone remembers is the final score. In other words, the score becomes the assessment. But what about annual rankings? Can you say the first-place team is better than the second-place team? That's not necessarily the case.
University rankings are the same. MIT and Princeton University are at the top, but can you say they're better than other universities? That's not the case. Each university has different goals, and if you look at aspects like what kind of contributions they make to society, for example, you'll see different results. What's important is viewing things from multiple perspectives.
The multifaceted value of universities
—— Please comment on the significance of Fourth Generation Universities (4GU)
If universities cannot communicate with society and lose citizen support, their importance will decline. This sense of crisis is spreading in Europe as well.
Generally speaking, universities are focused on education and research, but they actually engage in various activities. They have economic impact and are involved in policy matters. Through 4GU initiatives, we can express the value of universities from multiple angles. By making it possible to view this relatively across countries, I think we can demonstrate the importance of universities in society on an evidence-based foundation. As a member of the research community, Elsevier also wants to contribute to this.
This article has been translated by JST with permission from The Science News Ltd. (https://sci-news.co.jp/). Unauthorized reproduction of the article and photographs is prohibited.