Japanese cabinet make decision on supplementary budget draft

At an extraordinary Cabinet meeting on November 26, the government approved a supplementary budget for FY2021. The supplementary budget draft of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) is 1 trillion 548.7 billion yen, of which more than 1 trillion yen is for science and technology-related measures. For vaccine development, MEXT and the Cabinet Office will establish a fund totaling 251.9 billion yen for AMED in support of research and development. 11 billion yen was incorporated into the newly established Grants‐in‐Aid for Scientific Research for internationally leading research.

The Internationally leading research funds are a measure to strengthening the international network of top-level researchers in Japan, so that postdocs and doctoral graduates can build their networks and advance their careers as excellent researchers. It can also support international joint research and the long-term overseas dispatch and independence of postdocs and doctoral graduates at 500 million yen per project. Open recruitment will begin after the supplementary budget is established in January. In support of young students, 40 billion yen was included to support students in doctoral programs. To cover RA (research assistant) expenses and the like for next-generation researcher programs and emergent research support projects, 20 billion yen will be incorporated into the JST fund for 2 years from the next fiscal year.

68 billion yen was allocated for the MoonShot Research and Development system. New projects will be launched within existing programs (Targets 1, 2, 3, and 6) and expansions of existing projects are planned. Open recruitment of Project Managers will be carried out after the budget is established.

For other ministries and agencies, 5 billion yen was included for AMED, 4 billion yen for NEDO, and 3 billion yen for the Agricultural Research Institute. 611.1 billion yen will be allotted to the world-class research university fund, in addition to which 4.9 trillion yen will be requested for fiscal investment and loan programs (FILPs). Already approved FILP funds of 4 trillion yen will be transferred at the end of the fiscal year, so that JST management may start from the next fiscal year. If 4.9 trillion yen is approved by the FILP Subcommittee in December, the management of 10 trillion yen will begin at the end of the next fiscal year.

9.1 billion yen was allotted to build a DX (digital transformation) platform with data from use cases. 3.6 billion yen will go to developing research equipment that can share data in advanced materials research infrastructure. 1 billion yen will go toward more sophisticated servers handling output data of SPring-8 (on the scale of a petabyte in 2-3 weeks).

For NIMS, 2.6 billion yen will go toward developing AI analysis software and 570 million yen to green materials research and development. 320 million yen will go toward AI development for data analysis between different platforms at RIKEN AIP. 1 billion yen will go to RIKEN for the automation and remote operation of experiments. 5 billion yen was allocated to support university startups.

To strengthen the entrepreneurial function of universities participating in the startup ecosystem consortium (four global bases and four promotional bases) selected by the three ministries of the Cabinet Office, MEXT, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), 2.5 billion yen will be invested in supporting the establishment and operation of gap fund programs, the holding of demonstration days, and the development of activity spaces (computers for machine learning, remote control-compatible 3D printers, online environments, etc.). An additional 2.5 billion yen will be invested in an equity-based new business creation support program (SUCCESS), in which JST makes a financial contribution to university startups based on JST research results. The Cabinet Office has also allocated 1.5 billion yen to support hub cities.

68.6 billion yen will go to the study of space. A total of 26.2 billion yen will go to SLIM, the Gateway, Mars MMX, etc., in the Artemis Program. 42.5 billion yen was allocated for satellites such as ALOS-4, GOSAT-GW, and ETS-9, as well as the upgrading of the H3 and Epsilon rockets. In addition, 9.8 billion yen will be allocated for the construction of research vessels in the Arctic region and the construction of a high-precision, real-time system for observing fluctuations in the seafloor crust.

9.8 billion yen was included for research and development that led to the miniaturization of engine technologies and reactors indispensable to nuclear fusion power generation. 3 billion yen was included to create a core hub for consolidating all of Japan's academic expertise in areas that will enhance its competitiveness in developing next-generation X-NIC integrated semiconductors with properties of logic and memory. In the nuclear power business, 8.2 billion yen was allocated for measures to comply with the new regulation standards for the high-speed experiment furnace Joyo and to prepare for resuming operations in the development of high-speed reactors and the manufacture of medical-use RIs. In addition, 4 billion yen will be allotted for the development of a next-generation radiographic facility under construction at Tohoku University. 8.8 billion yen was incorporated to improve the facilities and equipment of the National Research and Development Agencies. 29.1 billion yen was allocated to strengthen the research infrastructure of universities, etc.

At national universities and other similar institutions, 9.9 billion yen was included for aspects such as research facilities and 10.1 billion yen was secured as a large-scale academic research project budget. In addition to upgrading and implementing measures to improve the aging Hyper-Kamiokande, J-PARC, and the large-scale optical-infrared telescope Subaru, hundreds of millions of yen will be allocated to strengthen infrastructure at the Spintronics Research Network of Japan (Tohoku University Research Institute of Electrical Communication and University of Tokyo Center for Research Spintronics Network), the Ferromagnetism Core Laboratory, "Formation of an Integrated Next-Generation Nationwide Ferromagnetism Facility" (Tohoku University Institute for Materials Research and University of Tokyo Institute for Solid State Physics), and the Human Glycome Project (Institute for Glyco-core Research, Tokai National Higher Education and Research System), which are listed in the roadmap. In addition, 8.1 billion yen was earmarked for national technical colleges (including training vessels) and 1 billion yen for private university research equipment and private high school ICT equipment. Separately, 64.6 billion yen was allocated for the facilities of national universities and technical colleges, including vaccine research facilities.

Regarding programs for developing technologies critical to economic security (vision realization), the Cabinet Office, MEXT, and METI requested a total of approximately 10 billion yen, but funds of 125 billion yen will be established each for JST and NEDO. Cutting-edge critical technologies will be developed and new programs for social implementation of public use created. Appropriate measures will be taken to prevent technology leaks in accordance with the technological characteristics and maturity.

A fund of 251.9 billion yen will be established in AMED to carry out research and development based on the government-mandated vaccine development and manufacturing strategy. MEXT will have 51.5 billion yen in 5-year research funds for 10 plans that are identified as global top-level research and development hubs (1 flagship hub and 3 synergy hubs). The Cabinet Office incorporated 150.4 billion yen as funding for the strategic promotion of research and development by SCARDA as a central organizer of research and development in AMED, and 50 billion yen to support drug discovery startups through METI. In addition, METI was given 227.3 billion yen as a subsidy for the improvement of vaccine manufacturing bases.