Government's Liaison Committee among Ministries and Agencies on Competitive Research Funds revises common guidelines

Most of the research equipment and facilities at universities and other public institutions, which are shared by researchers, are aging. Despite severe financial constraints, their renewal may be on the horizon.

On May 31, the government's Liaison Committee among Ministries and Agencies on Competitive Research Funds has revised the common guidelines for the execution of indirect expenses, allowing a part of the indirect expenses of the competitive research funds (Funds/Management Expense Grant) to be transferred to reserves for renewing research equipment and facilities. Competitive research funds amounted to JPY 2.1 trillion in the FY 2022 supplementary budget and JPY 1.1 trillion in the FY 2023 initial budget. The reserves are expected to be of a certain scale, even if they are only a portion of the indirect expenses allocated from these competitive research funds. This is expected to improve the research environment.

The problem of aging research equipment and facilities at universities and other public institutions has long been noted. With the reduction in the Management Expense Grant, local universities with limited financial bases have been struggling to cover labor costs. They are unable to do much to cope with the issue of aging equipment and facilities.

Even if supplementary budgets happen to allow for new equipment and facilities, preparing for the next upgrade is challenging because universities have their hands full with maximizing funds for maintenance and management costs. Many universities are stuck in this vicious cycle.

Meanwhile, competitive research funds, especially large ones, have been increasing in recent years, but the research apparatuses and equipment installed by such funds are assumed to be used to carry out only the aimed research. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has prepared guidelines to encourage the sharing of research equipment. Such equipment can be used by a wide range of researchers as long as their shared use is properly managed by the university. However, such sharing has not been without problems. Researchers contend with limited use times to avoid affecting the aimed research. Another issue is the uneven allocation of large research funds across specific fields.

As such, in case of research equipment outside of the research mainstream, researchers in universities must make do with equipment installed quite a while ago. A researcher who reviewed manuscripts for an international journal complained that "papers submitted by Chinese researchers described the use of state-of-the-art research equipment, whereas Japanese papers were written by researchers using equipment made by former Eastern Europe. Japanese researchers make desperate efforts in tough situations."

Against this backdrop, the 6th Science, Technology and Innovation Basic Plan states, "The government will enable stable financial management by further expanding and extending the scope of bond-issuing projects by national universities and the redemption period, diversifying the financial sources for redemption and by promoting discussions on making the use of indirect expenses of public research funds more flexible (such as using them for medium-to long-term funding and facility renewal) for the fourth medium-term target period. "

In February 2022, the National University Corporation Accounting Standards were revised to allow for recording and accumulating up to the amount of depreciation, which represents the diminution in the asset value of facilities and equipment in the relevant fiscal year, as specific reserve assets for the purpose of future upgrading. However, cash surpluses in the financial statements could only be transferred.

In the current revision, a reserve for the replacement of depreciable assets is added as allowable indirect expenses. However, such a reserve is limited to competitive research funds funded by incorporated administrative agencies or Management Expense Grants. For example, in the case of Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, the following research categories are covered: Grant-in-Aids for Scientific Research (C), Challenging Research (Pioneering)/(Exploratory), Early-Career Scientists, International Leading Research. In the case of JST research funds, research funds from the following programs are eligible: the Core Research for Evolutionary Science and Technology (CREST), the Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology (PRESTO), the Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO), the Moonshot R&D (Moonshot), and the Fusion Oriented REsearch for disruptive Science and Technology (FOREST). The eligible Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) programs include vaccine-related funds established through Moonshot and supplemental budgets, but not cross-disciplinary projects because they are subsidized by the government.

According to the Cabinet Office, the FY 2022 supplementary budget for competitive funds is JPY 2.1263 trillion, whereas the initial budget for FY 2023 is JPY 1.1005 trillion yen. The bulk of the supplementary budgets is reserved in the form of funds, but many are targeted at private companies. If about JPY 1 trillion is allocated to universities and other public institutions, then three-thirteenths of this amount, or approximately JPY 230 billion, is designated for indirect expenses. Even with a small portion of this amount, the research equipment and facilities shared among researchers could be systematically updated. The new rules will apply to competitive research funds awarded from June 1 onward.

President Shojiro Nishio of Osaka University commented, "As a greater financial flexibility for the management of national university corporations has been suggested in the past, we welcome the decision this time. For example, the amount possible to reserve at the department level could be small, but if a scheme could be established to consolidate and accumulate such small amounts of money to be channeled into the use of each department for equipment maintenance or renewal, then the system could effectively and efficiently function. There are some cases at the department level where there is momentum, and a large amount of research funds are obtained. If such departments establish a scheme to systematically accumulate a part of indirect expenses, then a virtuous circle creating a robust system to renew equipment can be formed. Although the financial situation surrounding the university remains extremely austere, we continue to make systematic efforts to upgrade our facilities by taking advantage of such a scheme and to steadily improve our research environment."