BEANS Project Promotion Organization
Atsushi Yusa, BEANS Project Leader
The previous issue of MICRONANO featured an overview of theProject to Develop Next-generation Device Manufacturing
Technologies that Fuse Different Fields (otherwise known as theBEANS Project). This issue will present the features andimplementing organization for promoting the BEANS Project. As
you know, there are two types of implementing organizations fornational research and development projects: a centralized researchframework, in which all of the organizations participating in theproject are grouped at one location, and the distributed researchframework, in which the organizations are distributed in separate
locations for each research topic. In the centralized researchframework, the researchers, instruments and equipment arecentralized at a single location (a university, national researchcenter or company) and all research activities are conducted at thatlocation. With this system, the research budget and scale of research
for the project are large, but the research can be managedefficiently. In the distributed framework, the participating
institutions take the issues back to their own departments andconduct research there. For this reason, in Japan this framework isalso known as “take-home research.” With this system, research islimited to individual issues, so there is a clear organization ofresponsibilities, but on the other hand it is difficult to efficiently
manage the project as a whole. In this way, each system has its
advantages and disadvantages. Although naturally it depends on thenature of the project, in general the distributed system has beenused for projects that are promoted for short-term topics and for thepractical application of technologies, while the centralized system
has been used for long-term topics and key technology research andother major projects that are considered to be national strategies.
Both approaches are being employed to implement the BEANS
project. The implementing organization is a centralized framework,
but an active effort is being made to incorporate the advantages ofthe distributed approach, for example by distributing research
activities among multiple research institutions. In the background of
this approach lies the fact that the research topics for the BEANS
project encompass a wide range of areas (MEMS, biotechnology,organic research and nanotechnology), and instead of centralizing
the research centers at a single location, it would be more efficient
to distribute them to universities and national research institutes toutilize existing research resources. On the other hand, goodorganization, close cooperation and common management will beneeded in to organically link these wide-ranging research topics andpursue research and development that will enable the project’s goalof integrating different fields to be achieved. For this reason, it wasdecided to establish the management organization for the BEANS
project at a different location from the research centers in an effort
to accelerate and improve the efficiency of research promotion.
Accordingly, university researchers, company engineers and postdoctoral researchers have been assembled at research centers(national research institutes and universities that have outstandingresearch resources) to conduct research activities based oncooperation among industry, government and academia. Meanwhile,a separate research center that serves as the head office for theproject has been established at the BEANS Laboratory to enableeffective project management. For the purposes of the BEANS
project, the research centers and the project management
organization are collectively referred to as the “BEANS researchinitiative.” The following diagram shows the details of the BEANS
research initiative.
Many research entities are participating in the BEANS
research initiative. At present, these comprise 18 companies, 12universities, two independent research institutes and twofoundations. These entities include four organizations that havebeen contracted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry

to conduct research: the Micromachine Center, the Institute for
Unmanned Space Experiment Free Flyer Foundation (USEF),
The University of Tokyo and Kyushu University. The remaining
participating organizations are places to which research has been
re-consigned or companies from which employees have beentransferred to the aforementioned four entities to conduct
research. Currently a total of 108 researchers and engineers areengaged in project research. These include university faculty
members, temporarily transferred company employees, postdoctoral researchers, interns and exchange researchers.
For the purposes of this project, research activities areorganized into three areas (Life BEANS, 3D BEANS and MacroBEANS) according to research and development topic, andresearch is being conducted at five research centers. At present,
the Life BEANS Center comprises two locations: the Ito Campusof Kyushu University and the University of Tokyo’s Komaba
Research Campus. The 3D BEANS Center also comprises twolocations: the University of Tokyo’s Komaba Research Campus
and the Biwako Kusatsu Campus of Ritsumeikan University. The
Macro BEANS Center is located at the Tsukuba East office ofthe National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science andTechnology (AIST). As a result, in geographical terms theBEANS research network is a nationwide one, with centers in
the Kanto and Kansai regions of Honshu and on Kyushu.
In terms of the management scheme, the BEANS Centers areplaced under a project leader. Each BEANS Center has a director
and a head of planning and coordination. The Center directors areoutstanding research leaders 30 to 40 years of age at the universities
and independent research institutes that are the driving force
behind research promotion. The heads of planning and coordination
are the three assistant directors of the BEANS Laboratory,
individuals who have experience in research management. In thisway, the research and management functions are completely
separate but are designed to complement one another. This gives
researchers a sense of mission and an appropriate level of intensity,
enabling Center operations to be both speedy and efficient.
Overall project management is conducted by the project leader
with support from the sub project leader and the office of theproject leader. The office of the project leader handles daily tasks
relating to research planning and management and so on, while atthe same time administering the Project Promotion Committee,
Intellectual Property Committee and various other committees.
Particularly with regard to the Project Promotion Committee thatplays a central role in project promotion, the office of the project
leader periodically ascertains the progress of each research anddevelopment topic, comparing project progress with projectplanning and evaluating the results and then expeditiously making
determinations as needed with regard to whether the project shouldbe accelerated, downscaled, terminated or otherwise revised. The
Intellectual Property Committee establishes mechanisms thatenable batch sub-licensing of the patents and other intellectual
property rights achieved by the project to participating institutions,in order to enable project achievements to make wide-ranging
contributions to the creation of new industries and provide
increased added value to existing manufacturing operations.
The innovative research and development conducted as partof the BEANS Project involves the integration of different fields
on an unprecedented scale. The project organizers believe that akey factor in the success of the project will be a promotion
scheme that is commensurate with the innovative nature of theproject. While it may be necessary to change or revise thepromotion scheme to match the progress of research efforts, insuch cases this will be accommodated through a flexible
approach that is not constrained by the existing scheme.

BEANS Research Initiative
METI

Designation of PL and delegation of authority

Project Leader Atsushi Yusa

Life BEANS Center Kyushu
Center director: Chihaya Adachi
Head of planning and coordination: Junji Adachi
Based at: Kyushu University Ito Campus

Commissioned

Integration of bio and Organic materials
In charge of organic material
integration processes
Lintec Corporation, Matsushita
Electric Works, Ltd., Kyushu
Institute of Technology

Life BEANS Center
Center director: Masaharu Takeuchi
Head of planning and coordination: Hiroshi Takei
Based at: The University of Tokyo Komaba
ResearchCampus

3D BEANS Center
Center director: Masakazu Sugiyama
Head of planning and coordination: Hiroshi Takei
Based at: The University of Tokyo Komaba Research Campus

Integration of bio and organic materials

Omron Corporation, Seiko Instruments Inc.,
Toshiba Corporation, Denso Corporation,Fujikura Ltd., Fuji Electric Systems Co., Ltd.,
Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd.,
Tohoku University, Tokyo Metropolitan University,
Shizuoka University, RIKENIn charge of bio integration processes
Olympus Corporation, Terumo Corporation,
Mitsubishi Chemical Safety Institute Ltd.,
Keio University, Kyoto University, AISTSub Project Leaders

Hiroyuki Fujita / Masaaki Kimata

Project Leader's Office

3D nanostructure formation

3D BEANS Center Shiga
Center director: Masaaki Kimata
Head of planning andcoordination: Masatsugu Akiyama
Based at: Ritsumeikan University
Biwako Kusatsu Campus
3D nanostructure formation
In charge of 3D nanostructures forspace applications
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, JAROS

Macro BEANS Center
Center director: Munehisa Takeda
Head of planning andcoordination: Munehisa Takeda
Based at: AIST Tsukuba East office
Micro/nanostructure large-area
continuous manufacture
Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd., Furukawa ElectricCo., Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation,ULVAC, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.,
Gunma University(4) Compilation of a knowledge database of next-generation device manufacturing technologies that integrate different fields: Tohoku University, Tokyo University
University of Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology,
Development of simulation technologies: Mizuho Information & Research Institute, Inc., Mathematical Systems, Inc.
The University of Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Keio University, Development

Kyushu University
Center for Future Chemistry

Research cooperation

The University of Tokyo Institute of Industrial ScienceAISTCollaborative Research Center for Bio Nano Hybrid Process

USEF
MMC BEANS Research Center: researchers and project leader support from 18 companies and 9 universities

5Macro BEANS Liaison Research Organization