☑ Productivity of “Citation Top 1% of papers”

(Background)

In the middle of intensifying competition for securing the world’s finest brains, Japan needs to more proactively place itself within the global flow of outstanding human resources while creating open research platforms that attract them from around the world.

(Concept) By achieving a very high research standard and providing an excellent research environment, the centers should be “globally visible research centers”.

## Required Challenges

OAttractive research environment and operation of top international standard

·English as the primary language

• Highly effective leadership of a center director

• Environment in which researchers can devote themselves exclusively to their research by adequate staff support etc.

## I mages of a WPI center

• 100-200 members in total including researchers(70~members for WPI Focus)

• At least 10-20 world-class principal investigators(7PIs∼ for WPI Focus)

- At least 30% of the researchers are from overseas at all times.

## Support Contents

Research field: a field of basic research Implementation period: 10-15 years Project grant for each (per year): ¥1.3-1.4 billion ( $ \sim $ ¥700 million for “WPI Focus”) Follow-up procedure: WPI Program Committee conducts follow-up activities on progress being made by the WPI centers with an eye to developing them into “highly visible research centers.”

## WPI Centers

Director: Kenichiro Itami

ITbM (adopted in 2012)

Institute of Transformative

Bio-Molecules, Nagoya U

mi

Director:Susumu Kitagawa

iCeMS (adopted in 2007)

Institute for Integrated Cell-

Material Sciences, Kyoto U

Qawa

AIMR (adopted in 2007)

Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku U

IIIS (adopted in 2012)

International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine, U of Tsukuba

Director: Masashi Yanagisawa

International Center for Materials

Nanoarchitectonics, NIMS

## I FReC (adopted in 2007)

Immunology Frontier

Director: Shizuo Akira

Research Center, Osaka U

Kavli IPMU (adopted in 2007)

Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe

hi Murayama, U of Tokyo

## I $ ^{2} $ CNER (adopted in 2010)

International Institute for

Carbon-Neutral Energy

Research, Kyushu U

Director:Kei Hirose

ELSI (adopted in 2012)

Earth-Life Science Institute,

Tokyo Tech

O Critical mass of outstanding researchers

OSecure additional resources more than the amount of the project grant

## Science

Reform

Establish World Premier Centers

Globalization

Fusion

## Promoting establishment of later 4 centers

OPromote steady establishment of I $ ^{2} $ CNER by follow-up and supporting the progress strictly.

OAccelerate the establishment of 3 WPI Focus centers (IIIS : Univ. of Tsukuba, ELSI : Tokyo Tech Univ., ITbM : Nagoya Univ.)

ODifferentiation and new challenges toward world’s top institutions.

## Steady support for making an achievement of former 5 centers

Each center has established critical mass of top-level researchers from around the world and about 40% researchers are from overseas. English is naturally used as the primary language.

By filling positions of young postdoctoral researchers through open international solicitations and so on, the centers have been “globally visible research centers”.

OWPI centers produce quality papers on par with top institutions.

Data analyzed and provided by THOMSON REUTER(2011.10)