Science and Research Collaboration between Australia and Japan
October 2012
Table of Contents
Science and Research Collaboration between Australia and Japan 3
Table of Contents 4
Executive Summary 6
Key Findings 9
1 Introduction 12
2 Comparative policy frameworks and investments 14
2.1 Economic context 14
2.1 Australia’s and Japan’s economies 2009 14
2.1 Australia’s and Japan’s economies 2009 14
2.2 Australia’s and Japan’s economic structure 2009 15
2.1.1 Key economic, social and environmental challenges 16
2.2 Science and research ‘system’ characteristics 18
2.2.1 Investment 18
2.2.2 Human resources 19
2.2.3 Science and research output 20
2.2.4 International ‘connectedness’ 20
2.3 Policy framework – Australia 22
2.3.1 Role of Government 22
2.3.2 Organisations 23
2.3.3 Priorities 25
2.4 Policy framework – Japan 26
2.4.1 Organisations 26
2.4.2 Overarching strategy 30
2.4.3 Current priorities 30
2.4.4 Conclusion 32
2.5 Japan’s international science and research collaboration 33
2.5.1 Increasing international science and research collaboration 33
2.6 Measures and indicators 37
2.6.1 Investment 37
2.6.2 Human resources 40
2.6.3 Publications 42
3 Bilateral Science and Research Collaboration 48
3.1 Quantitative analysis 48
3.1.1 Concentration of joint publications 49
3.1.2 Higher influence of joint publications 52
3.1.3 Institutional distribution of joint publications 53
3.1.4 Top 10 Australian institutions collaborating with Japan 55
3.2 Qualitative characteristics 67
3.2.1 Less focus on Australia–Japan relationship 67
3.2.2 ‘Bottom-up’ collaborations 68
3.2.3 Collaborations through third parties 69
3.2.4 Australia’s importance to Japan 69
3.2.5 Limited Student exchanges 69
3.2.6 Research–industry linkages 70
3.2.7 March 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami 71
4 Opportunities and Challenges 73
4.1 Fostering a ‘culture’ of exchange 73
4.2 Opportunities for government 74
4.3 Opportunities for science and research organisations 75
4.4 Opportunities for businesses 77
4.5 Conclusion 78
Appendix A 79
Appendix B 81
Executive Summary
This report has been prepared by the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (DIISRTE) in collaboration with the Centre for International Economics. The assistance provided by the Embassy of Japan is also gratefully acknowledged.
The report reviews the current state of, and future opportunities for, science and research collaboration between Australia and Japan. The report identifies key features of science and research collaboration between Australia and Japan and has been prepared to assist agencies, institutions and individuals to make informed decisions about future science and research engagement with Japan.
The report highlights the importance of international science and research collaboration for strengthening capacity and impact, meeting costs of critical infrastructure, and addressing complex and long-term strategic challenges. Indeed, international collaboration is generally growing, as incentives and rewards become clearer and barriers are reduced.
Chapter 2 provides a comparative analysis of science and research policy frameworks, investments and international collaboration for Australia and Japan. While Australia and Japan have economies of vastly different size, structure and recent growth trends, expectations for greater contributions from science and research for future economic development are similar. Japan – a G8 member – has the world’s third largest economy and is close to rapidly expanding Asian economies, while Australia has the world’s sixteenth largest economy and is located on the rim of the economically dynamic Asian region.
The scale, investment and organisation of science and research differ greatly between Australia and Japan. Relative to the size of its economy and population, Japan spends more on science and research than Australia, has more researchers employed and records much higher patent applications. Science and research expenditure, relative to GDP, has been increasing in both countries over recent years, although more rapidly and from a lower base in Australia. Japan’s science and research expenditure has been strongly dominated by the private sector, while in Australia the private sector has only in the last decade become the dominant source of science and research expenditure.
The output of scientific publications is however comparatively higher (per unit expenditure, or per capita) in Australia than in Japan. That is, Australia accounts for approximately 3% of global scientific publications, while Japan accounts for approximately 7%, despite a much larger population. Australia and Japan show different science and research specialisations, relative to the rest of the world. Australian research includes a higher proportion than world average in areas related to some of our key industries, such as Commerce, management, tourism and services; Agricultural and veterinary sciences; and Earth sciences, and even higher degrees of specialisation in Environmental sciences and Education, where unique local conditions often require local research to develop appropriate solutions. Japan’s areas of specialisation also demonstrate strong linkages to its economic strengths: Physical sciences; Chemical sciences; Engineering; Technology; and Biological sciences.
In terms of research impact, Australia is generally above world average and is strongest in Physical sciences; Earth sciences; Agricultural and veterinary sciences; and Environmental sciences. Japan’s impact is generally just below world average, partly because of the dominance of the English language in scientific publications, but despite this Japan manages to achieve above world average impact in Studies in creative arts and writing; Philosophy and religious studies; Agricultural and veterinary sciences; Earth sciences; Physical sciences; and Language, communication and culture.
Compared to other large, developed economies with significant science and research expenditures (e.g. USA, Canada, Germany, UK and France), Japan has a lower level of international science and research collaboration. Japan’s international collaborations are strongest with USA, China and Germany. Australia was Japan’s ninth ranked partner in 2010, as it also was in 1999. Japan has slowly fallen in the rankings of Australia’s international partners and was tenth in 2010, down from fifth in 1999, despite an increasing volume of joint publications over that period, because of faster growth in joint publications with many of Australia’s other top ten research partners.[1]
Chapter 3 reviews the scale and focus of current science and research collaboration between Australia and Japan, drawing on published literature, bibliometric data and feedback from Australian science and research organisations and government agencies. The current scale of collaboration is modest, with joint scientific publications accounting for only 2.5% of Australian publications and
1.3% of Japanese publications in 2009. Indeed, Australia’s collaboration with Japan has not grown as rapidly as with the other key developed economies (e.g. USA, United Kingdom) or the emerging economies of the Asia Pacific region (e.g. China, India).
Australian science and research institutions collaborate across a range of areas with Japan, with joint publications tending towards areas of Australian research strength. Collaboration generally improves research impact, with the average citation impact of Australia-Japan joint publications being higher than the average citation impact of publications produced by either country individually. Collaboration is also generally concentrated within a small number of research institutions. The top 20 Australian collaborating institutions account for 75% of joint publications, while the top 20 Japanese collaborating institutions account for about 50% of joint publications.
‘Bottom-up’ collaborations often follow a typical pattern of scientists seeking to work with the best people they can, wherever they may be. There is also evidence that some Australia-Japan collaborations emerge from multilateral collaborations – in areas such as high-energy physics and climatology, for example. While many Australian science and research organisations, and government agencies, have formal agreements for bilateral collaboration with Japan, there is limited evidence of a strategic, long-term approach to developing the depth, focus and value of these collaborations in line with Australia’s overall science and research priorities.
The Japanese Government is encouraging more international science and research collaboration, as part of its general policy focus on increasing Japan’s international competitiveness. A key focus for Japan is collaboration with other countries in the Asia region, particularly China, South Korea and India, to help Japan become a core part of what is increasingly becoming a major node of global science and research. Expanding international science and research collaboration is likely to be a difficult challenge for the Japanese Government, its science and research agencies and business. The declining trend of Japanese students studying abroad is particularly significant, as student exchanges often underpin future science and research collaboration. Student exchanges between Australia and Japan are low, with Japanese students making up 2.3% of all foreign students in Australia.
The earthquake and tsunami event in March 2011 (the Great East Japan Earthquake) had major impacts on science and research in Japan. Science and research organisations in the Tohoku region suffered substantial damage to research infrastructure and equipment with some foreign scholars leaving Japan during this difficult time. Japan’s science and research priorities are being refined to align better with long-term recovery challenges – including reducing reliance on nuclear energy, improving disaster readiness and response, building technologies, and seismology.
Chapter 4 considers impediments to science and research collaboration between Australia and Japan, and opportunities for overcoming these. It highlights an overall challenge of fostering a ‘culture of collaboration’, by focusing particularly on stimulating exchanges, taking a more strategic approach to organisational support for collaboration, and improving awareness of and access to funding sources. Challenges for governments, science and research organisations and businesses are considered.
The report concludes that maintaining and expanding highly valued research links between Australia and Japan will require a coordinated approach linking interests and resources across business, science and research organisations and government. While not an easy challenge, the rewards should be substantial, given the significant science and research strengths in both countries and the shared goal of being linked into global science and research networks.
Key Findings
Economic Context
§ Advancement in science and research is seen by Australia and Japan as a key means by which to boost economic growth and productivity, and address national challenges ranging from environmental issues to health.
§ Japan is a relatively research-intensive country, with a higher R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP than Australia. Due in part to its much larger economy and population, Japan also has more researchers and a higher research output than Australia.
§ Japan’s 4th Basic Science and Technology Plan has a budget of approximately $A 314 billion with a particular focus on health and medicine, green innovation, and promoting reconstruction in the disaster affected areas in northern Japan.
Science and research ‘system’ characteristics
§ Japan is a major science and research actor, yet it is relatively isolated from other science and research clusters in the United States and Europe.
§ Japan is a large investor by global standards in science and research and is continuing to increase its investment.
§ Japan ranks fifth in the world for scientific publications and second for patents. Australia contributes 3% to global publishing output with only 0.3% of world population.
Policy Framework – Australia
§ Although Japan’s private sector carries out 70% of the nation’s R&D, the national government sets a broad policy agenda for public science and research funding centred on overarching social and economic goals. Japan’s recent policy agenda aims to strengthen the connection between S&T and innovation to address key policy challenges facing Japan.
§ Japan’s overarching national science policy is set by the Council of Science and Technology Policy (CSTP), while the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) implement this policy and allocate funding.
§ Japan’s ‘New Growth Strategy’ and the 4th Basic S&T Plan set the broad policy direction for Japan’s future public investments in S&T, recognising that science and research will underpin future economic growth.
Japan’s interanational science and research collaboration
§ Japan’s broad S&T policy agenda is focused on addressing major challenges facing the Japanese economy and society, such as securing a stable energy supply for its highly industrialised economy and grappling with a rapidly ageing society. Recent policy directions suggest a particular focus on energy, the environment and S&T human resource development.
§ Japan has only a relatively modest level of international collaboration in comparison with other major knowledge producing nations, such as the US, UK, France and Germany, although its rate of international collaboration is increasing.
§ Japan’s international collaboration is mainly centred on the G8 economies, with the US being Japan’s main research collaborator. In the Asia Pacific region, Australia, China and South Korea are key collaborating countries for Japan.
Measures and indicators
§ Australia’s gross expenditure on R&D (GERD) has been increasing at an average of 6.9% per year over the last decade, showing a more significant increase than Japan’s 3.9% per year over this same period. Despite Australia’s absolute and relative R&D spending being less than Japan’s, Australia has been narrowing the gap in science and research spending on a per capita basis and as a percentage of GDP.
§ Japan has historically had a relatively high level of private-sector funded R&D, although foreign private sector funding is negligible.
§ While the total number of researchers in Japan has remained high but static since 1995, the total number of Australian researchers has dramatically increased from a lower base.
§ Both Australia and Japan have increased their total share of world publications, although the former has seen a more steady increase over the last two decades. Japan, however, had 6.6% of global publications while Australia had 3.2% in 2009. The relative amounts of research in the different fields of science reflect each country’s economic mix and national priorities.
§ Both countries have also improved the influence of their published output relative to world output, as shown by rising relative citation impact over the last decade.
Australia and Japan research collaboration: Quanatitative analysis
§ Over the last decade joint Australia-Japan publications have almost doubled, totalling 1007 in 2009. This figure accounts for 2.5% of Australia’s total publications and 1.3% for Japan.
§ Medical and health sciences, physical sciences and biological sciences accounted for over 60% of joint publications. Notably, the influence of joint publications is higher than the influence of publications of each country in over half of the subject areas.
§ Japan’s top national universities are undertaking most of the collaborative research with Australia’s Group of Eight universities, with CSIRO being the chief public research organisation carrying out significant research with Japan.