【 Outline of Reform Plan of Employment System and Promotion of Young Researchers 】

The University of Tsukuba will establish an “Organization for the Support and Development of Strategic Initiatives” in 2007 with the President serving as director, which is intended to serve as “a new framework to improve the level of education and research throughout the University including existing organizations by way of strong deployment of activities to form a research base in order to create academic achievements at the top international level which achievements are fed back to the graduate school and education research center”. This program, utilizing the function of the Organization for the Support and Development of Strategic Initiatives, is expected to accelerate development of human resources in a more effective way. In this program, 15 outstanding young researchers in the fields of the life sciences and natural sciences, selected from a pool of applicants who responded to international recruitment advertisements, have been appointed as specially appointed assistant professors or specially appointed associate professors. After 5 years, they will undergo tenure evaluation and those who pass the evaluation will be promoted to associate or full professors. Through the Organization for the Support and Development of Strategic Initiatives, this program has the strong support of the University's President. Moreover, under the President's supervision, the Committee to Promote Young Researchers (tenure evaluation advisory section, support section, and research strategy section) will provide the young researchers with support. A mentor system, research funds including start-up funds, research assistants, and their own as well as shared research space will be made available to the young researchers. Upon completion of this program, dependent on university funding, a follow-up program, the "Initiative for the Promotion of Young Researchers", will continue to be promoted.