A year has passed since the new AIST was inaugurated. As chairman in charge of the administration of AIST, I have promoted the following three pillars as our mission.

1. Promotion of advanced research projects through inno-vative attempts adopting a broader perspective, which leads to enforcement of Japanese industrial competitive- ness in the world market and creation of new industries.

2. Pursuit of research projects which support long-term government policies based on both immediate and fu-ture requirements from the public administration.

3. Promotion of Fundamental Research for Science and Technology under AIST's responsibilities to meet na tional expectations to attain a high level of technologi-cal background which requires an integrated approach.

In order to fulfil these goals, I expect each research unit to possess:

1. International competitiveness to meet the global stan-dards.

2. Initiative to pursue constant evolution of research themes based on the scenario leading to the ideal future society.

3. Dynamic organization which allows flexible and prompt action within the cooperative framework with outside research institutions both at home and abroad.

“Full Research” which I have emphasized refers to the research projects implemented by the research units with such qualities.

By creating coherent research phases from the basic studies to application based on a certain subject, “Full Research” enables seeking of the original basic knowledge and practical application of the outcomes, producing unique and unprecedented offspring in technologies and products development. Moreover full research framework opens up a whole range of new research possibilities. The scene of such research activities is also unique and unparalleled as they cannot be put into practice in any other settings.The social situation does demand AIST to promote the full research projects.

As seen in the Secondary Basic Program for Science and Technology, the national expectation toward the development of science and technology which contributes Japan's industrial growth surges with a view of empowerment of the economic recovery and sustainable global development.

It is not an easy task to develop the results of basic research projects into innovative industrial technologies.

Such difficulty is not only associated with the recent R&D projects but inherent to the development of any applied technologies. Twenty years ago, I advocated the importance of fostering endeavors to discover the basic knowledge in immature fields for the creation of a new technology terrain, which had been related merely as a dream.

CAD of the US MIT group, Engelberger's industrial robots and System 24 (FMS) by Williamson are the historical achievements that withstood hardships to reach the level of practical application.

Scientists tend to give primary importance to the investigation and elucidation of unknown phenomena, as it were, the traditional basic research. This attitude probably derives from the philosophy that basic researches, as they require greater ingenuity and inspiration, have superiority to any other research works. However, I also find academic value in the researches which aim at the development of the existing scientific knowledge into the practical application. Although this retrospective approach may run against the trend of conventional basic research activities, we should recognize originality and creativeness in such attempts as comparable or even superior to the quest for the new scientific knowledge. In this context, I would like to name a research of this kind as “Type II Basic Research”. Translational research in life science belongs to this category.

In type II basic research, it is important not only to fabricate goods but to objectify the process of such production allowing us to pass down this intellectual property to the next generation.

In order to pursue the “Type II Basic Research”, it is insufficient to direct attention to the technological seeds created through the basic research.We must adopt the attitude of constantly focusing on the application of research findings regarding industrial technology in accordance with the social needs. Careful observation of the two domains of “technological seeds” and “social needs” groups leads us to search for the optimal parameter in the functional relation between the seeds and needs. This is the fundamental method of the Type II research projects that are to reflect industrial needs. The active promotion of industry-academia-government collaboration is a must for us to take an objective view over such needs.

The results of the industrial-academia-government collaborative projects at each AIST research center will be considered to form a major part of the career path of AIST researchers. In addition, I would like to place emphasis upon venture business as a new key component of the career progress of our staff.

New systems are considered to encourage entrepreneurs in AIST to spin off new businesses. Taking advantage of these systems, I expect each of AIST staff will have the strong motivation to launch new businesses and contribute to the national goal of the industrial development by incubating entrepreneurs. Currently, various attempts are in progress to create 1000 venture companies based on the academic researches. AIST also has been active in providing an environment to support venture businesses including the set-up of a venture factory and the venture support merit system, with a view to creation of 100 companies by AIST researchers.

Regarding cases overseas, leading researchers of any project tend to launch venture businesses as part of the process to the practical application of their accomplishments. The younger researchers including students who witness such entrepreneurial process have the privilege of various opportunities to learn about setting up new businesses. Consequently, the experiences are taken over from generation to generation. Following such examples, I would like to encourage our research managers including the directors of AIST research centers to spin off new businesses. Such challenges are to be recognized as “Venture for Matured Researcher” for which AIST are ready to provide various backups.

Lastly, seeking the establishment of a full research structure, we will place our primary goal for AIST marking its second anniversary at following three points: 1. Enhancement of our active involvement in the research projects through industry-academia-government collaboration, 2. Promotion of “Type II Basic Research”, 3. Encouragement of entrepreneurship in “Venture for Matured Researchers”.