Vol.4 No.1 2011

23/78

Research paper : Formation of research strategy and synthetic research evaluation based on the strategy (N. Kobayashi et al.)−20−Synthesiology - English edition Vol.4 No.1 (2011) related to the research evaluation based on such strategy. Particularly, the “synthetic research evaluation” is important in evaluating the essence of research and in advancing the research, regardless of whether a research is basic or applied, or analytic or synthetic.2 Properties of researchResearch is thought to possess “intrinsic properties”. These properties include: 1) novelty, 2) originality, 3) logical completeness, and 4) influence. 1) Novelty is to add new academic findings not limited to a certain academic field, and 2) originality is that the research itself provides unique findings and introduces new theses. Research that gives totally new explanation to a known phenomenon may be low in novelty but is high in originality. 3) Logical completeness means that the research is a complete expression upon accumulation of solid logic. 4) Influence expresses the strength of the effect to the external field. It includes influences that affect the discipline itself, and those that affect other disciplines (these are effects on the academic field); and the influences that affect society. The latter influence will be called “practical properties”.The Type 1 Basic ResearchTerm 3 proposed by Yoshikawa is basic research that produces new knowledge in a certain discipline, and the influence is mainly contained within the discipline. Type 2 Basic Research (and the Product Realization Research) is research with practical properties that affect society, but both can be discussed within the same intrinsic property[8][9]. However, these two types of basic researches are not always clearly separated, and the elements of both can be found within a research project. Also, there is research where the influence of the intrinsic properties may stay within a discipline for a short period, but may become socially influential after some time. For example, it is well known that the various spatial and temporal compensations are done in devices that receive signals from the GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites, and this is based on the theories of special and general theory of relativity presented by Albert Einstein at the beginning of the 20th century.3 Research strategy and research program3.1 Significance of the research strategy and its formationBy defining strategy as a “way in which an objective is set; various elements such as people, resource, time, and information are allotted appropriately; and these are organically combined and activated in order to make the whole system function properly”, the research strategy can be defined as “the strategy deployed to set and achieve the objective of research and its influence”.In forming the research strategy, it is desirable to set the specific research program for achieving the goal of the strategy, as well as the targets, scenario to attain the targets, and the targets for the individual research project that comprise the research program. The research program, according to Hirasawa, can be defined as “the unit of execution, development, and management of the policy that is structuralized and logically constructed, linking the policy and the research project[6]”. Here, a research program will be defined widely as the “unit of research development that is structuralized and logically constructed to link the objective of the research strategy and the research project”. Therefore, the research program may be also applied in the Type 1 Basic Research such as the experimental elementary particle study.To what extent the targets and the scenario of the research program are set must be agreed upon by the research promotion group and the research sponsor (state or society in case of public research), and a preliminary contract should be signed. It is also important to incorporate a review process of the research strategy during the progress of the research program.Also, assuming unforeseen circumstances that may occur in the research progress, some degree of redundancy should be included in the contract. The scenario must include several options and flexibility in schedule. Even in Type 1 Basic Research that is research within a discipline, for example, the research strategy can be formed and the potentials of the results may be cosmic and the influences may last for a long term. Even if a result different from the major assumption is obtained, the value of the research strategy will be determined based on how much it contributed in increasing the scientific knowledge of the discipline.One example is given. The main objective of the Kamiokande, for which Dr. Masatoshi Koshiba received the Noble Prize in Physics in 2002, was to prove the proton decay by detecting the collision of the neutrinos that were released in proton decay. However, Koshiba et al. fortuitously detected, for the first time in the world, the neutrino produced by the supernova explosion that occurred in the Large Magellanic Cloud with the Kamiokande in February 1987. This demonstrated the correctness of the theoretical model of supernova explosion, and the era of neutrino astronomy started. While Koshiba had initially indicated the possibility of observing the neutrinos from space, the proton decay has not been observed even in the succeeding Super Kamiokande. As this example indicates, it is normal in science that an expected result is not necessarily obtained. However, the research strategy, in which a neutrino detector was made with a tank with 3,000 ton of pure water and 1,000 photomultiplier tubes under the Kamioka Mine, turned out to be very significant because it added new knowledge to physics[10].In forming the research strategy, it is necessary to organize

※このページを正しく表示するにはFlashPlayer9以上が必要です