HIAS Launches Program to Acquire Top-Class International Researchers
December 27, 2022
Probing cutting-edge issues at a world-class research center
The Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study (HIAS) was established in 2014 to conduct top-class research in the social sciences and to further enhance and internationalize the research. Since then, the HIAS has fulfilled two key roles. It has functioned as a hub for international joint research and it has become a center for interdisciplinary, cross-departmental research on pressing issues of social importance in Japan and around the world.
So far, the Research Center for Global Economic Systems (GLECS), the Research Center for Health Policy and Economics (HIAS Health), the Research Center for Evidence-based Policy Making (HIAS EBPM), and the Research Center for Regional and SME Policy (HIAS SME) have been successively established at the HIAS with each center pushing their research projects forward. The centers have carried out academic research and international joint research based on fundamental and applied research in each academic area, and provided recommendations for society and support for policy formation.
Contribute to society through research across disciplines
However, as President Satoshi Nakano states on the HIAS website that “the university will verify research results based on international standards and reorganize the centers as required,” the Institute is now entering a period of updates. The underlying issue is the intrinsic nature of Hitotsubashi University.
From the start, Hitotsubashi University has been a place for bringing together researchers anchored in different fields, whether humanities or sciences. A place where the barriers between academic areas are low and where research has advanced based on the desire to contribute to society through interesting research. This still holds true.
Nonetheless, the more each center deepens its research, the less visible the original objectives, which are to further enhance and internationalize research and to carry out top-class research at the international level in the social sciences. Therefore, it has been decided to reorganize HIAS into a cross-departmental structure under the direct control of the university president and to update it to become a global focal point on the "Open, Gather, Bridge" theme.
HIAS to launch two international recruitment programs
HIAS BRIDGES, the program to acquire top-class international researchers, was conceived as part of the update at HIAS. The program consists of two key dimensions: (1) HIAS BRIDGES Next, a project to recruit and train excellent young researchers from around the world, and (2) HIAS BRIDGES Distinguished, a project to invite distinguished researchers.
(1) HIAS BRIDGES Next: Project to train young researchers
The program recruits young researchers from around the world for five-year terms at HIAS. Focused on Strategic Priority Areas (Economics, Business Administration, Accounting and Finance, Political Science and International Relations, Psychology, Data Science, Global Law), the program aims to employ approximately 45 young researchers, an unprecedented number, and to provide them with an environment where they can give their undivided attention to research.
After the first round of recruitment, 13 researchers have already been offered employment. As of October 2022, 6 researchers had taken up their posts. Another round of open recruitment started in October with the aim of hiring more researchers.
(2) HIAS BRIDGES Distinguished: Project to invite distinguished researchers
Whereas HIAS BRIDGES Next focuses on young researchers, HIAS BRIDGES Distinguished invites prominent researchers who already have a track record to HIAS where we provide a research environment for carrying out joint research with researchers at Hitotsubashi University. The aim is to form a mechanism for attracting more talent and, at the same time, to stimulate researchers at the university and to raise the standard of their research capabilities.
Through these initiatives, we aim to bolster the functions of a hub organization for global mobility.
The process of acquiring talent is already underway in Singapore and Italy
We spoke with Yasuhiro Otsuki, Vice President of Hitotsubashi University (HIAS Director), who says that initiatives similar to the ones described above have already been launched around the world.
“We are benchmarking our efforts against Singapore Management University (SMU) and Bocconi University in Italy, both of which have close ties with Hitotsubashi University. SMU, in particular, has raised its profile by implementing programs to acquire international talent. There are many excellent, young researchers around the world who wish to come to Japan out of a sense of affinity with the culture and natural features of the country. Hitotsubashi University and HIAS offer such researchers a place where they can give undivided attention to their work. We aim to become a hub for global mobility where young top-class researchers, Japanese or international, are nurtured and where human resources are circulated at five-year intervals.” (Yasuhiro Otsuki, Vice President)
What the etymology of “industry” indicates
Hitotsubashi University was founded on the principle of educating the “Captains of Industry”, so the University is well positioned to become a hub for global mobility in Japan. HIAS with its research mission has an important role to play in the process of building this hub.
In the words of Vice President Otsuki, “The Latin word for industry (industria) signifies purposeful, diligent activity. When top-class promising young researchers pursue their research in a spirit of friendly rivalry at the Hitotsubashi campus, I believe they will develop activities that are in keeping with the spirit of the Captains of Industry. Having researchers anchored in different fields working on their research in the same place is also likely to generate new disciplines for problem-solving.” Hitotsubashi University and HIAS are now about to enter a new phase with the establishment of the Faculty and Graduate School of Social Data Science.
