2:15 PM - 2:30 PM
[U10-03] Activities and interdisciplinary collaborations of physical sciences and engineering at SCJ
Keywords:Science Council of Japan, Physical Sciences and Engineering, Interdisciplinary collaboration, issue solving
Since its establishment in 1949, the Science Council of Japan was divided into seven fields: liberal arts, law, economics, science, engineering, agriculture, and medicine, but with the reforms in 2005, it was reorganized into three sections. The three sections are: 1st Section (Humanities/Social Sciences), 2nd Section (Life Sciences), and 3rd Section (Science/Engineering).
The third section includes the Mathematical Sciences Committee, the Physics Committee, the Earth and Planetary Sciences Committee, the Informatics Committee, the Chemistry Committee, the General Engineering Committee, the Mechanical Engineering Committee, the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Committee, and the Civil Engineering and Architectural Science Committee and the Materials Engineering Committee. The Earth and Planetary Science Committee corresponds to JpGU, but other field-specific committees do not necessarily have federated organizations of individual societies like JpGU, and individual societies representing further subdivided fields. Representatives from the committee and each sectoral committee work directly together. In the absence of an organization such as JpGU, each field-specific committee could be established as a place for scientists representing adjacent fields, which are similar from a broad perspective but do not usually have much academic exchange, to interact and deepen mutual understandings. Therefore, in addition to its basic role of making recommendations to the government and society, promoting understanding of science, and international academic exchange, the Science Council of Japan is considered to be useful in developing the capacities of the members of SCJ, Japan's leading scientists.
Moreover, when selecting members for the 26th term starting in October 2023, the announcement states that “In addition to being a scientist with outstanding research or achievements, you must also meet one of the following requirements in light of your track record of activities, etc.” The two requirements are “The applicant must be able to accurately grasp domestic and international academic and social trends, view the direction of scientific and technological development from a broad perspective, and connect different specialized fields.'' and “Have the motivation and ability to accurately grasp domestic and international academic and social trends, view the direction of scientific and technological development from a broad perspective, and engage in dialogue with the government and society to resolve issues.''
In other words, current members of the Science Council of Japan are required not only to have achievements in their specialized fields, but also to have the ability to collaborate with other fields, a broad perspective, and a desire to solve social issues. In fact, in addition to the cooperation between science and engineering committees in the third section, the proposals and opinions unique to the Science Council of Japan, which collaborates with the life sciences, humanities, and social sciences, are now even more respected, and it is now beginning to be felt that there is no need for the Science Council of Japan to express its intentions, which can only be handled by specific and individual academic societies and academic fields.
Until now, information sharing and cooperation between field-specific committees within the third section, as well as collaborative efforts across sections, were lacking in some areas, but online meetings now fully made them possible.
Even in the field of earth and planetary science, which has a strong comprehensive scientific aspect and whose knowledge contributes to understanding the environment and disaster prevention and building a better, safer, and more comfortable society, we need to encourage ourselves to apply through the framework of the Science Council of Japan/Earth and Planetary Science Committee and other opportunities, and to promote further academic development and new developments through interdisciplinary collaboration and collaborative creation with society.
The third section includes the Mathematical Sciences Committee, the Physics Committee, the Earth and Planetary Sciences Committee, the Informatics Committee, the Chemistry Committee, the General Engineering Committee, the Mechanical Engineering Committee, the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Committee, and the Civil Engineering and Architectural Science Committee and the Materials Engineering Committee. The Earth and Planetary Science Committee corresponds to JpGU, but other field-specific committees do not necessarily have federated organizations of individual societies like JpGU, and individual societies representing further subdivided fields. Representatives from the committee and each sectoral committee work directly together. In the absence of an organization such as JpGU, each field-specific committee could be established as a place for scientists representing adjacent fields, which are similar from a broad perspective but do not usually have much academic exchange, to interact and deepen mutual understandings. Therefore, in addition to its basic role of making recommendations to the government and society, promoting understanding of science, and international academic exchange, the Science Council of Japan is considered to be useful in developing the capacities of the members of SCJ, Japan's leading scientists.
Moreover, when selecting members for the 26th term starting in October 2023, the announcement states that “In addition to being a scientist with outstanding research or achievements, you must also meet one of the following requirements in light of your track record of activities, etc.” The two requirements are “The applicant must be able to accurately grasp domestic and international academic and social trends, view the direction of scientific and technological development from a broad perspective, and connect different specialized fields.'' and “Have the motivation and ability to accurately grasp domestic and international academic and social trends, view the direction of scientific and technological development from a broad perspective, and engage in dialogue with the government and society to resolve issues.''
In other words, current members of the Science Council of Japan are required not only to have achievements in their specialized fields, but also to have the ability to collaborate with other fields, a broad perspective, and a desire to solve social issues. In fact, in addition to the cooperation between science and engineering committees in the third section, the proposals and opinions unique to the Science Council of Japan, which collaborates with the life sciences, humanities, and social sciences, are now even more respected, and it is now beginning to be felt that there is no need for the Science Council of Japan to express its intentions, which can only be handled by specific and individual academic societies and academic fields.
Until now, information sharing and cooperation between field-specific committees within the third section, as well as collaborative efforts across sections, were lacking in some areas, but online meetings now fully made them possible.
Even in the field of earth and planetary science, which has a strong comprehensive scientific aspect and whose knowledge contributes to understanding the environment and disaster prevention and building a better, safer, and more comfortable society, we need to encourage ourselves to apply through the framework of the Science Council of Japan/Earth and Planetary Science Committee and other opportunities, and to promote further academic development and new developments through interdisciplinary collaboration and collaborative creation with society.