Research Support Office Research Advancement Division. Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
| TEL | +81-42-367-5944 |
|---|---|
| FAX | +81-42-367-5946 |
This program is supported by MEXT’s scientific technology human resource development fee grant, "Program to Disseminate Tenure Tracking System".
Home > Program Outline
TUAT adopted the MEXT's Special Coordination Funds for Promoting Science and Technology, "Initiative for the Promotion of Young Scientists' Independent Research" inFY 2006, and employed 22, 5-year tenure-track faculties, which corresponded to 5 % of our whole faculty members and 13 % of all the associated professors.
In the call for candidates, we clearly stipulated that we prepared the same number of tenure posts as the tenure-track members, and realized the screening of tenure track faculties based only on their scholarly achievements; so to speak, it was positioned as a challengeto the candidates themselves...
For the tenure-track faculties, we have consolidated our independent research environment and our original training program to enable them to work as research promoters, and realized a highly transparent screening process with peer reviews and an external committee for the evaluation of a tenure-track and so on.
As a result, we decided to promote 4 faculties to tenure at the midterm screening, and 15 faculties at the finalscreening, respectively.
InFY 2008, we introduced the tenure-track system from our voluntary financial resource (university administrative cost), and adopted 5 members additionally as tenure-track faculties in parallel with the MEXT's Special Coordination Funds.
In this tenure-track system, we have introduced amethod with which to prepare the start-up budget in a matching style to that of the whole university, faculty, and each department, in the ratio of 1:1:1.This system has been highly appreciated as a distinctive approach from our university.
Based on the outcomes of the previous programs, MEXT has begun the "Program to Disseminate Tenure Tracking System" from FY 2011.
As for the tenure-track system, it is declared in the 4th Science and Technology Basic Plan (Cabinet approval, August 2011) that, "The State will enhance it's support of those universities who promote the dissemination and settlement of the tenure-track system.Because of this, we aim at encouraging each university to put forward an introduction of the tenure-track system appropriate to it's purposes and characteristics and increase the ratio of the tenure-track faculties equivalent to 30% of newly adopted young faculties in the division of Natural Science in all universities" .
The purpose of this MEXT program is to permeate and settle the tenure-track system by supporting the research expenses of tenure-track faculties, etc.toward the universities who conduct the tenure-track system.This is in order to foster faculties and researchers to be research leaders, constructing a fair and transparent personnel system.It also aims at creating an independent research environment for young researchers.
In TUAT, each institute conducts the recruitment, training and evaluation of a tenure track faculty.
The post open to become a tenure track faculty has been determined to be a younger associated professor in the Institute of Engineering, and all assistant professors in the Institute of Agriculture, respectively.When a faculty member who reaches the retirement age-limit is replaced, a tenure-track faculty member will be adopted as a general rule.
The adopted tenure-track faculties are given preferential treatment including; allocation of start-up budgets and solid research space, arrangement of a mentor faculty, implementation of various training programs, provision of education opportunity, support of their life events, reduction of the administrative task loads, and to propel their research retaining their independent standpoint during their 5-year term.
In our tenure-track system, we open up the same number of tenure posts as there are tenure-track members, and conduct the screening of tenure track faculties based on individual member's scholarly achievements.
The midterm evaluation is conducted after the 3rd year of their adoption, and the faculty will be promoted to the status of tenure in advance in the case that one has made promising or significant research.
At the 5th year of their appointment, we execute the evaluation of tenure-track faculty, and make the final decision about the promotion to tenure.
In the case of an appointee failing to acquire tenure, we prepare the continued employment period for a maximum of 1 year and supports his/her recruitment as a safety net.
At the evaluation of a tenure track faculty, we secure the transparency and fairness of the screening and judgment by incorporating the external perspectives and suggestions from the external peer reviews, the external committee, and so on.
Organization for Promotion of Tenure-track System is established as a whole-university organization to consolidate the term-extension system of the tenure-track faculty's life events, to conduct the training program over the institutes, and so on.
Additionally, we make an effort to secure the transparency and fairness of the tenure-track screening by providing the opportunity for an adverse claim at the tenure-track screening in each institute.
In this organization, we construct the system that reflects objective external views on our project, organizing the external assessment board for this tenure-track project to be able to make a self-assessment of our university's approach.
