I got a letter at the beginning of March this year from the "Council for Science and Technology Policy" that slightly surprised me. It was an invitation to participate in a "Meeting for listening to local opinions of science technology policies" to be held on March 20.

It delighted but surprised me. And that is because I have been promoting the issues facing young researchers for 10 or more years in various ways since I left a doctoral course before completing a Ph.D. and had to make a living while searching for a career. I wrote articles for newspapers and magazines, publicized books, and attended meetings. I was occasionally invited to meetings held by political parties and government officials, but never talked face to face with any government leaders.

There is some preliminary information with this invitation. In a "sorting" process that took place last year many projects related to young researchers, such as the special researcher project, were presented with the result of needing to be "cut-down" on. I sensed a crisis and scrambled to establish a young researcher's network. I also held meetings to listen to various other people in addition to young researchers. I summarized the content of that and sent it to some governmental officials. Those activities were presumably noticed by the person concerned.

The "Meeting for listening to local opinions" had its name to the "Science Technology Meeting in Osaka" but was held on March 20 as scheduled. The participants included Mayor Hiramatsu of Osaka City, officials from universities and the financial industry that are usually invited to normal government meetings, and some relatively young people such as Mr. Yasumi Ueda, a RIKEN team leader, Tsuyoshi Miyagawa from Fujita Health University, and myself. Another notable addition was Shiro Imamura, who is a high school student and was a gold medalist at the International Mathematical Olympiad. He is half the age again of the other young researchers.

The young researchers made comments after listening to the mayor"s and the official"s from the universities and the financial industry speeches. As further information all the context has been posted on the website of the Council for Science and Technology Policy. Each of young researchers presented an opinion that suited their position.

I spoke on the issue of the actual careers of young researchers while others spoke in detail on the ideal model of a young researcher. Various countermeasures for postdoctoral fellows, who are becoming more and more of a serious problem than ever before, are being taken such as in the "full employment of doctors" as a growth strategy; however, I did point out that in reality it is merely an unemployment policy and actually could even hurt young researchers even more. I then proposed utilizing young researchers as important "human property" that can make a large contribution to society. The place where they need to be utilized in involves both "cutting-edge" and "intermediate level" science that can bridge science technology and society as well as in the already established science education system: I appealed to the necessity for enhancement of a policy that can be used to promote the activation of instantaneous science technology activities, including disclosure of information so that everybody can have access to it.

What I really wanted to say the most and which I earnestly requested was the realization of an "open" and "flat" science technology policy where people in various positions including young researchers can express their opinions on neutral ground.

Unfortunately the current science technology policy seems rather too disorganized to me: Both the respective ministries and the researchers merely defend themselves. The Council for Science and Technology Policy is a control tower; however, some people criticize it as being merely a "stapler" that lists the opinions of the respective ministries. And to make matters even worse, only famous researchers that are no longer at the frontline of the research scene actually determine what the policy will be.

Science technology policy will keep on being a stray unless the structure involved is reformed to reflect the voices of citizens and young researchers. Of course each of them will have a personal stake in it; however, politics should ensure that how they benefit from it should remain equal from the point of view of the public benefiting from it and the future. The problem is that the politics will depend on the specific method of benefiting from it.

In this sense the young researchers and high school students being allowed to make comments at the meeting was innovative, and should be positively evaluated. Of course whether or not their comments will be reflected in actual policy is the critical point, must not be merely on outlet to complain, which is meaningless. We should rigidly examine the errant science technology policy of the current administration.

However, that said, there is still hope. Mr. Keisuke Tsumura, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Cabinet Office, pointed out one of my slides (a figure displaying how science technology policy depends on the benefit of ministries and the specific researcher) and stated that the situation needed to be amended. I have also heard that the issues that the young researcher brought up at the meeting have since then started to be reviewed. The next meeting, which will be held in Sendai, is slated to be for young and female researchers only.

To ensure that the meeting becomes a milestone in a change taking place in science technology each of us as well as the government must change our consciousness and take action. We will have to change ourselves too if science technology policy starts being based on the opinions of young researchers and the general public. We have criticized and complained to the government, which proved effective, but from now on we will have to be involved in the policy making process as an interested party. The time that everything is left up to the "government" has now ended.

I hope the meeting to have been a trigger to many people, including but not only young researchers, to consider the path science technology should take as an actual participant in it.

Graduated from Kanagawa Prefectural Hakuyo High School and the Division of Zoological Science, Department of Biology within the School of Science at the University of Tokyo in 1995. After having dropped out of a doctoral course at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the same without completing a Ph.D. he entered the Division of Medicine, School of Medicine, Kobe University as a bachelor student, graduated from the university in 2004, and then obtained a medical license. He obtained a Ph.D. in Medical Science in 2006.. Became an assistant professor of Kobe University Hospital in 2009. He is now working as a pathologist at a hospital in Hyogo Prefecture. He established NPO Science Communication in 2003 and was the representative executive board member until 2009. He is now an executive board member. He likes to be involved in science communication activities such as the participation in a science school of female junior high and senior high school students in addition to dealing with the career issues of young researchers as his own career as a researcher has had so many ups and downs and he eventually changed direction. He established the new voluntary organization of the Science Support Association (SSA) in 2010 in commencing upon considering an ideal science technology policy.

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