The Science Council of Japan analyzed the results of two questionnaire surveys that asked the response of research institutes and academic societies to the statement issued in 2017 that they would not conduct military research.As a result, although nearly half of the organizations took the statement seriously, such as establishing an organization to examine the adequacy of military security research, some criticized the statement as being far from reality.
On March 2017, 3, the Science Council of Japan published the "Statement on Military Security Research," following the statements issued twice in the past.The statement confirms that "military security research at research institutes such as universities, that is, research related to national security by military means, is in tension with academic freedom and the sound development of academia." ..
On top of that, each university, etc. should establish a system to technically and ethically examine the appropriateness of research that may be regarded as military security research from the viewpoint of the validity of the purpose, method, and application. I asked the research institute.We asked academic societies to set guidelines according to the characteristics of each academic field.
This survey was conducted for the follow-up, and analyzed the questionnaires of research institutes such as universities conducted in 2018 and the questionnaires of academic societies in January 2020.The questionnaires for research institutes such as universities were answered by 1 institutions such as universities, university joint-use corporations, and national research and development corporations selected based on certain criteria, and the questionnaires from academic societies were answered by 135 research organizations registered by the Japan Academic Council.
In the questionnaire of research institutes such as universities, 7% of the responding institutions responded to the statement in some way, and 45% had an organization to examine the appropriateness of military research.While many of the free responses basically agreed with life, there were also opinions that "the statement has a part that is far from reality" and "even if the source of the funds is the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency, there is no problem if it is used peacefully". rice field.
In the academic association questionnaire, only 7% of the organizations had some discussion about military research, and 57% said that they would not do it, and it is unlikely that they would do it in the future.Although they generally agreed with the statement, some said that it would be difficult to draw a line between military research and that regulation would hinder the development of academics.
