Who gets gov’t research money?

Who gets gov’t research money?

Dearth of researchers blamed for recent cases of fraud, data falsification

MASAMI SHIMIZI

Ripples from a funding scandal involving a Waseda University researcher are spreading throughout Japan’s scientific community.

Revelations that Kazuko Matsumoto, a professor in the university’s science and engineering department, allegedly misused government funds are especially galling to researchers, particularly those struggling to win government grants, because Matsumoto sat on the Council for Science and Technology Policy, which has huge influence over government policies concerning research funding.

Researchers are indignant that a leading scientist would act so unethically, with some voicing serious doubts about the fairness of the council’s funding decisions.

One structural factor behind the scandal is a dearth of top-notch researchers. This leads to government funds being concentrated on a small number of researchers. Tackling this problem is as important as increasing scrutiny of ethical standards if future fraud cases are to be prevented.

There are two allegations against Matsumoto. In one, she is suspected of diverting nearly 15 million yen ($130,000) in government funds into investment trusts, funneling it through fictitious payments to students for part-time work. She is also suspected if receiving some 25 million yen worth of grants through fake transactions with a private company.

From 1999 to 2003, Matsumoto won 500 million yen worth of subsidies from the funding agencies of different ministries. A leading specialist in bioscience, Matsumoto was one of the country’s best-funded researchers, benefiting from a government policy to focus research on priority areas.

Too much to spend

Many members of the scientific community regard the scandal as a disturbing sign of moral degeneration among scientists because Matsumoto was a member of the key policy council. During the period of her suspected embezzlement, the government funding gap between star researchers and all others emerged as a major issue.

While some scientists were having difficulty spending the hundreds of millions of yen they received from the government, others were complaining about the difficulty in securing only a few hundred thousand yen.

Since fiscal 1996, each ministry has been independently funding various research projects according to the basic plan for promoting science and technology, crafted by the government every five years. The plan establishes certain priority areas, such as bioscience or telecommunications, for concentrated funding.

It is indeed a good strategy for efficient investment. The problem is the small number of researchers who end up with nearly all the cash.

The reason is simple. The number of qualified researchers in cutting-edge areas is usually quite limited.

The large amounts of money lavished on these small groups eventually breed corruption and fraud.

And indeed there has been a rash of research scandals, including data fabrication as well as funding fraud. In 2004, a researcher at Riken, a public research institute, was implicated in a data-falsification scandal.

More recently, a University of Tokyo specialist on the phenomenon known as RNA interference – a hot research topic in molecular biology – was found to have fabricated data for papers published in foreign science journals.

Research fraud is usually triggered by pressure to produce significant results. Many of the recent scandals involved well-funded researchers like Matsumoto.

In advanced science, it is very difficult for a specialist in one field to evaluate and check the data of a specialist in another. The result is that their data’s veracity is often not questioned before their findings are published.

In addition, a shortage of qualified researchers in one area means there are few peers who can conduct experiments necessary for corroboration. So again we see that a scarcity of researchers creates an environment that can tempt data falsification and delay exposure of any fraud.

Antidote

Japan has not been striving enough to expand its pool of top-drawer researchers. This is unfortunate, because the existence of formidable competitors is an effective antidote for the concentration of research funding and proliferation of fraud. Competition is also important for ensuring that the level of research in specific areas will be maintained over the long term.

If the government wants to put Japan at the forefront of scientific research in key areas, it needs to make greater efforts to foster more leading researchers in these areas.

Masami Shimizu is an editorial writer of The Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

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The government is always handing out money for research that will improve our lives. Did you ever wonder where all that money comes from? Learn about the origins of money and see how the government has able to grant organizations and universities large sums of money for research throughout the history of the United States. Maybe one day you will be on the receiving end of one of those grants!

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