On January 20th, 2011, Okayama University held a symposium on the tenure-track system at the 50th Anniversary Hall with some 170 participants including staff and faculty members from Okayama University, other public universities and private universities. The tenure-track system aims to support young academics to gain research and education experience through fixed-term employment before they attain a tenure position.
　
　In 2008, Okayama University introduced the tenure-track system for research in the Research Core for Interdisciplinary Sciences, recognizing this type of system is found in leading-edge “Centers of Excellence.” Okayama University is now considering the expansion of the tenure-track system from research to also include teaching. The symposium was organized to deepen the understanding about the significance and the importance of the tenure-track system.

　In the first symposium session, Dr. Yoshio Kumagai, Program Officer of the Japan Science and Technology Agency, discussed the purposes and the current status of the tenure-track system in Japan in the keynote speech.

　In the second session, a panel discussion was held, chaired by Dr. Koji Tanaka, Director and Vice-President of Okayama University. Dr. Yoshio Kumagai, Program Officer of Japan Science and Technology Agency, Dr. Tadashi Matsunaga, Director and Vice-President of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Prof. Isamu Nagano, Director and Vice-President of Kanazawa University, Dr. Satoshi Watanabe, Professor of Hiroshima University Research Institute for Higher Education, and Dr. Masahiko Shishido, Director of Research Core for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Okayama University, discussed how things stand at universities which have implemented the tenure-track system, and experiences with the tenure-track system in the United States referring to actual cases.

　A question-and-answer session followed the panel discussion, and the symposium participants and the panelists exchanged ideas and thoughts about the system.

Photo: The panelists interacting with the symposium participants
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