Overview

Institute of Science Tokyo (hereinafter: the University) operates under the vision of realizing a virtuous cycle based on academic excellence and thus facilitates research. The most important issue is the consolidation of the University's research infrastructure (devices, human resources, and operating systems). Various initiatives have been pursued to this end, including the consolidation of technical staff. There are many shared facilities at the University that the teachers utilize in large-scale projects. Moreover, many facilities have somehow been kept operational through the faculty's independent efforts, so it is difficult to grasp the extent of the burden on professors and equipment wear and tear. This is a big issue in terms of management strategy. One of our challenges is that we are not utilizing our talented technical staff as partners to facilitate the research conducted by our professors and researchers.

In order to meet this challenge, the University proposed the creation of the Open Facility Center (below, OFC) under the “National University Reform Plan,” and the Center was opened in April 2020. The OFC oversees the research infrastructure of the entire university based on the University’s operation, education, and research strategies––providing the highest standard of research support with facility-sharing at its core. The organization is literally the core facility of the University. With the OFC at its core, the University is driving “I. Integrated Management of Facility-Sharing at the University,” and “II. Training and Certification of Highly-Skilled Personnel for the Research Infrastructure.”

この中で、「Ⅰ.設備統合管理」では，(i) 設備共用推進体（部局下の設備共用をOFC傘下に取り込む制度）制度の導入と推進，(ii) 設備の集約化，(iii) 統合設備共用システムの構築を進める。統合設備共用システムは設備照会・予約・課金の他に，研究基盤戦略策定のための分析（研究基盤IR）機能も持たせる。それにより，本学で更新・購入すべき大型設備が明確になり，本学が目指しているエビデンスに基づく設備経営が可能となる。（OFCは2024年の大学統合後にCFCに改名）