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The Politics of Russia's Primorsky Krai

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Sitting nearly four thousand miles away from Moscow, Russia's eastern region of Primorsky Krai thinks and acts differently than its western countrymen.

Most nine-hour journeys from Moscow land you on the east coast of the United States. But that is assuming one is flying westward over the Atlantic or crossing the pond, as the Brits like to fondly refer to transatlantic destinations. But a nine-hour journey flying eastwards, over seven time-zones across the Urals and over Siberia, wouldn’t necessarily get you to Japan. It would get you close—right to the eastern border of Russia, the port city of Vladivostok.

Vladivostok is a peculiar place for many reasons. As maritime expert Rockford Weitz reminds us, most people forget that Russia is a Pacific country until they visit the port city. Trade notwithstanding, the city is home to the Russian pacific fleet, a naval bastion whose importance was even more accentuated during the Soviet-era Cold War. Vladivostok is so strategically important that the city was closed to foreigners during the Soviet era; even Soviet citizens needed special permits to enter.

Former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev visited Vladivostok in the 1950s and was besotted enough to genuinely want to work towards making it the Soviet San Francisco. The similarities were evident with both cities being on the Pacific coast and the gale across the ocean lent itself to similar climates. Khrushchev’s goal can be seen in the design of the Zolotoy Bridge and the Russky Island Bridge, closely, though not identically, resembling the structures of the iconic Golden Gate and the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. Communism perhaps precluded Vladivostok from achieving its own Silicon Valley and having an economy comparable to San Francisco. But the city certainly became a key venue for high power political discourse.

The framework of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT II) was discussed here in Vladivostok between former President Gerald Ford and then-Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev. Russian President Vladimir Putin made a conscientious decision to host the APEC Summit here in 2012. The recent cherry on the cake was the high profile summit between Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un which was hosted at the cavernous and state-of-the-art campus of the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU).

While Vladivostok has been a key figure in politics, the politics of the eastern region of Primorsky Krai are different from the political capital of Moscow and the cultural capital of St. Petersburg. Moscow’s concerns have long been the remnants of the Cold War era: The trust-deficit with the United States, that has only grown prominent since the annexation of Crimea in 2014; the simmering tensions with Ukraine as a result of Crimea and the Donbass region; NATO encirclement and enlargement into once-Soviet territories on its western border that continue to infuriate the Kremlin; and a relationship with the European Union that has never been quiet warm or convivial, given the hand-in-glove relationship between Brussels and Washington.

The name Vladivostok translates to ruler of the east, and in a name, there is an identity. In this case, the eastern identity has formed. Ensconced so far east, the geographic and time difference translates to the political distance between Primorsky Krai and the politically and culturally affluent western Russia. The region is part of the Far East district; the name “ far east” itself is almost reminiscent of an anglophone era, subtly indicating that the prosperous pastures belong in the west, whatever is your west (globally or locally).

Primorsky Krai is the eastern most point of East Europe, so east at that point that it stops looking like Europe and starts looking like Asia. So far east, that one tour guide at the state museum of Primorsky Krai, described Vladivostok as the edge of the world, and if the flat earth theory held true, then we’d fall off if we went any further east.

It’s one hundred kilometers from China’s northeastern border, with Harbin being the closest major Chinese city and just an hour flight away from Sapporo in Japan. Pyongyang is under 700 kilometers away and hence it’s no surprise that a lot of diaspora in the Russian Far East has Asian roots, with a huge population of Russian Koreans (so Russian, that some of them can’t speak Korean) and migrant labor from North Korea and China.

Vladivostok is closer to Alaska and Hawaii than it is to Moscow. And Alaska and Hawaii serve as fitting examples for states that aren’t the quintessential red, white, and blue “all American” states. Asking residents of Primorsky Krai to gauge the pulse of Moscow, is akin to asking residents of Anchorage or Honolulu if they feel an intimate bond with Washington, DC or New York City.

As FEFU academic Tamara Troyakova tells me over lunch in Vladivostok, “When we [residents of the Far East] wake up, they [Muscovites] fall asleep, and when they start work, we end work. So how can they think for us or feel what we feel?” Physical factors of geographic distance once influencing the intangible political distance.

“We are so far away and they don’t even call us the Pacific capital of Russia” says Alexey Starichkov , director of the Primorsky Krai Department of International Cooperation. Local government officials see Primorsky Krai as a Russian outpost in the Asia-Pacific region. Starichkov confidently states that Primorsky Krai influences Russia’s Eastern & North Asia policy.

Starichkov’s message is vindicated by the fact that Vladivostok has the most number of diplomatic missions after Moscow and St. Petersburg. Furthermore, six of the seven consulates operating in the region belong to Asian countries—China, India, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Vietnam—with the sole exception being the United States.

The Primorsky Krai region has trade worth $700 billion. External trade and exports with Asian behemoths run into billions of dollars: $300 billion split between China, Japan and South Korea.

Sino-Russia relations have seen the ebbs and flows from the days of Mao Zedong and Joseph Stalin to a special friendship between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, who perhaps found common ground in being seen as threats to the United States’ position at the top of the geopolitical totem pole. But officials in Primorsky Krai remind me that a lot of Russia’s relationship (half, to be specific) with China is a result of the eastern region.

Both countries have major economic forums on either side. The Eastern Economic Forum, started in 2015, is Putin’s brainchild and is held every year in Vladivostok to foster closer economic cooperation between the Russian Far East and its Asian neighbours. Meanwhile, the summer Davos or Davos of the East goes to the port city of Tianjin in Northern China.

Japanese diplomats at the consulate in Vladivostok remind me that Japan is another strong ally. This notwithstanding a natural historic bond with the United States. Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has had over twenty meetings with Putin and attended the Eastern Economic Forum in 2018, while Putin returned the favor, by visiting Japan in June. Putin and Abe have agreed to rejig the council of governors which will increase interactions between governments (such as the Far East) of various districts and provinces in both countries. Timber trade between the two countries flows through Primorsky Krai with Japan being the major importer.

What Japan exports, it makes up for in exports with a vast number of automobile imports to the Far East. The roads in the east are teeming with Mazdas, Toyotas, Hondas and Nissans; hailing from a practice of importing cheap second hand automobiles from Japan during the Cold War era. Back then, tense relations with the West precluded significant imports of American and other Western automobiles. While Russia, like so many non-commonwealth countries, drives on the right-hand side of the road, the prevalence of Japanese car models means that you have right-hand driven vehicles on the right side of the road. A peculiarity evinced in Vladivostok over its western counterparts.

Ural Airlines has frequent flights to Hokkaido from Vladivostok. The Far East constitutes nearly ten percent of the total tourists visiting Russia, however Japanese tourists don’t exceed more than twenty-four thousand a year. Japanese diplomats at the consulate in Vladivostok tell me that it’s due to the lack of visa free access that exists between Japan and Russia.

However, South Korea and Russia do share visa free access and flight connectivity between the Russian Far East and Seoul, seeing between ten to fifteen flights per day. There has been a tourism uptick in the Far East and on average South Koreans make up one hundred thousand in tourist arrivals.

A short drive outside Vladivostok will take you to the small town of Ussuriysk, home to several Russian Koreans, which enhances the cultural link between the two countries.

The elephant in the room is the other Korea. The two share a seventeen-kilometer border along the lower Tumen River, linked together by a bridge called the Friendship Bridge, alluding to the warm ties shared between Russia and the DPRK.

Publicly, both Russia and North Korea are allies, a relationship which precedes the very founding of the Hermit Kingdom. North Korea was once under the rule of the Soviet Civil Administration from 1945 to 1948. The ties strengthened with Soviet involvement as an ally in the Korean War of 1950. Putin is credited for improving ties with Pyongyang, which had seen a lull following the collapse of the USSR. The Far East’s proximity to North Korea means there has been a steady stream of North Korean migrant workers and North Korean restaurants in the city. Even Pyongyang’s cargo jets get refueled at Vladivostok International Airport.

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Together with European partner organisations, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is launching the "Supporting at-risk researchers with fellowships in Europe" (SAFE) programme. In cooperation with Campus France, the Collège de France and the Mediterranean Universities Union (UNIMED), the DAAD is enabling up to 60 at-risk international academics to continue their research in the EU. The European Commission is providing around twelve million euros for this purpose until 2027.

"We are seeing worldwide that academic freedom is coming under increasing pressure. This is why the importance of protection programmes for threatened academics and researchers within the EU is constantly growing," explained DAAD President Prof. Dr Joybrato Mukherjee. "With the Hilde Domin Programme, we have already established a successful programme for threatened students and doctoral candidates in Germany. It is now very pleasing to be able to expand this important European pillar of protection programmes for threatened or persecuted academics together with partner organisations from France and Italy."

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According to the Academic Freedom Index, academic freedom is now severely restricted in 27 countries. This means that around 3.6 billion people worldwide live without academic freedom. The SAFE programme therefore offers scientists at risk in their home countries a safe framework to continue their research at European universities or research institutions. In the pilot phase, up to 60 researchers will initially be placed at universities and research institutions across the EU and funded for two years. The European Commission is supporting the project with twelve million euros until 2027.

The programme will start at the beginning of September and the first researchers are expected to be in the EU from spring 2025. European universities can nominate researchers from countries outside the EU for the programme. Individual applications by researchers to the DAAD are not possible. Non-EU citizens who are already recognised as refugees in the EU can also be nominated for the programme via a university in the EU.

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The DAAD already offers three programmes to protect students or doctoral candidates at risk: The Hilde Domin programme is aimed at students and doctoral candidates at risk. The "Leadership for Africa" programme provides refugees from West, East and Central Africa in particular with a safe path to studying in Germany. Both programmes are funded by the Federal Foreign Office. In addition, the "EU Mobility Programme for Myanmar", funded by the European Union, offers university degree opportunities for students from Myanmar in the ASEAN region.

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Primorsky Krai, Russia

The capital city of Primorye krai: Vladivostok .

Primorsky Krai - Overview

Primorsky Krai (informally Primorye ) is a federal subject of Russia located in the south-eastern part of the country, in the south of the Far East, part of the Far Eastern Federal District. Vladivostok is the capital city of the region.

The population of Primorsky Krai is about 1,863,000 (2022), the area - 164,673 sq. km.

Primorye krai flag

Primorye krai coat of arms.

Primorye krai map, Russia

Primorye krai latest news and posts from our blog:.

20 September, 2017 / Vladivostok - the view from above .

23 July, 2015 / Gamov lighthouse - the easternmost lighthouse in Russia .

24 February, 2014 / Abandoned shelter-base for Soviet submarines .

11 September, 2012 / These tanks are not afraid to go under the water .

28 April, 2012 / First demonstration flights of new Russian combat helicopters .

More posts..

News, notes and thoughts:

18 August, 2011   / A shark attacked a 16-year-old youth in Russia's Primorye region, officials said, a day after a man lost his hands in a similar shark attack unprecedented for the region. What is wrong with the sharks all over the world?

9 January, 2011   / A bear apparently wounded by hunters broke into a school in the Primorye Territory in Russia's Far East, police said Sunday. Yeah, bears walking the streets of Russian cities.

History of Primorsky Krai

The first people settled in the region more than 30 thousand years ago. According to ancient legends, the coastal line was densely inhabited. In the Middle Ages, there were three empires on the territory of Primorye, which successively replaced each other: Bohai (698-926), Jin (1115-1234), Eastern Xia (1215-1233).

In the early 13th century, the territory of East Asia suffered the Mongol invasion. This led to the fall of the empire of Jin, but some provinces in the east preserved independence and formed an independent state known as Eastern Xia. In 1233, after another invasion this state ceased to exist too.

After that, the region was in ruins and attracted people persecuted in surrounding countries (bandits, adventurers, political dissidents). The first documented Russian presence in the region dates back to the summer of 1655, when the northern Primorye was visited by Russian Cossacks under the command of Onuphrius Stepanov.

In the middle of the 19th century, the Russian Empire began to strengthen its position in the north-west coast of the Pacific Ocean. In 1856, Primorskaya oblast was formed from the coastal parts of Eastern Siberia and Kamchatka. The territory of present Primorye was incorporated into the Russian state on the basis of Aigun (1858) and Beijing (1860) peace treaties that legalized the border between Russia and China.

More historical facts…

Since then, the southern part of Primorye took its current shape. In 1860, Vladivostok was founded as a military post. Russian migration in the region began. In 1899, the Oriental Institute was opened in Vladivostok - the first higher educational institution in Eastern Siberia and the Far East, and one of the oldest in East Asia.

Further strengthening of Russian positions in the Far East was limited by the small size of the Russian population and remoteness from populated parts of the empire. Regular communication between St. Petersburg and Vladivostok was established after the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway in 1903.

From 1861 to 1917, about 250,000 peasants arrived in Primorye and founded 342 settlements. In 1917, the population of Primorye amounted to 307,000 people. By the mid-1920s, the local population reached 600,000 people. In the 1930s, forced industrialization and collectivization began which led to another wave of migration. The migration was both voluntary and forced (prisoners).

In 1937-1938, about 200,000 people of Korean and Chinese nationalities were forcibly deported from the region. Until the end of the 1980s, as a result of ethnic deportations, the Chinese and Koreans disappeared from the national composition of the population of Primorye.

In the summer of 1938, on the southern boundary of Primorye, in the area of Lake Khasan, there were military clashes between Manchukuo (a puppet state under Japanese control) and the Soviet Union. After two weeks of fighting, the USSR was able to repel the aggression. On October 20, 1938, Primorsky Krai with the capital in Vladivostok was formed.

After the end of the Second World War, Primorsky Krai continued to develop as a major industrial and agricultural region of the Far East also specializing in the extraction of natural resources. Rail and sea transport played a significant role in the local economy. Migration from the European part of Russia and Siberia continued, which led to an increase of population of the region from 1,381,000 people in 1959 to 1,978,000 in 1979.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the region’s economy went into decline, reverse migration in the European part of Russia began. At the beginning of the 21st century, the social and economic situation in Primorsky Krai improved.

Beautiful nature of Primorsky Krai

On the coast in Primorsky Krai

Author: Andrej Serbskij

Hilly landscape of Primorsky Krai

Author: Kazakov Igor

Primorye scenery

Author: Viktor Koblov

Primorsky Krai - Features

Primorsky Krai is located in the south of the Far East, in the south-eastern part of the Russian Federation. It is bordered by Khabarovsk Krai in the north, China in the west, North Korea in the south-west, and is washed by the Japan Sea in the south and east. The largest cities are Vladivostok (601,300), Ussuriysk (172,000), Nakhodka (140,200), Artyom (104,500).

The maximum length of Primorsky Krai (from the mouth of the Tumannaya River to the source of the Samarga River) is about 900 km, the maximum width (from the valley of the Ussuri River to the coast of the Sea of Japan) - about 280 km. The highest peak is Mount Anik (1,933 meters) located in the north-easton of the region, near the border with Khabarovsk krai.

The climate of Primorye is temperate monsoon. Winters are dry and cold with sunny weather; springs are long, cool, with frequent changes of temperature; summers are warm and humid; autumns as a rule are warm and dry.

The main peculiarity - lots of precipitation and fog in summer. Summer is the period of typhoons. The average temperature in July is about plus 17-21 degrees Celsius, in January - minus 8-23 degrees Celsius.

Primorsky Krai - Economy

A number of large and unique deposits of various minerals have been discovered in Primorye. This region has the most powerful mining industry in the Far East of Russia. There are about 100 coal deposits (2.4 billion tons), 30 deposits of tin, 15 deposits of complex ores containing zinc, lead, copper, and silver. Gold deposits are located both in the south of the region and in the north.

The largest in Russia deposit of boron is located near the town of Dalnegorsk. Several phosphorite deposits are discovered on the shelf of the Sea of Japan. There are also several small oil fields, large deposits of germanium. Mountain rivers have significant hydropower potential. Diverse forests cover about 80% of the territory.

Primorsky Krai is the most developed region in the Russian Far East due to its favorable geographic location and abundance of various natural resources. The local economy is based on such industries as mining, timber, fisheries, trade, shipbuilding and repairing.

Primorye has a relatively well-developed transportation network. The main traffic artery is the eastern section of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Due to its proximity to Japan and the Republic of Korea (imports of relatively cheap used cars), Primorsky Krai occupies the first place in Russia in the number of vehicles in the population.

The seaports of Primorsky Krai play an important role in the economy of Russia. The largest container terminals in the Russian Far East are located here. Regional and international air flights are carried out from Vladivostok International Airport.

Attractions of Primorsky Krai

Primorsky Krai is known for its rich flora and fauna, the variety of landscapes, the warm sea in the south, springs with healing water. All this creates favorable conditions for tourism development.

In Primorye, there are more than 500 unique natural sites (lakes, waterfalls, ancient extinct volcanoes, caves, bays). There are six nature reserves and three national parks:

• Far East Marine Reserve in the Gulf of Peter the Great,
• “Kedrovaya Pad” Reserve,
• Lazovsky Reserve,
• Sikhote-Alin Reserve included in the UNESCO World Heritage List,
• Ussuri Nature Reserve,
• Khanka Reserve,
• “The Call of the Tiger”,
• “Udege Legend”,
• “The Land of the Leopard”.

The following places of interest are also noteworthy:

• The Rope Park in Andreevka - a sports-tourist trail that includes elements of sports tourism and mountaineering,
• Shanduyskie lakes - mountain lakes located in the north of Primorye,
• “Black Sand” beach located near the village of Zarubino in Aleut Bay - an interesting beach with volcanic black sand, which is considered to be curative,
• The lighthouse on the southern tip of Gamov Peninsula. Gamov Peninsula is the pearl of Primorye and the Far East.

Primorye krai of Russia photos

Landscapes of primorsky krai.

On the shore of the Sea of Japan in Primorsky Krai

Author: Konstantin Tkachenko

Primorsky Krai scenery

Small river in Primorye

Author: Melnitsky Stanislav

Primorsky Krai views

Forest in Primorsky Krai

Primorye landscape

Village in Primorsky Krai

Author: Roman Mikulchik

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• NATURE INDEX
• 29 August 2024

Japan moves to halt long-term postgraduate decline by tripling number of PhD graduates

• Tim Hornyak 0

Tim Hornyak is a freelance science and technology journalist in Tokyo.

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A PhD student works in a clean room at the University of Tokyo. Credit: Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP via Getty

In response to a decline in the number of PhD holders in Japan, the Japanese government has announced plans to not only stop the trend but reverse it, by tripling the number by 2040.

Japan is the only major economy that has recorded a dip in PhD numbers since 2000. In 2022, there were 14,382 new PhD admissions across the country — down 21% from a high of 18,232 in 2003.

As a proportion of the population, there are now fewer PhD holders in Japan than in many other leading research countries. According to Japan’s National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP), in 2020, the country had 123 PhD graduates per million people, well below the rate of 315 per million in Germany and 313 per million in the United Kingdom for that year, and 285 per million in the United States in 2019.

A survey published by NISTEP in 2021 revealed that many doctoral students in Japan feel demoralized because of financial uncertainty, career insecurity and a lack of career progression.

To address the problem, Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) announced a three-pillared plan in March, with a focus on boosting career opportunities as well as institutional support and outreach for PhD students. The government is hoping to promote a cultural shift that raises the status of PhD holders in Japanese society.

“We want to create an environment that increases the number of people aiming for doctoral degrees, produces many excellent candidates, and realizes a fruitful life for each candidate and the sustainable development of society as a whole,” Mitsunari Yoshida, director of the Policy Division in MEXT’s Higher Education Bureau, told Nature Index.

Career choices

The first pillar of the initiative focuses on diversifying career choices, to ensure that doctoral candidates have a more active role in research outside academia, such as in local and central government, start-up companies and other private-sector groups.

2024 Research Leaders

This focus on industry and government roles aims to address a long-standing cultural issue in Japan, namely that having a PhD might actually limit someone’s chances of being hired.

“The greatest obstacle is the perception that once one gets a PhD in a subject, one is regarded as an expert in that particular field,” says Ken Mogi, a researcher in neuroscience at Sony Computer Science Laboratories in Tokyo, and a visiting academic at the University of Tokyo. “With that image comes the assumption that a person with a PhD is inflexible in work in the real world. For that reason, Japanese companies are typically not forthcoming in employing people with PhDs, discouraging students to consider a career with a PhD.”

MEXT plans to promote long-term, paid internships for PhD students in the private sector, as part of a broader effort to entrench internships in Japanese society.

Symbolic of this is Cooperative Education Through Research Internships, a programme introduced in 2021 with the support of 45 universities and 45 companies, including major Japanese brands. The paid internships run for at least two months, are eligible for academic credit, and aim to support doctoral researchers by matching them to companies and diversifying their career options. The ministry wants to increase the number of PhD candidates in these internships to 5,000 by 2030, up from 3,000 as of May this year.

Boosting support

As its second pillar, MEXT wants to raise the quality of graduate schools by providing extra funding and tracking their progress.

MEXT will part-fund PhD students’ living and research expenses through the Support for Pioneering Research Initiated by the Next Generation (SPRING) scheme, which is run by the Japan Science and Technology Agency to support outstanding doctoral students; and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science’s Research Fellowship for Young Scientists programme, which supports doctoral students to pursue innovative research of their own choosing.

“Financial issues are significant in Japan, and many PhD students are struggling," says Tomokazu Iwabuchi, a PhD student in urban planning at Kyushu University in Fukuoka.

After years of taking on part-time jobs during his master’s programme, Iwabuchi says he can now spend more time focusing on PhD research because he was chosen for the university’s Future-Creation course, which is part of the SPRING programme. Doctoral students on the programme receive ¥200,000 (US$1,360) per month to cover living expenses and language training, up to ¥850,000 yen per year in research expenses, and a 50% reduction in tuition fees.

In 2023, Iwabuchi started his own consulting business rooted in his research on urban planning and geographic information system (GIS) data. “I’m really happy to hear that the government is putting more resources into supporting PhD students,” he says. “I hope they will have more career options in the near future.”

Strengthening motivation

The third pillar is about boosting student motivation by supporting more outreach programmes. One example is the Future Doctoral Festival, an annual gathering in Tokyo at which doctoral students give presentations and take part in panel discussions related to their research. The goal of initiatives such as this is to showcase the appeal of pursuing a PhD, not just to students, but also to leading figures in the public and private sectors.

Ranny Herdiantoputri, a doctoral student in oral pathology at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University welcomes this outreach, but says more attention must be given to the mental health of prospective PhD students, especially those from overseas who might struggle with the Japanese language and feelings of isolation.

“Students can suffer from imposter syndrome and anxiety, and wonder, ‘Am I really good enough for this?’,” says Herdiantoputri. “Without proper support, outreach gatherings can make it worse.” She adds that teaching jobs at Japan’s public universities are almost impossible to get, and she plans to return to her home country, Indonesia, after her degree.

Will it work?

Koichi Sumikura, who studies science and technology policy at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo, thinks that a change in mindset among those in industry is a must. “A majority of industry managers in Japan consider that the expertise and the area of interest of PhD holders are too narrow and do not fit their business,” he says. “However, PhD holders tend to be trained for acquiring a wider field of view.”

Sumikura emphasizes the importance of PhD programmes teaching skills that are relevant to industry. “PhD holders themselves should be trained not only in a specific academic expertise, but also general scientific knowledge, communication skills and business and social literacy,” says Sumikura.

Nobuko Kobayashi, who works for EY-Parthenon, a consultancy based in Boston, Massachusetts, and who writes about innovation and human resources in the Japanese media, says she hopes that Japan will consider and support entrepreneurship opportunities for its PhD holders.

“It’s important that universities strengthen education and opportunities around entrepreneurship, so students can bridge their research with real-world applications,” says Kobayashi. One encouraging factor is the increase in start-ups in Japan. In particular, she says, the number of start-ups spun off from Japanese universities has increased every year, and these firms “also hire significantly more PhD graduates compared to other Japanese companies”.

It is to soon to tell whether the measures Japan is now undertaking can motivate its doctoral students, change hiring practices and overhaul its research culture. But Sumikura agrees that the effort is worthwhile. “It is not easy to achieve that goal, but it is worth trying,” Sumikura says.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02718-6

Nature Index’s news and supplement content is editorially independent of its publisher, Springer Nature. For more information about Nature Index, see the homepage .

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