To faculty/staff involved in the use or management of public research funds
Research funds are essential for research activities. Of course, any misuse of research funds is strictly prohibited in all research activities, including research projects financed through public subsidies granted by the Japanese government or funded by the private sector.
Unfortunately, however, a series of cases in which public research funds were misused have recently happened at the university. The Guidelines for the Management and Audit of Public Research Funds at Research Institutions (Implementation Standards), established by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, impose strict standards on both researchers and research institutes, requiring them to take necessary measures to prevent the misuse of research funds. When any misuse of research funds is recognized, the investigation results will be published and the violator will be required to return the research funds and face penalties, such as limited eligibility for application.
In this way, misuse of public research funds will destroy the reputation not only of the researcher himself or herself but also of Waseda University as well, while at the same time causing the university to be held responsible for such misuse as a research institution.
To eradicate the misuse of research funds, it is extremely important to raise faculty and staff awareness and to create an organizational climate that does not cause research funds to be misused and that prevents such misuse. To this end, Waseda University has set a special awareness month against the misuse of research funds (from February 19 through March 30, 2024) to run an awareness building campaign for faculty and staff, as well as students.
I would like to ask our faculty and staff to continue to show understanding and support for our efforts to promote proper use of public research funds.
Vice President for Research
WAKAO, Shinji
