International Affairs Section
“International Affairs Section” has been newly established as an organization to deal with international affairs systematically in the reorganization of the National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) in October 2006. The International Affairs Section conducts the businesses, (1) as for international treaty and international conference, (2) as for cooperative research and scientific agreements with foreign institutions, (3) as for international scientific exchange, together with Office of Polar Expedition.
Since the polar research is conducted in the international field, it is indispensable to conform to the international framework and to have an international coordination. The Antarctic Treaty which was decided in 1959 to deal with an international relation in the Antarctic is a fundamental framework for the Antarctic research which was flourished in IGY (International Geophysical Year) in 1957 and for NIPR. Under the framework of “Antarctic Treaty System”, science community, “Scientific Committee of Antarctic Research” (SCAR), was established within the International Council for Science (ICSU) and has been acting as the center for many international cooperative researches in the Antarctic. Operators of Antarctic Expeditions join together at COMNAP (Council of Managers of National Antarctic Program). As for the Arctic, International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) was established by eight Arctic countries and several non-Arctic countries including Japan also joined the committee, and important issues are discussed. Now, cooperation among Asian countries is essential, and “Asian Forum for Polar Sciences” (AFoPS) was established in 2004. Director General of NIPR is acting as a Chair for these two years. Till the recent, these international societies were corresponded by individual researchers personally; however, now a continuous and systematic correspondence of the institute, NIPR, is required and then the International Affairs Section has been established.
Besides these international frameworks, many international cooperative research programs and projects are underway in the recent. It is possible for specific researchers to correspond these programs and projects; however, it is also needed to have much more systematic correspondence as NIPR by the International Affairs Section to own information jointly and to realize science policy. Now, one of the substantial international program, International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008, is under way, and the role of the International Affairs Section is indispensable. (422)
Internationalization of NIPR is still an urgent subject, under the circumstances of strengthening the international strategy by MEXT following “the Third Fundamental Plan of Science and Technology”. It is greatly important to support the research scientist to actively conduct international communications and activate research activities. The International Affairs Section is needed to examine, propose and implement international strategy in broad area.
