Dr. MakiÅfs research interests involve fields of socio-economics of innovation & entrepreneurship, science policy, and university-industry technology transfer. He has three streams of research contribution: (1) the institutional design of entrepreneurship at research universities; (2) methods to improve startup success rates; and (3) quantitative research of innovation systems, particularly comparing the US and Japan.

Dr. Maki serves as a principal investigator for JST-RISTEX ÅgStar Scientists and Innovation in JapanÅh project.

[Project Objective]

To promote the advance of science, technology and innovation in Japan, optimized and effective allocation of research grants is becoming increasingly critical. In the United States, Ågstar scientistsÅh are not only highly achieving researchers, but also highly achieving entrepreneurs. The collaboration between star scientists and firms create economic prosperity. By conducting the chronological analysis of star scientists in Japan, this project intends to evaluate change in roles within JapanÅfs innovation system. Based on the analyses, we investigate how science and star scientists stimulate innovation. Furthermore, we will propose a direction for institutional reform in promoting innovation within the nation. Ultimately, we aim to construct a Ågvirtuous cycle of science and businessÅh in Japan.

[Project Outline]

The aim of this project is to construct a Ågvirtuous cycle of science and businessÅh in Japan by analyzing the impact of star scientists on the industry. To achieve this mission, we will focus on the following four research objectives:

(1) detecting star scientists in Japan;

(2) understanding the current situation of star scientists in Japan;

(3) impact of the national innovation system reform on star scientists in Japan;

(4) factors for consideration in the education of future star scientists.