On 12.09.2018, Prof Hirano from Waseda University in Tokyo presented his study on the Impact of Indirect Departments on Research Productivity to interested researchers at RITM.

In the first part of his presentation, he explained the context of the study and his motivation to apply with it to the “Make Our Planet Great Again” call for projects. The selection of his proposal enables him to make this research visit for data collection purposes which has been supported by ”Exploration France 2018”.

The second part focused on the details of his study, such as the current literature on the productivity of research and the gap which he identified regarding the importance of organisational capabilities of indirect departments and its influence on the research performance. In a cross-country comparison between France and Japan, the study is looking to explore if the difference in the size of indirect departments at universities cause any difference in research management and/or in research productivity.

The presentation was followed by questions from the audience and a discussion. Prof Hirano was accompanied by Dr.Hara who is currently for a research stay as 2018 Michelin fellow at EHESS – Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales.