FD in English, Kyushu University (January 23, 2018)

1. Toru OGA, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Faculty of Law
January 23, 2018
Managing Research Collaboration
International, Inter-disciplinary, and Trans-disciplinary
Approaches

2. About Presenter
Toru OGA
• Associate Professor, Faculty of Law
• Research Themes:
International Politics, International Relations,
East Asian Regionalism, Human Rights
Regimes
Email: toga@law.kyushu-u.ac.jp
Twitter: @toruoga0916
http://toruoga.net/
1

3. Major Challenges in Social Science Research
2
Inter-discipline Trans-discipline
Trans-discipline
1) Internationalization
 Outputs in English publications and international
environments
Collaboration with multinational researchers
2) Inter-disciplinarity
 From discipline-oriented to issue-oriented
 Digitizing and computational social science
Collaboration with different disciplines
3) Trans-disciplinarity
 Academia and Society
 Solving social problems and policy outputs
Collaboration with stakeholders

4. Major Challenges in Social Science Research
3
Internationalization
Inter-discipline Trans-discipline
Trans-discipline
 International collaboration is only a necessary condition,
not a sufficient one
 We need to think more about research issues, especially
interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary coordination
 How are different disciplines across different countries
relevant to responding to research issues?
 How can stakeholders access research results?
→International collaboration, inter-disciplinary and
trans-disciplinary researches should be based on
issue-driven approach.

5. Basic Strategy of Research Collaboration
4
Internationalization
Internationalization
Inter-discipline Trans-discipline
Trans-discipline
High Disciplined
Low Issued
High Disciplined
Low Issued
Low Disciplined
Low Issued
Low Disciplined
High Issued
Discipline-based Approach (How) Traditional Strategy
Issue-based
Strategy
Issue-based
Approach
(What)

6. Basic Strategy of Research Collaboration
5
Internationalization
Internationalization
Inter-discipline Trans-discipline
Trans-discipline
High International
Low Issued
High International
High Issued
Low International
Low Issued
Low International
High Issued
International Collaboration Traditional Strategy
Issue-based
Strategy
Issue-based
Approach
(What)

7. Basic Strategy of Research Collaboration
6
Internationalization
Internationalization
Inter-discipline Trans-discipline
Trans-discipline
High trans-
disciplined
Low issued
High trans-
disciplined
High issued
Low trans-
disciplined
Low issued
Low trans-
disciplined
High issued
Trans-disciplinarity Traditional Strategy
Issue-based
Strategy
Issue-based
Approach
(What)

8. Basic Questions of Research Collaboration
[Issue Q] What are the issues to be answered?
[Inter-disciplinary Q] What disciplines are required to answer
the issue?
[International Q] What international collaboration is required to
answer the issue and to organize an interdisciplinary team?
[Research Output Q] What are the major research outputs?
[Trans-disciplinary Q] What are the benefits to stakeholders of
this research?
[Funding Q] What are major sources of funding?
7

9. Basic Questions of Research Collaboration
8
Issues
Inter-
disciplinary
International
Research
Output
Trans-
disciplinary
Funding

10. Collaboration 1: Japan–Korea CSR Research
9
Issues Business Government Civil Society
Business
Employment
Consumer Issues
Environment
Poverty
Diversity
• How has corporate social responsibility (CSR) contributed
to community development (in six issues) and collaborated
with Government and civil society sectors in Japan and
Korea?

11. Collaboration 1: Japan-Korea CSR Research
• Issue: Community Development
• Disciplines: Political Science, Sociology, Business,
Communication, Development Studies, Environmental
Engineering
• International: Japan, Korea
• Stakeholders: Business, Governments, Civil Society
• Research Output: Book
• Funding: JSPS (Japan Society for Promotion of Sciences)
10

12. Collaboration 1: Japan-Korea CSR Research
Exchange Lectures from 2018
• Understanding East Asian Society (School of Law）
• Interactive seminar though a video conference system
between Kyushu University and Seoul National University
• Fieldwork (Fukuoka) and student conference (Seoul)
11

13. Collaboration 2: Multicultural Democracy
12
• Social infrastructure (institution, structure, norm) promotes
multicultural community-building, but also causes social
exclusion
• Multicultural democracy: multicultural community-building
through democratic processes
Social Infrastructure
(Institution, Structure, Norms)
Multicultural
Community-building
Social Exclusion
What Mechanisms?

14. Collaboration 2: Multicultural Democracy
13
Data Analysis
Text mining
Survey Experiments
International Comparison
USA/UK/Canada/France/Russia
/China/Korea/The Philippines/
Thailand/Indonesia/Malaysia/
Poland/Denmark

15. Collaboration 2: Multicultural Democracy
• Issue: Multicultural Democracy
• Disciplines: Political Science, Law, Sociology, History,
Education, Linguistics, Information Science
• International: Japan, USA, UK, Canada, France, Russia,
China, Korea, The Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Poland, Denmark
• Stakeholders: Governments, Civil Society
• Research Output: Seminars and Conferences, Books
(Japanese, English)
• Funding: JSPS
14

16. Collaboration 3: Localizing SDGs (Sustainable
Development Goals)
15

17. Collaboration 3: Localizing SDGs
16
• This project is in collaboration with the UN Research
Institute for Social Development
• We will conduct a small-scale project and a large-scale
project
• Small-scale Project
Focus on nine cities in Japan, Korea, and China to
examines and compares how SDGs have been
implemented and localized in environmental, social, and
economic realms.
• Large-scale Project
Extend the small-scale project to 20-25 cities all over
the world, and organize a world conference with
Governments, Businesses, and Civil sectors.

18. Collaboration 3: Localizing SDGs
• Issue: SDGs (Environmental, Social, Economic initiatives)
• Disciplines: Political Science, Sociology, Economics,
Business, Development Studies, Environmental Science
• International: Japan, Korea, China, and the World
• Stakeholders: Government, Business, Civil Society
• Research Output: Platforms, Networks, Conferences, Books
(Japanese, English)
• Funding: Toyota, Sasakawa, JSPS
17

19. Conclusion
 International collaboration is only a starting point.
 We need to think more about
- research issues to be answered.
- interdisciplinary research coordination to respond
research issues.
- transdisciplinary coordination and outputs for
stakeholders
 International collaboration, inter-disciplinary and trans-
disciplinary researches should be based on issue-driven
approach
18

20. Thank you for taking interest and for your time !!
19