Mercari, Inc. (“Mercari”) is pleased to announce that our R&D organization Mercari R4D (“R4D”) was registered by the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (“JSPS”) under the Program to Support the Employment of Young Researchers to Improve Research Environments (“the Program”) as a Recruiting Institution.
The Program to Support the Employment of Young Researchers to Improve Research Environments
The Program is an initiative to make it possible for registered research institutions to employ research fellows and PDs, etc. (post-doctorate researchers with excellent researching skills recruited by JSPS to dedicate themselves to research in universities or other research institutions, “PDs, etc.”)1, launched in 2023.2 The Program intends to foster the next generation of young Japanese researchers and improve their research environments and conditions so that they may take on their research without worry.
The background behind R4D’s application to the Program
R4D, since its inception, has held to the belief that in order to innovate, it is essential to build an innovation ecosystem where knowledge and personnel can freely go between industry, academia, and government, and an approach of co-innovation that goes beyond the borders of this trifecta must be taken.
As a part of this approach, R4D has strived to achieve a fluid dynamic of talent between academia and industry, and has proactively taken on initiatives such as the Mercari R4D PhD Support Program3 and a new working style for researchers that allows them to belong to a university while also being employed at Mercari.
By being registered to the Program as a Recruiting Institution, R4D intends to accept excellent young researchers from a wide range of fields, strengthening the exchange between industry, academia, and government, and further vitalizing its innovation ecosystem.
Moreover, while taking in PDs, etc. into its organization, R4D intends to promote the initiatives listed below in order to improve the expertise of the PDs, etc., enable them to acquire practical knowledge and new perspectives to be applied to a corporate environment, and support the sharing of their research results to the wider public for the goal of realizing more in-depth research over a wider scope of topics.
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Providing opportunities to collaborate with research members of varying research areas
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Providing opportunities to use data from the Mercari marketplace app for research purposes and collaborate with business units and collaborative research partners
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Conducting outreach activities to communicate research topics and results inside and outside the company
Mercari will continue in its efforts to foster young researchers and improve research environments to achieve further innovation.
About Mercari R4D
Mercari R4D was established in December 2017 as a research and development organization that aims to implement its findings practically, as part of the world at large. Under its mission of “pioneering the path toward undiscovered value,” R4D promotes a co-innovation approach to solving complex social issues by leveraging the power of science and technology, and also by going beyond the conventional boundaries of industry, academia, and nationality in order to realize a society where limited resources are circulated and all people can unleash their potential.