onvergence of Disciplines in Japanese Universities

panese universities are responding to changes of innovation systems in industry, science and technology policy, and educational and research modes, by moving toward a new era of convergence of disciplines. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the trends and development of convergence of disciplines in Japanese universities. The contents are threefold: to review the interaction of innovation systems, science and technology policies, and the convergence of disciplines; to analyze the trends and development of the convergence of disciplines in Japanese universities from a macro approach; and to conduct a case study in a Japanese university to identify the challenges for the convergence of disciplines and the creation of research technology development platforms in that university. Based on this discussion we conclude that Japanese universities have made great progress in the convergence of disciplines since the 1990s, but these efforts are mostly constrained within colleges or univers