1)

The RFTF Program Committee, comprising leading members of Japan's scientific research community, deliberates important matters related to program implementation and sets up "research promotion committees" in each designated field.

2)

The research promotion committees create guidelines for systematically carrying out the research in their respective fields, while providing each project team with needed guidance and support and taking responsibility to see that the research is effectively advanced.

3)

Other entities such as the "university-industry cooperative research committees" established within JSPS may also provide needed guidance and support to the RFTF research projects.

4)

A research evaluation committee is established within the RFTF Program Committee, which comprises outside experts and other leading researchers. It conducts mid-term evaluations at the 2-year point of project implementation and final evaluations when projects end after a period of five years. The mid-term results are used to decide whether to continue a project or to adjust its content or methodology.

During the period from FY1996 to FY2001, JSPS distributed RFTF research grants to universities and other research institutions using government funding; from FY2002, it has been using subsidies from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Though the method of grant distribution has been modified, JSPS continues to perform research-evaluation and research-promotion functions so as to assure the consistency and continuity of RFTF projects.