Abstract

Japanese public research establishments have played a crucial role as “innovation hubs,” in which shared and core facilities have functioned as research infrastructure under the 5th Science and Technology Basic Plan since 2015. Innovation hubs encourage service in academia, including collaborations between industries and academia in shared facilities owned by public research establishments. Prior research has already highlighted that shared core facilities in Western countries emphasize efficiency and usability for external users. However, little attention has been paid to subjective and autonomous work motivations and incentives for service in academia of scientists and coordinators, almost all of whom have PhDs and aim to contribute to their academic communities. This article clarifies the organizational culture in a public Japanese nuclear magnetic resonance facility in contrast with the Paul Scherrer Institute, a Swiss public research establishment. In particular, this article examines the epistemic culture of mental conflicts between academia and socio-economic elements of shared facilities, using ethnographic data obtained in the Japanese public establishment. Also, this article demonstrates the co-creational relationship between academic contributions and service activities, referring to two dominant logics, goods-dominated and services-dominated.