When I was in charge of the COE program (a MEXT-funded program for research promotion) at the previous university, a professor, who was the program leader, suggested the university develop a profession in research administration and nurture those who are specialized in academic support. That was a long time before "URA" was introduced in Japan. Since then, I have been interested in engaging in academic support. Also, I thought that I would be able to utilize my experience as a program officer at a private foundation and decided to apply for URA.