Shiseido Co. Ltd. : Announcement of 10 Grant Recipients for the 5th Shiseido Female Researcher Science Grant
03/07/2012| 09:31pm US/Eastern
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2012
March
Announcement of 10 Grant Recipients for the 5th Shiseido
Female
Researcher Science Grant
Shiseido has selected 10 grant recipients for the 5th
Shiseido Female Researcher Science Grant, which is aimed at
fostering the development of female researchers taking a
leading role in the fields of natural sciences. The
announcement will be made in conjunction with International
Women's Day on March 8, 2012. Recipients will each receive a
grant of 1 million yen from Shiseido.
Additionally, the grant presentation ceremony is scheduled
for sometime around June 2012 at the
Shiseido Shiodome office in Tokyo.
Background to the Establishment of Shiseido Female Researcher
Science Grant
As a country with scarce natural resources, Japan is aiming
to be a nation built on the platform of scientific and
technological creativity based on the recognition that the
advancement of science and technology is essential in order
to contribute to the advancement of international society and
contribute to the enrichment of society. At the same time,
amid a situation in which the issue of students moving away
from taking science-related courses is increasingly becoming
a major concern, securing talented personnel is becoming a
pressing issue in the fields of science and technology. In
order to address this issue, attention is being focused on
how to utilize female researchers.
Looking at the current situation, despite women's active
participation in society becoming the norm, even today, the
proportion of female researchers versus overall researchers
in Japan account for 13.6% (research conducted by the
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in 2010),
which is significantly low compared with other developed
countries (e.g., 34% in the United States and 33% in Italy
according to the White Paper on Gender Equality 2011, Cabinet
Office). Although this disparity is likely due to various
factors, one of the reasons is that women are more
susceptible than men to life stages such as giving birth,
childcare and nursing care, while at the same time, the
environment for providing support is insufficient.
In view of these circumstances, Shiseido has established the
Shiseido Female Researcher Science Grant in fiscal 2007 and
selects 10 grant recipients each year to support their
research activities of as outstanding female researchers
specializing in natural sciences.
Regarding Shiseido Female Researcher Science Grant
In order to extend support to the largest possible pool of
applicants, Shiseido does not set limits on age and has
expanded research fields to encompass all natural science
research. Whereas most existing research grants restrict the
use of grant money to the purchase of reagents and
equipment, Shiseido elected to allow these funds to be used
to hire research assistants in support of female researchers'
ability, to enable them to continue their research free of
concerns about their particular life stage.
Shiseido's Initiatives to Support Students in Electing to
Take Science-Related Courses
Shiseido is sending its research members to conduct lessons
for female junior high school and high school students with
the desire to take science-related courses. The number of
such female students is increasing in recent years.
Additionally, other support activities such as science cafes
are also being implemented from this fiscal year to encourage
the study of science-related courses, in which previous
science grant recipients are invited as lecturers to talk
with female junior high school and high school students.
List of Grant Recipients (Application Period: September 15 -
November 7, 2011; Research Period: June 2012 - May 2013)
Name
Organization/Department
Title
Research Theme
Izumi Iwakura, Ph.D.
Department of Chemistry,
Graduate School of Science, Hiroshima University
Assistant
Professor
Analysis of intersystem crossing
during chemical reactions catalyzed by metal complexes
Yayoi Onda, Ph.D.
Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata
University
Assistant
Professor
Mechanism for regulation of
energy and metabolism network in plant cells
Mio Kondo, Ph.D.
Institute for Molecular Science,
Department of Life and Coordination-Complex Molecular
Science
Assistant
Professor
Construction of water splitting
system via the control of electron transfer at
interface
Miyuki Sato, Ph.D.
Laboratory of Molecular Traffic,
Institute for Molecular and
Cellular Regulation, Gunma University
Assistant
Professor
Molecular mechanism for
maternal inheritance of mitochondrial DNA
Hitomi Sawai, Ph.D.
Okazaki Institute for Integrative
Bioscience, Institute for Molecular Bioscience,
National Institute for Natural Sciences
Research
Assistant
Professor
Elucidation of the molecular
mechanisms for intracellular heme homeostasis
Miho Nakamura, Ph.D.
Institute of Biomaterials and
Bioengineering, Tokyo Medical and Dental University
Assistant
Professor
Age-related changes in material
characterization and osteoclastgenesis of cortical bone
Tomoko Masaike, Ph.D.
Department of Physics, Faculty
of Science, Gakushuin University
Assistant
Professor
Studies on the mechanism of
efficient functional rotation of physically rotating
molecular motor F1-ATPase
Shino Manabe, Ph. D.
RIKEN, Advanced Science
Institute, Synthetic Cellular
Chemistry Laboratory
Senior
Researcher
The Development of Glycosyl
Bond Formation Methodology Using Novel Reactive Species
and Creation of New Oligosaccharide Polymer
Miho Yanagisawa, Ph.D.
Department of Physics, Graduate
School of Sciences, Kyushu
University
Assistant
Professor
Construction of model
multi-cellular systems and the control of their
intra-cellular interactions: Physical approach to
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