Achievements
Awards
The main awards and honors received by researchers are as follows (Affiliation at the time of the award). Past awards and honors
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Provided by The University of Osaka
“Regulatory T cells,” which suppress immune overreactions※（2025）
- SAKAGUCHI Shimon
- Distinguished Honorary Professor, Immunology Frontier Research Center, The University of Osaka
※Jointly awarded with Dr. Mary E. Brankow (Institute for Systems Biology, USA) and Dr. Fred Ramsdell (Sonoma Biotherapeutics, USA)
Discovery of the phenomenon by which mature cells can be reprogrammed to acquire pluripotency※（2012）
- YAMANAKA Shinya
- Director and Professor, Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), Kyoto University
※Jointly awarded with Prof. John Gurdon, Emeritus Professor, University of Cambridge
- 〔Research Results〕
- Establishing induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Provided by Kyoto University
Institute for Advanced Study
The development of metal-organic frameworks※（2025）
- KITAGAWA Susumu
- Executive Vice President, Kyoto University / Special Professor, Institute for Advanced Study, Kyoto University
※Jointly awarded with Prof. Richard Robson (University of Melbourne) and Prof. Omar Yaghi (University of California)
- 〔Research Results〕
- Development of porous coordination polymers (PCP)
Nobel Prize in Physics
Invention of highly efficient blue LEDs, enabling bright and energy-saving white light sources (2014)
- AKASAKI Isamu
- Professor Emeritus, Meijo University / Special Professor and Professor Emeritus, Nagoya University
- AMANO Hiroshi
- Professor, Nagoya University
- NAKAMURA Shuji
- Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara
- 〔Research Results〕
- Succeeded in the practical implementation of blue light-emitting diode!
Wolf Prize in Chemistry
For developing RNA-based catalysts that revolutionized the discovery of bioactive peptides※（2023）
- SUGA Hiroaki
- Professor, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo
※Jointly awarded with Prof. Jeffery W. Kelly (Scripps Research Institute, USA), Prof. Chuan He(The University of Chicago, USA)
For his achievements in the field of supramolecular chemistry※（2018）
- FUJITA Makoto
- Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
※Jointly awarded with Prof. Omar M. Yaghi, University of California, Berkeley
- 〔Research Results〕
- Crystalline sponge can solve the 100-year-old problem!
Stockholm Water Prize
Recognized for outstanding contributions to research on the global water balance, worldwide flows of virtual water, and spatiotemporal variations in renewable water resources (2024)
- OKI Taikan
- Special Advisor to the President / Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
- 〔Research Results〕
- Contribution to flood control and water usage policies in Thailand
Japan Prize
Provided by The Japan Prize Foundation
Discovery of the nucleic acid sensing mechanism by the innate immune system（2026）
- AKIRA Shizuo
- Specially Appointed Professor,
Center for Advanced Modalities and DDS (CAMaD), The University of Osaka
- 〔Research Results〕
- The role of innate immunity
Gairdner International Award
Discovery of regulatory T cells, elucidation of their role in immunity, and application to the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer (2015)
- SAKAGUCHI Shimon
- Professor, Immunology Frontier Research Center, Osaka University
Humboldt Research Award
Interdisciplinary research into discrete Discrete Mathematics, Graph Algorithms, Graph Theory（2024）
- KAWARABAYASHI Ken-ichi
- Professor, Informatics Principles Research Division, National Institute of Informatics/Professor, Department of Computer Science, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo
Clarivate Analytics Citation Laureate Award(formerly Thomson Reuters Citation Laureate Award)
For fundamental research on photocatalysts for water splitting and the construction of solar hydrogen production systems(2024)
- DOMEN Kazunari
- Special Emeritus Professor, Institute for Aqua Regeneration of Shinshu University / University Professor, Office of University Professor, The University of Tokyo
For genetic and physiological studies of the sleep/wake cycle and the discovery of hypocretin/orexin as important regulators of sleep involved in the cause of narcolepsy※（2023）
- YANAGISAWA Masashi
- Director, International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (WPI-IIIS), University of Tsukuba /
Adjunct professor, Department of Molecular genetics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA
※Jointly awarded with Dr. Clifford B. Saper (Harvard University) and Dr. Emmanuel Mignot (Stanford University)
- 〔Research Results〕
- Realizing Highly Accurate Sleep Electroencephalography Measurement at Home
For the development of innovative drug and gene targeting and delivery methods※（2023）
- KATAOKA Kazunori
- Center Director, Innovation Center of NanoMedicine (iCONM), Kawasaki Institute of Industrial Promotion / Professor Emeritus, the University of Tokyo
※Jointly awarded with Prof. Vladimir P. Torchilin (Northeastern University) and Prof. Karen L. Wooley (Texas A&M University)
- 〔Research Results〕
- Nano capsules allows the direct treatment of the affected parts of the body
Identification of TDP-43, a pathological signature of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), and for other contributions to the study of neurodegenerative diseases※（2022）
- HASEGAWA Masato
- Director, Department of Brain and Neurosciences, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science
※Jointly awarded with Dr. Virginia Man-Yee Lee, University of Pennsylvania
Thomson Reuters “Top 100 Global Innovators 2015”
JST became the first public institution in Japan to receive this award (2015).
Among the Top 100, 40 were Japanese companies or institutions. JST was the first Japanese public institution to be selected.
Reuters “Top 25 Global Innovators 2017: Government Research Institutions”
JST ranked 4th worldwide (1st in Japan).
Although the number of patent applications is relatively small compared with other institutions, JST demonstrated particularly high levels in analytical indicators such as “success rate,” “global reach,” and “average citations per patent.”
Selected as One of the “Top 10 Breakthroughs” by Science (USA)
Healthy mice born from cultured mouse eggs (2016)
- HAYASHI Katsuhiko
- Professor, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University
Selected as one of scientists list “Five to watch” from the British scientific journal “nature”
Using induce pluripotent stem cells (iPS) to human retinal pigment epithelium (2014)
- TAKAHASHI Masayo
- Center for Development Biology, RIKEN