The Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) decided the winners of the 1st Brilliant Female Researchers Award (The Jun Ashida Award). The awards ceremony will be held at Miraikan on November 17 (Sun), 2019.
At the awards ceremony, JST will present a trophy and certificate to each winner, and the Ashida Fund* will offer a supplementary prize of one million yen to a winner of the Brilliant Female Researcher Award (The Jun Ashida Award). A talk session is also scheduled to be held with the participation of the award winners and some next-generation youth mainly composed of high school students.
＜The 1st Brilliant Female Researchers Award (The Jun Ashida Award) – Awards Ceremony＞
Date: November 17 (Sunday), 2019, 13:00 – 14:30
Venue: Scheduled to be at the 1F Special Exhibition Zone, Miraikan (2-3-6 Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo)
*The Ashida Fund was established in 1994 by the late fashion designer Jun Ashida for the purpose of nurturing the younger generation. The Japan International Science and Technology Exchange Center (JISTEC) operates and manages the Ashida Fund by keeping the funds from Jun Ashida Co. Ltd.
Group Leader, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Barcelona
Synthetic Developmental Biology
・2013
The Young Scientists' Prize from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
・2005-2008
JSPS fellowship for Young Scientists
Dr. Ebisuya is one of the top researchers in synthetic developmental biology, having "reconstituted" cell autonomous differentiation and cellular pattern formation artificially. She has recently attracted attention for tackling an essential question of biology: investigating the cause of different timing of developmental processes among different animal species.
She also makes contributions to the academic community and wider society by promoting communication between European and Japanese researchers.
・The research results of Dr. Miki Ebisuya were published in Science.
Mitsuhiro Matsuda, Hanako Hayashi, Jordi Garcia-Ojalvo, Kumiko Yoshioka-Kobayashi, Ryoichiro Kageyama, Yoshihiro Yamanaka, Makoto Ikeya, Junya Toguchida, Cantas Alev, Miki Ebisuya, "Species-specific segmentation clock periods are due to differential biochemical reaction speeds", Science, 10.1126/science.aba7668
In 2009, Kyushu University launched their original “employment and training system of faculty members by setting up female posts” ahead of other universities, and built the “Kyushu University Method” of recruiting and nurturing excellent female human resources – using a highly transparent two-stage examination obtaining applications from female researchers through international public advertisement. They also established the “system of employment for faculty members with accompanying spouse” in 2017.
By analyzing the performance of the papers of female researchers, the effect of their female-focused recruitment system was quantitatively verified and visualized. As a result, they demonstrated the significance of this system, contributed to unconscious biases reduced regarding the research capabilities of female researchers, and also are working on collaboration and development with other organizations through communication at international conferences –attracting attention both at home and abroad.
Professor, Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS), Institute for Advanced Study, Kyoto University
organic main-group element chemistry
organic functional material chemistry
Dr. Fukazawa has produced outstanding achievements in her research on the development of organic functional materials and given back to society: the commercialization of a super-photostable fluorescent dye that survives in repeated STED laser irradiation and development of a solution-processable organic semiconductor with high stability in air.
She also inspires the younger generation, both female and male, with her regular science information dissemination activities on various media channels.
