The “Kumamoto University Female Researcher Award” and “Kumamoto University Female Researcher Encouragement Award” for AY2022
On March 13th, 2023, Kumamoto University held an award ceremony for the “Kumamoto University Female Researcher Award” and “Kumamoto University Female Researcher Encouragement Award.”These awards were established in the 2016 academic year to support the activities of female researchers and contribute to the promotion of gender equality in academics by recognizing female researchers who have achieved excellent research results and young female researchers with great potential. This year was the seventh awards ceremony.
In previous years, only one awardee was selected for the “Kumamoto University Female Researcher Award” and the “Kumamoto University Female Researcher Encouragement Award” respectively. However, due to the increasing number of applicants each year and the differences in evaluation methods between various disciplines, one awardee from each of the three realms of Humanities and Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Life Sciences was selected this year. Additionally, in support of recurrent education, the “Kumamoto University Female Researcher Encouragement Award,” which awards young researchers, is now targeted to young female researchers with less than 18 years of research experience, excluding periods of interruption due to a leave of absence, rather than by age.
An open call was held from December 2022 to January 2023 for female researchers in Kumamoto Prefecture and those who graduated from Kumamoto University. After a rigorous selection process, the “Female Researcher Award,” which is given to female researchers with remarkable research results and who have a character and insight worthy of being role models, was given to Dr. Hiroko Furuta, professor in Kumamoto University’s Graduate School of Education; Dr. Douyan Wang, associate professor in Kumamoto University’s Institute for Industrial Nanomaterials; and Dr. Kyoko Miura, professor in Kumamoto University’s Graduate School of Life Sciences. The “Kumamoto University Female Researcher Encouragement Award” went to Dr. Ayumi Sato, associate professor in Kumamoto University’s Graduate School of Advanced Science and Technology, and Dr. Saori Kanazawa, assistant professor at the Kumamoto University Hospital.
In his speech during the award ceremony, President Hisao Ogawa said, “In the future, we would like to develop these awards to improve the research capabilities of female researchers from Kumamoto Prefecture and Kumamoto University as a whole.” The winners received a certificate of commendation and a pearl brooch as an extra prize.
Following the award ceremony, the awardees gave presentation on their current and future research plans in their respective fields.
From left: Trustee Otani, Vice President for Research and International Affairs; Dr. Furuta; Dr. Miura; President Ogawa; Dr. Sato; Dr. Kanazawa; and Dr. Maeda, Vice President for Gender Equality