Established in 2005, this award is open to female scientists who are enrolled in, or are planning to enter, a doctoral program in two fields of material science and life science in Japan. elected.

　The first person to receive an award in the field of "Material Science" was Ms. Haruna Katayama (age 1), assistant professor at the Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University.Her research on Hawking radiation, which has a unique quantum correlation emitted from electrical circuit black holes, has contributed to the realization of next-generation information processing and communication such as quantum computers.

　The second person is Mr. Ai Kohata (2 years old), specially appointed assistant professor at the Fluorine Organic Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo.She was recognized for her contribution to the practical application and expansion of the application range of nucleic acid medicine, which is said to be effective in treating intractable diseases.

　Haruka Sasaki (1 years old), Mizuta Laboratory, Department of Oral Anesthesiology, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University, was the first to receive an award in the Life Science category.She clarified the involvement of melatonin in the pathogenesis of asthma, and was evaluated for her contribution to the establishment of a drug discovery base for new therapeutic agents.

　The second is Ms. Asako Noguchi (2 years old), Department of Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo.She was recognized for clarifying the mechanism that amplifies the diversity of neural activity and contributing to the understanding of the nervous system, which processes vast amounts of information in a limited number of cells. (Age as of September 28, 2022)

　In the screening process, in the field of material science, the system has been strengthened so that it can handle a wider range of content, such as mathematics and mathematical science, in line with the diversification of research themes.Purely scientific results, especially the degree of contribution of the applicants themselves, were emphasized, and whether they considered and interpreted phenomena based on their own ideas and whether they were technically devised were evaluated.In the life sciences, researchers who have achieved excellent results from new perspectives and ideas, such as discovering new perspectives from observations of diseased patients and advancing research by assembling unique experimental systems, were particularly evaluated.

　In addition, this time, students from Yamagata Prefectural Yonezawa Kojokan High School were invited online to hold a panel discussion with experts in the fields of science and education. Optimal solutions to eradicate gender unconscious biases such as ``research and science are for men'', which is considered to be a major factor in the ratio of female researchers in Japan, which is the lowest among OECD member countries. held a conversation.

Reference: [Japan L'Oréal Co., Ltd.] - L'Oreal - UNESCO Women Scientist Japan Encouragement Award -