Three high school students enrolled in Shizuoka University's "School for Training Future Scientists" won fourth place in the Animal Science category at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, one of the world's largest science competitions, held in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
According to Shizuoka University, the high school students involved were one second-year and two third-year students from the stag beetle club of the Natural Science Club at Yaizu Chuo High School (Yaizu City, Shizuoka Prefecture). Under the guidance of Lecturer Hiroki Goto of the Faculty of Science at Shizuoka University, the three students conducted their research and revealed that the "female spots" found on stag beetle larvae are not tissues that play an important role in ovarian formation, as had been previously believed, but rather sites where fungi live in symbiosis.
The Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair is one of the world's largest science and engineering competitions for high school students, held annually in May in a US city. This year, 1,727 participants from 67 countries and regions competed in 22 categories.
The School for Training Future Scientists has been run by Shizuoka University since 2017. It provides an advanced and systematic science training program for high school students with outstanding abilities and motivation, aiming to cultivate individuals who can play an active role on the world stage.
