In addition to continuing support for academic conferences in dermatology, Shiseido has helped fund research in this area for nearly 40 years. The Company helps to raise the level of research in the discipline by actively publicizing associated research results.

* Shiseido introduced the Shiseido Female Researcher Science Grant, which supports the research activities of outstanding female researchers specializing in the natural sciences. At the same time, the Shiseido Science Research Grant which was launched in 2003 was discontinued (effective at the end of fiscal 2006).

Even as proponents praise the goal of making Japan a nation built on the platform of scientific and technological creativity, students are taking science courses in ever-decreasing numbers, so that securing talented students has become a pressing issue for the fields of science and technology. Yet despite social acceptance of women's participation in society, even today, the proportion of Japanese researchers who are female is extremely low compared with other countries. This disparity is likely due to a variety of factors, but one major reason is that women often feel that they must forego a life spent pursuing scientific research because they are more likely to be involved in the life stages of delivery, childcare, and nursing care than men.
Faced with this situation, Shiseido established the Shiseido Female Researcher Science Grant program in fiscal 2007 to help foster the development of a new generation of leading female researchers, by supporting the research activities of outstanding female researchers specializing in the natural sciences. In order to extend support to the largest possible pool of applicants, we do not set limits on age and have expanded research fields to encompass all natural science research. Whereas most research grants restrict the use of grant money to the purchase of reagents and equipment, we elected to allow these funds to be used to hire research assistants in support of female researchers' ability, to continue their research free of concerns about their particular life stage.
As the activities of female researchers become even more important in the fields of science and technology in the future, it is Shiseido's hope that outstanding female researchers will make use of this grant program to facilitate even greater accomplishments.

The 2nd Shiseido Female Researcher Science Grant Recipients

Comments

TOPICS

Shiseido Female Researcher Science Grant First Presentation Ceremony and Debriefing Session Held

Shiseido is implementing the Shiseido Female Researcher Science Grant (* Link:Japanese only) with the aim of fostering the development of female researchers taking a leading role in the science and technology field by supporting research activities of female researchers specialized in the natural sciences field.
On June 2, an award ceremony for grant recipients was held for the first time and welcomed the 1st and 2nd Shiseido Female Researcher Science Grant recipients at the Shiseido Research Center in Shin-Yokohama. Additionally, in conjunction with the presentation ceremony, a debriefing session was held by the grant recipients who completed the initial one-year research period.
Along with grant recipients, external judges including Professor Sanae Ariga of Hokkaido University, Professor Kashiko Kodate of Japan Women's University and Emeritus Professor Masako Sasaki of Tokai University also attended the ceremony. Vice President and Representative Director Kimie Iwata of Shiseido Company, Limited presented a memorial plaque to grant recipients in a cordial atmosphere. Additionally, the 1st Shiseido Female Researcher Science Grant recipients reported achievements during the research period, and a Q&A session was actively carried out thereafter together with Shiseido research staff. Moreover, roundtable discussions conducted after the debriefing session had a significant meaning, in which participants were able to actively exchange opinions regarding balancing work and personal life in addition to research-related discussions.

Commemorative photo of the
1st and 2nd Shiseido
Female Researcher Science
Grant recipients

In order to offer this grant to as many female researchers as possible, there is no specified age limit for submitting proposals, and research areas have been set in broad terms as the "natural sciences." Furthermore, in order to support female researchers who tend to be affected by life-stage responsibilities, including childbirth and childcare, and enable them to continue their research activities, besides research costs, this grant may also be applied to expenses such as employment fees of assistant researchers. This grant system is garnering a high reputation, in which the number of proposals is increasing every year, as reflected by 132 proposals and 208 proposals submitted for the 1st and 2nd Shiseido Female Researcher Science Grants, respectively, versus the 10 grants offered. Shiseido will continue to support female researchers in the future.

Shiseido is proud to work with the Super Science High School (SSH)<*> program, part of the "Love Science and Technology Plan" that the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has pursued since 2002.
In fiscal 2008, 53 students from three schools designated as a Super Science High School (SSH) visited our Research Centers, where they enjoyed tours of our laboratories and learned about various aspects of cosmetic science, including dermatological research, development of cosmetic ingredients, skin characteristics measurement, and the effects of aromachology. Staff sought to inspire an interest in cosmetic science among the students, and included experiments in their lectures. Through the experience, the students seem to have gained an understanding of cosmetics as a field where state-of-the-art science from a broad range of fields comes together in the form of pure skin research, the search for attractive ingredients, safety assurance, and the psychological effects of products.
We have also been sending researchers to schools in response to requests to show students who want to be scientists what it's like to immerse oneself in research on a daily basis. Designed to give students a more familiar experience of science, lectures by researchers span content ranging from descriptions of their research to scientific hints gleaned from daily life.
Students who have participated in the program speak of it in glowing terms, describing how seeing real research is conducted helped them overcome their dislike of science to develop an interest in the subject, and how they are now considering pursuing a future in the sciences.
We plan to expand these efforts beyond exposing students to the depth and complexity of the research and cosmetic science pursued at Shiseido. In doing so, we hope to contribute to the training of new scientists and engineers by helping the children who will be responsible for the future of Japan gain familiarity with science.

* Super Science High School: A high school emphasizing technology, science, and mathematics as part of an initiative to enhance education in those areas. During Fiscal 2008, a total of 106 schools throughout Japan have received the designation.

In response to Japan's aging population and significant changes in the environment for medicine as well as the quality of medical care itself, Shiseido established the Minami Aoyama Dermatology Skin Navi Clinic using donations from the Camellia Club Medical Foundation Incorporated in an effort to help improve quality of life (QOL) for all individuals.
The desire to enjoy lifelong beauty, health, and happiness is not unique to women but rather a common goal of all people. By harnessing the dermatological knowledge gained through collaboration with Shiseido research and development in aesthetic medicine and the development of cosmetics, the clinic will search for safer, more effective preventive methods and medical treatments.
Our achievements in research in aesthetic dermatology have been recognized by the Japanese Society of Aesthetic Dermatology in each of the three years since 2004. Today research in topics such as chemical peeling using glycolic acid and tranexamic acid ion implantation is contributing to the development of new cosmetics and aesthetic medicine.