Shiseido celebrates 10 years of supporting females in science with research grants

Achieving recognition​

The event, held at the Shiodome FS Building, Tokyo in Japan, celebrated the cosmetics retailer’s focus on innovation and formulation. For 10 years, Shiseido has backed the activities of its females researchers, by helping them to continue their efforts with a research science grant.

As the Shiseido Female Researcher Science Grant reaches its 10th birthday, the company gifted a grant of one million yen (€7.6 mn) to ten recipients.

Building a future​

The Japanese personal care name recognises the importance of further raising the number of female researchers in the industry.

Yoichi Shimatani, chief research and development officer at Shiseido remarked that this remains the aim of the grant, along with succeeding in bring together high-level research themes, which it has strived to do since its inauguration in 2007.

“Slowly but surely, the grant’s purpose of supporting female researchers who are aiming to be leaders is being achieved,”​ Shimatani stated.

Leadership improvement​

Natsumi Ageta-Ishihara, a lecturer at Nagoya University, spoke about being a representative of the 10th grant recipients: “It is a great pleasure for me to earn the award. The reason why I continued to apply for the grant was [that] I agreed with the aim of the grant, which is to support women who aim to hold a leadership position.”​

“I used the grant to hire technical support staff and created a research group to continue my research activities today,”​ Tomoko Kamasaki, a project assistant professor at Hokkaido University and recipient of the company's 2016 grant, proudly stated.

“As a researcher, I am moving up step by step. I am strongly aware of what this grant can do."​

Scientific research goals​

The grant has recently been expanded to cover all areas of natural science research. It continues to strive to support females achieve their leadership goals while building an ‘ideal working environment’ to help them reach these objectives.

“Going forward, Shiseido will continue to support them through grants and contribute to nurturing female researchers by creating an ideal work environment where female researchers can pursue their research activities,”​ Shiseido said in a recent press release.