Next Generation
- Major Initiatives
- Innovations Inspired by Nature Research Support Program
- Past grant research themes
Innovations Inspired by Nature Research Support Program
Fostering the Next Generation Through Programs That Leverage the Characteristics of Our Businesses.
To aid the application of scientific knowledge in manufacturing, SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group has been running the “Sekisui Chemical Innovations Inspired by Nature Research Support Program” since fiscal 2002, in commemoration of the 55th anniversary of the SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group’s founding. In fiscal 2022, research grants were provided for four projects on “manufacturing” themes and ten projects on “fundamental research” themes, for a total of 14 grants from among 210 applications.
Examples of innovations inspired by nature research.
Research findings relating to themes granted support as part of the fiscal 2018 “Innovations Inspired by Nature Research Support Program” were published in preliminary form in the online edition of the British science journal Nature Communications. (Affiliations and positions are those at the time of receiving awards)
Fiscal 2018 Support Themes
Shiki Yagai (Professor, Chiba University)
Development of new supramolecular polymer materials based on lessons learned from protein topology
Fiscal 2022 Support Themes
Manufacturing Theme
| Name | Affiliated institution Position (Affiliations, positions, and so forth are those at the time of receiving the grant award) |
Grant-Receiving Research Theme |
|---|---|---|
| Takuya Kitaoka | Professor, Department of Agro-Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University | Development of Bioadaptive Cell Culture Scaffolds for Regenerative Medicine Inspired by the Nanoarchitectures of Natural Polysaccharide Nanofibers |
| Liu Hao | Professor Director, Center for Aerial Intelligent Vehicles (CAIV) Chiba University, Graduate School of Engineering |
Biomimetic design of wind gust-rejected insect-inspired drones |
| MURATA TAKAHISA | Associate Professor,Graduate school of agricultural and life science, The University of Tokyo | Development and application of new lipid synthesis methods inspired by fish intestine |
| SAITO Akira | Associate Professor,Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University | Realization of “Bright, Wide-Spread, and Color-Dispersion Free” Transmissive Optical Materials learning from Butterfly, Moth, and Plants |
Fundamental Research Theme
| Name | Affiliated institution Position (Affiliations, positions, and so forth are those at the time of receiving the grant award) |
Grant-Receiving Research Theme |
|---|---|---|
| ENOMOTO Yukiko | Associate Professor, Department of Biomaterial Sciences, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences,The University of Tokyo | Biodegradable aromatic plastics inspired by biodegradation mechanism of wood |
| Hiruma Kei | Assistant Professor,Department of Life Science, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo | Toward development of a method to reduce chemical fertilizers in agricultural field by utilizing plant-associated beneficial fungi |
| Yusuke V. Morimoto | Associate Professor, Faculty of Computer Science and Systems Engineering,Kyushu Institute of Technology | Highly efficient energy conversion system driven by bacteria |
| Ryo Ariizumi | Assistant Professor,Department of Mechanical Systems Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University | Automatic Robot Design Inspired by Evolutions and Developments of Vertebrates |
| Ryo Yoshida | Professor,School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo | Self-oscillating softmaterials learning from autonomous motion and function of cell, tissue and organ |
| Kazunori Sugiyasu | Professor,Department of Polymer Chemistry, Kyoto University | Creation of supramolecular plastics inspired by silkworm |
| Naohiro Kameta | Chief Senior Researcher,National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology | Nucleic Acid Stabilization Techniques Learned From The Capsid Shape of Viruses |
| Nobuhide DOI | Professor,Keio University | Development of Drug Delivery System inspired by Fertilization |
| Takeshi Onuma | Associate Professor,Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Faculty of Science, Kagoshima University | Designing houses with fibre-based folding structures, lessons from the larvacean, Oikopleura dioica. |
| Ikkyu Aihara | Assistant Professor,Faculty of Engineering, Information and Systems, University of Tsukuba | Autonomous distributed communication system inspired by selective attention in frog choruses |
The recipients of the Fiscal Year 2022 Innovation Inspired by Nature Research Support Program
In fiscal 2022, the awards ceremony was conducted online, using Zoom.
Past grant research themes
Please click the following for details of past grant research themes.
Innovations Inspired by Nature Forum 2022
To realize a sustainable society, SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group is expanding its contribution to resolving various social issues through business by seeking “business growth, reform, and creation centered on ESG management.”
The Innovation Inspired by Nature Forum is held to report the results of the Innovation Inspired by Nature Research Support Program, which gives grants to research that utilizes foundational science knowledge learned from nature and the functioning of nature in innovation, as well as to promote research exchanges among involved researchers.
In fiscal 2022, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Forum, the lectures and poster session, which were previously held at the Sekisui Chemical Kyoto Research Institute, were held online.In the lecture session, we received congratulatory speeches from Professor Emeritus Mikiharu Kamachi of Osaka University, who was the first chairman of the original jury, and Professor Junji Watanabe of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, who is the current chairman of the current jury. And Dr. Yuichi Tsuda, Hayabusa2 Project Manager of JAXA, gave a lecture titled "Technology and Management of Hayabusa2, which successfully made an interplanetary round-trip to Asteroid Ryugu".
To ensure active sharing of opinions even online, the Group set up two venues—the results presentation venue and the discussion venue. The results presentation venue served as a place solely for showing pre-recorded videos of presentation outlines. This allowed presenters to fully devote themselves to discussion at the discussion venue.
The adoption of this method was well-received as it enabled results presenters and participants to focus on the sharing of opinions, which led to active discussions.
Innovations Inspired by Nature Forum 2022
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The first chairman
Professor Emeritus Mikiharu Kamachi -
The current chairman
Professor Junji Watanabe -
The lecturer
Professor Yuichi Tsuda
Online
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Presentation venue: A presentation video recorded in advance was shown.
(Clicking on the arrow will not start the video.) -
Discussion venue: An active discussion was held online with
the grant recipients who made presentations.