On April 21 at the Keidanren Kaikan facility in Tokyo’s Chiyoda City, the 14th Grant Award Ceremony of the Canon Foundation was held. There, the fourteen individuals finalized as Principal Investigators were awarded a Research Grant Award Certificate by Canon Inc. Chairman & CEO Fujio Mitarai, who also serves as Councilor & Chairman of the Canon Foundation.

In his congratulatory greetings, Councilor & Chairman Mitarai expressed his congratulations and future expectations towards the researchers, saying, “Without exception, all of the chosen themes were ingenious, rich in ambition, and hold the promise of innovation. My hope is that all the researchers will extensively pool their wisdom and tackle the challenge of innovative research without being fettered by precedents in order to resolve various issues that we must cope with on a global scale, such as global warming, resource depletion, declining birthrates, graying populations, and inequality among people.” Canon Foundation Chairman Hiroyuki Yoshikawa followed this with an expression of hope and encouragement towards the researchers, saying, “Much of the research chosen for these awards was planned as holistic research of difficult issues to be conducted alongside multiple joint researchers. It is evident to me that instead of tackling new research based on narrow scientific and technological themes, these researchers in multiple fields have taken the approach of adopting lofty objectives and tackling the challenge of difficult social issues while applying fresh intellectual curiosity. This encouraged me greatly. Going forward, I hope you will keep pressing on vigorously with your research so that you contribute to the resolution of those social challenges.”

Afterwards, Shinichiro Ogaki, Chief of the Screening Committee for the “Science and Technology that Achieve a Good Future” Research Grant Program and Yoshihito Osada, Chief of the Screening Committee for the “Science and Technology that Create New Industries” Research Grant Program, gave comments on the screening process and words of encouragement to the researchers selected as Principal Investigators. This was followed by the conferment of a Research Grant Award Certificate by Councilor & Chairman Mitarai to the fourteen researchers finalized as Principal Investigators and statements on behalf of the researchers by Saitama University Assistant Professor Tomoko Takahashi and Tokyo Institute of Technology Assistant Professor Takamasa Kawanago, who expressed their gratitude for the grants-in-aid and their ambitions for the future.

At the end of the Grant Award Ceremony, a guest lecture titled “Developing Second-Generation Porous Materials: Tectonics of Materials and Space” was given by Nagoya University Distinguished Professor Yusuke Yamauchi, one of the Principal Investigators under the 5th “Creation of Industrial Infrastructure” Research Grant Program, who said, “Conductive nanoporous materials, which were realized ahead of the rest of the world using unique synthesis methods thanks to grants-in-aid from the Canon Foundation, are now gathering attention in the world’s material chemistry fields as ‘second-generation inorganic porous materials.’ Through the JST-ERATO Yamauchi Materials Space-Tectonics Project, which has a total budget of 1.5 billion yen, we will establish new design theories related to the micro-structure and functions of organic metallic structures and next-generation porous carbon materials. These are expected to be applied in the likes of energy storage for fuel cell catalysts.” In his lecture, Professor Yamauchi enthusiastically shared his wonderful research results and subsequent developments, providing the newly-chosen researchers with considerable encouragement.

At the social gathering that followed the Grant Award Ceremony, the researchers were the center of vibrant interaction with the Foundation officers and members of the Screening Committee who were on hand, bringing the proceedings to a successful close.