Innovations Inspired by Nature Research Support Program

“Innovation inspired by Nature” Research Support Program, SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO. LTD

Using nature's wisdom to build a sustainable society

To aid the application of scientific knowledge in manufacturing, SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group has been running the “Innovation inspired by Nature Research Support Program, SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO. LTD” since fiscal 2002, in commemoration of the 55th anniversary of the SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group’s founding. In fiscal 2024, research grants were provided for three projects on “manufacturing” themes and eleven projects on “fundamental research” themes, for a total of 13 grants from among 262 applications.

Fiscal 2024 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
Mitsuru Komeya Assistant Professor, Yokohama city university, Department of urology Development of a Catheter Insertion System Inspired by the Growth Mechanism of Tree Roots
Akiko Nakano Assistant Professor, Bioproduction Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University Pilot testing of Microbial-Induced Sand Solidification for Field Application
Miho Tagawa Professor, Institute of Materials and Systems for Sustainability (IMaSS), Nagoya University, Tokai National Higher Education and Research System Creation of novel materials using the precise structure formation mechanism of nucleic acids: Assembly of high-quality single crystals of nucleic acid nanoparticle superlattices and their application to optical signal-enhancing probes

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
Hiroyuki Isobe Professor, Department of Chemistry, The University of Tokyo Development of 2D materials by learning from honeybee combs
Tatsuto Kageyama Researcher, Kanagawa Institute of Industrial Science and Technology Development of cultured animal fibers inspired by angora rabbits
Nobuaki Negishi Chief Senior Researcher, Environmental Management Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology Why do insect wing surfaces have a bactericidal effect? Application of mechano-bactericidal effect inspired by the bactericidal wing surface of insects to bacteria in water
Shuhei Ikemoto Associate Professor, Graduate School of Life Science and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology Development of a mechanical multiplexer for an anthropomorphic robot hand
Aya Yoshimura Assistant Professor, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University Antibiotics Discovery Inspired by Interbacterial Communication
Kyohei Kanomata Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University Pickering emulsion-assisted organic synthesis inspired by cell structure and its application to production of pharmaceutical intermediates
Chie Kojima Professor, Institute of SCIENCE TOKYO Construction of delivery systems into immune cells inspired by amino acid metabolic disorders
Yasuhiro Inoue Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University 4D Printing inspired by biological differential growth
Sei-etsu Fujiwara Associate Professor, Department of Physiology St. Marianna University School of Medicine Development of a device to alleviate depressive symptoms learned from capybara's behavior
Masaaki Fuse Associate Professor, Hiroshima University
Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering
Exploring community planning based on the concept of biological evolution

The recipients of the Fiscal Year 2024 Innovation inspired by Nature Research Support Program, SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO. LTD.

The award ceremony was held on Tuesday, October 22, 2024.

Information on past grant themes

Research findings relating to themes granted support as part of the fiscal 2020 “Innovation inspired by Nature Research Support Program, SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO. LTD” were published in the international scientific journal Science Advances.

Fiscal 2020 Support Themes
(Affiliations and positions are those at the time of receiving awards)

Nobuyoshi Miyamoto(Associate Professor, Department of Life, Environment and Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Fukuoka Institute of Technology)
Supermolecular actuator inspired by animal myofibrils: novel self-assembly behavior of mono-disperse inorganic nanosheets with precisely controlled size and morphology

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

  • The first chairman
    Professor Emeritus Mikiharu Kamachi

  • The current chairman
    Professor Junji Watanabe

  • The lecturer
    Professor Yuichi Tsuda

Online

  • 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.