Ceremony held for OU asiam Activity Contributions Awardees

On January 28, the award ceremony for the 5 winners of the 2023-24 Osaka University asiam Activity Contributions Award was held in the President’s Office. Four of the five award winners attended the ceremony, which was held in the presence of President NISHIO Shojiro, Professor Emeritus Kudo, Executive Vice President INOUE Keiji, Vice President SHIMAOKA Mana (Director, Center for Diversity and Inclusion), and Professor UMEDA Junko (Joining and Welding Research Institute).

This award was established in the academic year 2023-24 by a generous donation from Professor Emeritus KUDO Mayumi to the fund for supporting women’s activities of the Osaka University Foundation for the Future.

The award recognizes student members of asiam, a network for female students in natural sciences, who engage in activities to develop knowledge and skills needed to be female researchers and leaders who can create a new path to the future.

The winners received award certificates and supplementary prizes from President NISHIO, while Professor Emeritus KUDO expressed her appreciation and gratitude for the activities of asiam. She also spoke about the background to the establishment of asiam and her expectations for the network.

Following the ceremony, the award winners engaged in a pleasant conversation with the ceremony attendees, sharing their experiences in asiam and their comments on them. Some also explained why they chose to pursue natural sciences or engineering. The awardees said that, while they are aware that the percentage of female students majoring in sciences is low, they would like to participate in asiam’s activities in order to eliminate unconscious bias, which leads to fewer opportunities for women, and to allow female students in elementary, middle, and high schools to choose their path in life based on their own interests and abilities. The winners were hopeful as role models and promising enough to be trusted with our future, displaying a glimpse of their leadership qualities.

Finally, President NISHIO expressed his expectation for the role of asiam, sending words of encouragement.