From the left: Gensei Ishimura, Masahiro Matsuo (Head of CoSTEP), Specially Appointed Professor Shigeo Sugiyama, Keizo Yamaguchi (President), Shuko Ohtsu, Takahiko Nitta (Director of the Institute for the Advancement of Higher Education)

Recipients:

・Shigeo Sugiyama (Faculty of Science, Specially Appointed Professor and former head of CoSTEP)

・Gensei Ishimura (Institute for the Advancement of Higher Education, CoSTEP Specially Appointed Associate Professor)

・Shuko Ohtsu (Institute for the Advancement of Higher Education, CoSTEP Specially Appointed Associate Professor)

・Naoyuki Mikami (Institute for the Advancement of Higher Education, Associate Professor)

May 9, 2014

MEXT established the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award in the field of science and technology with the aim of contributing to the raising of Japan’s scientific and technological level by praising the contributions of people who have achieved outstanding success in research in, or promoting the understanding of, the field of science and technology. 

Events such as the Great East Japan Earthquake have given even greater importance to science and technology communication, for example, it has become essential to aim for communication between experts and the general public about risks involved in science and technology. Meanwhile, diverse methods of communication are being developed around the world, and new tools such as Facebook and ebooks need to be incorporated into science and technology communication.

Accordingly, the Institute for the Advancement of Higher Education’s Communication in Science and Technology Education Program (CoSTEP) has developed various kinds of science and technology communication activities and integrated them into the training of human resources who will play a leading role in this sphere:

1) Development of methods such as science fairs and design workshops to boost young people’s interest in science and technology

2) Initiatives to promote dialog on themes like genetically modified crops, nanotechnology and BSE via such methods as consensus conferences and deliberative opinion polls

3) Fast and free publication of ebooks such as: Nobel sho e no michi: Suzuki Akira (Akira Suzuki: His Path to the Nobel Prize), as well as ebooks explaining the basics about radioactivity and radiation

4) Holding consensus conferences with local citizens to draw up tsunami evacuation maps, and publishing a manual for running consensus conferences

Through such activities, between 2005 and 2013, CoSTEP trained about 550 people who play leading roles in science and technology communication activities. CoSTEP graduates work actively in this field throughout Japan. CoSTEP has also contributed to the nationwide spread of science and technology communication, with many visits from universities and other facilities to view the educational program, and requests for CoSTEP staff to give classes and lectures. This award is in recognition of these achievements.

Further details are available on the MEXT website (in Japanese).

*English translations to Japanese titles provided for readability and are not official

http://costep.hucc.hokudai.ac.jp/costep/contents/article/1187/