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Science Castle Research Fund 2024 Japan Ham Award

Science Castle Research Fund 2024 Japan Ham Award is now closed for applications.

Science Castle Research Fund 2024

Nippon Ham Award, Call for Applications!

 

At Nippon Ham, we believe that the greater the joy of eating, the greater the happiness, and we are constantly engaged in research. Let's work together to create a bright future for food with the free and unrestricted ideas that only junior high and high school students can offer! We look forward to receiving many applications.

 

Application Theme

The Future of Food - Research to Create a New Shape of Food 〜Research to Create New Shapes of Food

Summary

Subject of application Junior high school students, high school students, and technical college students (3rd year or younger) who conduct research activities
Usage Expenses required for research (materials, parts, equipment, transportation, etc., excluding food and beverages) However, food and beverage expenses are excluded.)
Application Deadline Friday, July 19, 2024 until 6:00 p.m.
Research Period September 2024 - March 2025
Organizer Nippon Ham Corporation
Image of possible research topics For this year's event, we are looking forward to receiving the following themes, which the Central Research Laboratory is challenging itself to research on a daily basis. Of course, we also welcome research themes that go beyond this scope and "more freely" expand your ideas to consider the future of food from a variety of perspectives!
Research on food and AI
Health and Nutrition Research
Research on new foods (cellular foods, insect foods, space foods, ...)
Research on food experiences, food scenes, and food culture
Research on production and cooking
Research on upcycling, sustainability and the environment
Research on food safety and security
However, research only in the area of food recipe development is not eligible.
*Animal testing is difficult to adopt in terms of animal welfare (shellfish, fish, amphibians, etc. are OK)

Grant Details and Number of Grants Available

Grant details 100,000 yen research fee / research mentoring by Nihon Ham employees
Number of adoptions About 3 cases

Application Requirements

  • Junior high school students or high school and college of technology students who apply must apply on their own initiative.
  • Have the consent of the parent or guardian or the school to which the student belongs
  • Be able to provide information (including contact information) to be included in the application
  • The team must be able to participate in the award ceremony hosted by Nippon Ham Corporation on a weekday in September. (The date will be adjusted among the adopted teams. It will be held online.)
  • The team must be able to participate in the presentation of results hosted by Nippon Ham Corporation on a Saturday or Sunday in March or during spring break. (The schedule will be adjusted among the selected teams. Transportation expenses for the presentation will be partially subsidized.)
  • The applicant agrees that his/her information, research content and results (including personal information such as the applicant's name, age, school, and photograph) may be published on websites, publications, SNS, and any other media operated by Nihon Ham Corporation and RIVANES.

Timeline

Application period June 1 - July 19, 2024
Application Deadline Friday, July 19, 2024 until 6:00 p.m.
Interview period Monday, 8/5 - Friday, 8/9, 2024
About Interviews This will be done online on weekdays. Applicants eligible for interviews will be contacted approximately one week after the application deadline. Please let us know in advance if any of the above interview dates are not available.
Announcement of adoption Scheduled for late August
Research grant period Scheduled for early September 2024
Research Period September - March 2024
Adoption Award Ceremony September 11 or September 12, 2024 (held online)
presentation of results Mid to late March *Conducted at the Nippon Ham Central Research Institute (Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture)

Application Process

Confirmation of Terms and Conditions and Application Guidelines

Please review the terms and conditions and the application guidelines on this page, and consult with us if you have any questions about the content.

Science Castle Research Fund 2024 Nihon Ham Award Terms and Conditions

Register for a LIVERNESS ID

All middle and high school students who wish to apply are required to register all members of the team, whether they are representatives or not, with their RIBANES ID. The Research Grant Entry screen will appear after you log in to your RIBANES ID, so please register with your RIBANES ID.

Register for a RIVERNESS ID.

Preparation of Consent Form

For applications by minors, please prepare two consent forms, one for the parent or guardian and one for the school (including free schools, etc.), and upload them to the application form.

Please download the model of the consent form below.

Download Agreement

 

Application Procedure

Please click on the following icon in your LIBANES ID and click on the "New Application" button to complete the application form.

RIBANES ID (Research Grant Application Page)

Click here for application form

Central Research Laboratory, Nippon Ham Co.
(from left to right) Mr. Ken Watanabe, Mr. Masaki Okuda, Ms. Fuka Aoki, Ms. Hitomi Asazato, Mr. Takanori Hasegawa

Spinning a New Shape of "Eating Pleasure" with the Next Generation

 

When you hear the name Nippon Ham, you probably think of the meat processing industry, as represented by Chawesen. In fact, Nippon Ham is also a company that has led the way in efforts to provide safe, high-quality meat, from raising livestock on its own farms to processing and marketing its products in an integrated manner. The key word that Nippon Ham considers necessary for future research is "freedom. In this interview, we asked five members of the Nippon Ham Central Research Institute about the future they are aiming for and their thoughts on working with the next generation.

 

80 years with a mission to deliver protein

 

Nippon Ham began in 1942 at a meat factory in Tokushima. For more than 80 years since then, the company has been pursuing and providing "protein," an essential source of nutrition for human beings, through the supply of meat. Today, the Nippon Ham Group supplies approximately 61 TP3T of the protein intake of the Japanese people. In order to continue to provide protein safely and securely, the company has also continued research and development, and has three research laboratories. One of them, the Central Research Laboratory, functions as "a laboratory for creating new businesses for the future. To date, the Central Research Laboratory has been involved in a number of novel research projects, such as smart pig farming, cell-based foods (cultured meat), food allergies, and nutritional support for athletes, so that more people can enjoy food safely. Mr. Hasegawa says, "We have a mission to continue to deliver high-quality protein into the future.

 

Want to deal with diverse values

 

I believe that food should be safe, secure, enjoyable, and meaningful at all times and for all people. Nippon Ham has set "The Joy of Eating" as its corporate philosophy and aims to realize it," said Mr. Hasegawa. Furthermore, Okuda believes that because each generation has different values and the joy of eating has shifted with the times, we must conduct our research with more freedom of thought. However, there are limits to what our generation can come up with on its own. We want to know what the next generation is thinking about food and think about the future together with them. With this in mind, Nippon Ham decided to exhibit a booth at the Science Castle and participate in this research fund in order to accelerate research and development with the next generation.

 

Impressions and Expectations at Science Castle 2023

 

Nippon Ham exhibited a booth at the 2023 Science Castle Kanto Conference under the theme "Let's design the future of food with your voice." The theme was to imagine the excitement of food that awaits us in 2050, and gather ideas to create a tree. Before setting up the booth, he was a little apprehensive about how interested the younger generation would be in food, but when the day actually arrived, more than 100 participants offered their ideas. Aoki says, "I was impressed by the fact that junior high and high school students were thinking about social issues related to food, taking what they had learned and researched in school and making it their own. It was a moment that strengthened his desire to listen to their voices and pursue the "joy of eating" together with them through the research grant.

 

There is a future that can be envisioned because it is with the next generation.

 

The theme of the Science Castle Research Fund is "More Freedom for the Future of Food. 〜Research to create new forms of food. Mr. Hasegawa says, "We want the younger generation to apply with a free spirit. He would like to see research on food experiences and food scenes, such as virtual restaurants, as well as research on new foods, such as cellular foods, insect foods, and space foods, which were topics of discussion at last year's Science Castle. And it is not only the future research themes themselves that they are looking forward to seeing in the next generation. Aoki and Asazato are looking forward to seeing up close what the next generation of researchers have in mind when they set their research themes, and how they plan to reach a bright future. The challenge of the passionate next-generation researchers is the key to realizing the bright future of food that Nippon Ham aims for.

Science Castle Research Funding Now Open for Applications

There are no Science Castle research funds available at this time.