On December 20, 2020, the Science Castle 2020 Kansai Conference was held at Meisei Junior High School and Meisei Senior High School of Meisei Gakuen, Osaka. There were 55 poster presentations and 7 oral presentations. At this year's Science Castle, some of the programs, including poster presentations, were conducted online. In addition, a total of 11 institutions from companies and universities participated as partners.

Details of the day's program, abstract information, etc. for the Kansai Conference

In addition, a total of 26 researchers, including 16 graduate students (4 master students and 12 doctoral students), 3 doctoral students, and 7 others (working professionals, etc.), participated as research advisors to participate in discussions with presenters at the poster presentations.

Reference: The list of research advisors for the Kansai Conference is now available.

Below are the award results of the presentations.

Award Results

<Oral Presentation

Science Castle Grand Prize
O-03 "How Genji Fireflies Can Live in a Three-Sided Concrete Channel"
Osaka Prefectural Tondabayashi High School Science Club Firefly Team Takumi Matsuo

Focusing on the fact that fireflies can be observed in an agricultural canal covered with concrete on three sides, the research team clarified what kind of structure creates a habitat for fireflies in a three-sided concrete canal, which is said to normally inhibit the growth of organisms. The Grand Prize was awarded to the research team in recognition of the fact that the research provided clues to the symbiosis between people's lives and the natural environment, and that the team made the discovery by walking steadily in the field.

Ritsumeikan University Award
O-05 "Research on water purification using polyglutamic acid and its application"
Otemon Gakuin Otemae Senior High School

＜Poster Presentation

Science Castle Poster Grand Prize
P-17, "Why the non-native American hornbill cuts its tail."
Osaka Prefectural Tondabayashi High School Sakura Takahashi

Science Castle Poster Excellence Award
P-21 The Wonder of Planaria V - Planaria and Black Light
Tezukayama High School Nahi Horie

P-23 Behavior of sea anemones in response to high and low sound
Senri International High School, Kwansei Gakuin Mihu Tachibana

P-26 Evaluation of biological activity of lichens
Kazuki Okada, Biology Club, Imabarishi Senior High School, Ehime, Japan

P-32 Termites Save Japan!
Seifu High School Tomoyuki Yokogawa

P-40 Invisible Threats - Effects of Electromagnetic Waves on Organisms
Notre Dame Seishin Gakuen Seishin Girls' Senior High School Rina Nakayama

P-48 Quantification of color vision illusions in complementary color relationships
Ritsumeikan Senior High School Maori Takemura

P-52 Relationship between the Piping Phenomenon and the Shape of the Bottom of the Levee
Wakasa High School, Fukui, Japan Takashi Hirata

[Viewing URL for online project

For those who are interested in the programs that unfortunately were not able to participate on the day of the event, we provide the URLs for viewing each program. Please take a look.

RIVANES will continue to support research activities of middle and high school students.
We would like to thank all the presenting teams and all those who assisted in organizing the event.

<Contact us
Science Castle Management Office
Kansai Tournament: Naka Eishin
Mail: [email protected]