(Headquarters: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; President: Yukihiro Maru) will host the Tohoku Conference of Science Castle 2017, a conference for middle and high school students, on Sunday, December 17, 2017. The Tohoku Conference will be held in Iwate Prefecture for the third year and the first time, with 60 presentations (12 oral and 48 poster).

＜What is Science Castle?
　Science Castle is a conference for junior high and high school students that has been held since 2012 under the slogan of "turning junior high and high school students around the world into researchers. Last year, one international and four domestic conferences were held, where more than 1,600 junior and senior high school students presented their research with great enthusiasm. In addition to research presentations by junior high and high school students, this program also includes special lectures and events by universities and companies, aiming to create an environment and culture in which junior high and high school students can conduct research anytime and anywhere.

<Feature 1: Raising awareness among middle and high school students about local issues
　Tohoku is a region that faces many health challenges, including Aomori Prefecture, which has the shortest life expectancy of any prefecture in Japan, Akita Prefecture, which has the highest cancer mortality rate, and Iwate Prefecture, which has the highest stroke mortality rate. Of the approximately 60 entries in the Tohoku competition,More than 10 are research themes related to health, and middle and high school students = the next generation of researchers are highly aware of local issues.

　Under the theme of "Frontiers of Health Research," a special program will be held to introduce cutting-edge research cases from companies and universities on health issues. We hope that this initiative will lead to an increase in the number of next-generation researchers from Tohoku who will take on the challenge of solving health issues, which in turn will revitalize the industry as a whole and accelerate the resolution of these issues.

<Feature of Tohoku Conference 2: Contribution to solving local educational issues

• National Academic Achievement Survey indicates that academic achievement in Tohoku prefectures is higher than the national average (2nd in Akita, 9th in Aomori, etc.).
• University enrollment rates in Tohoku prefectures are among the lowest in Japan (less than 401 TP3T in Aomori, Akita, and Iwate)

As mentioned above, there are many excellent high school students in the Tohoku region, but there is a problem of low awareness of the need to go on to college. Obstacles to college attendance can be attributed to various environmental factors (e.g., lack of college-going role models nearby, financial difficulties in attending distant universities, etc.).

Now that excellent human resources are in demand for solving various issues, we need a system to discover and nurture excellent human resources in Tohoku and send them out to solve regional and global issues.

Therefore, we would like to take advantage of this opportunity to bring together talented and highly aware junior and senior high school students who are conducting research, introduce universities, and provide them with opportunities to interact with senior university students in order to raise their awareness of the need to go on to university.

The exhibition projects of each organization are(Please click here).

Convention Outline
Date: Sunday, December 17, 2017 10:00-17:30
Place: Iwate University (3-18-8 Ueda, Morioka-shi, Iwate-ken) Student Center A Building

<Time Schedule

Organized by Science Castle 2017 Executive Committee

Partners: Atlas Corporation, Japan Advanced Science and Technology Education and Human Resources Development Organization, TEPIA (The Association for the Promotion of an Advanced Technological Society), THK Corporation, Minamata City, Rohto Pharmaceuticals, Golden Pecan Corporation, Kao Corporation, Lion Corporation, Malman Computer Service Co. Ltd.

Supported by: Hirosaki University COI Research Promotion Organization, Akita Prefectural University, Iwate University, Aomori Prefecture Board of Education, Iwate Prefecture Board of Education, Akita Prefecture Board of Education, Miyagi Prefecture Board of Education, Yamagata Prefecture Board of Education, Fukushima Prefecture Board of Education

<Schools with oral presentations

For details of the poster presentation, please visit the web site (Japanese only). https://s-castle.com/2017list/ )

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In addition to the presentations, there will be presentations and exhibits by researchers belonging to many companies, universities, and organizations at Science Castle. Please come and visit us.

URL:https://goo.gl/pX7csD

■ LIVERNESS Co.
As a knowledge platform, LIVERNESS is involved in everything from science education to human resource development for researchers and new business development. 2006, it launched the "Education Support Project" to develop and coordinate the implementation of corporate laboratory class programs, utilizing its unique know-how in delivery of classes. Currently, more than 100 companies are participating in the project, and various programs to promote science education are being implemented throughout Japan.

Inquiries and requests for interviews
Regional Development Division, Riverness Corporation (Attn: Domeki)

Address: Iidabashi Miyuki Building 5F, 1-4 Shimomiyabicho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-0822 Tel: 03-5227-4198 Fax: 03-5227-4199 E-mail: +81-3-5227-4199 [email protected]