Prof. Kitagawa Receives MEXT Ministerial S&T Award
April 15, 2011
Prof Susumu Kitagawa
The Japanese science ministry announced on the 11th that Kyoto University Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) Deputy Director Susumu Kitagawa is one of the recipients of one of its ministerial awards in science and technology, in the research category. In total, 47 S&T research prizes were awarded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).
The prizes were established with an aim to raise the standards of Japanese science and technology by motivating researchers to achieve the very highest levels in their fields. Prof. Kitagawa's award cited his contributions to the study of the sythesis and properties of porous coordination polymers (PCPs), an area that the ministry has recognized as harboring great potential for Japan's future technological development.
The top "Special Prize in Science and Technology" was awarded to Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Institute of Space and Astronautical Science Profs. Junichiro Kawaguchi, Hitoshi Kuninaka, and Yoshifumi Inatani for their outstanding achievements in conducting the "Hayabusa" space probe project. Hayabusa received worldwide attention in 2010 for successfully completing a harrowing round-trip journey to an asteroid.
