Next Generation Programs
TU Science Ambassadors
*The name of the program was changed to “Science Ambassadors” in April, 2022.
Building the skills of researchers in the cultivating their sense of mission and responsibility
Tohoku University Science Ambassadors are a program for nurturing future generations of female researchers by having women university students serve as “Science Ambassadors” (SAs)※, accessible role models who communicate the fascination of science to students in primary to high school. It was launched under the Tohoku Women’s Hurdling Project, which was conducted AY 2006–2008 using funding from the Special Coordination Funds for Promoting Science and Technology. Since the conclusion of that project, the SA program has been continued as a Tohoku University initiative that annually recruits SAs from among Master’s and doctoral students. Those accepted into the program are commissioned by the university president.
※self-identified female students are included.
SA Activities
Selected from among women graduate student at Tohoku University, the Tohoku University Science Ambassadors (SAs) are tasked with reaching out to female junior/senior high school students considering future careers in research.
As role models, their goal is to convey the message that there are a variety of female researchers and that studying at higher levels is fun. They take part in seminars and other events aimed at communicating the fascination and the joys of doing research.
They are working on research in the each areas.
Visiting seminars at high school
SAs visit mainly high schools to talk about their experiences in studying their field and university life. They visited Miyagi No. 1 HS and No. 2 Girls’ HS in Miyagi Prefecture, Yamagata Higashi HS and Yamagata Nishi HS in Yamagata Prefecture, and Ryugasaki No. 1 HS in Ibaraki Prefecture.
Science Events
SAs join in science events held in Sendai to conduct easy-to-follow experiments and show how science is connected to our daily life . Examples of past events include “Fun Talks on Science” and “Gakuto Miyagi Science Day.”
Open Campus at TU
As part of Tohoku University Open Campus, SAs offer advice and answers to high school students interested in studying at college.
BLOG – SA note
SAs are writing articles in note (blog).
Youtube – SAs Videos(in Japanese)
SAs’ activities and events
Total Numbers of SAs
data collected by department
| Dept／Year | H18 | H19 | H20 | H21 | H22 | H23 | H24 | H25 | H26 | H27 | H28 | H29 | H30 | R 1 | R 2 | R 3 | R 4 | R 5 | R 6 |
| Arts & Letters | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Education | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Economics | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Science | 10 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Medical | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 14 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 0 |
| Dentistry | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
| Pharmaceutical Science | 5 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Engineering | 3 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 11 |
| Agriculture | 1 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 14 | 16 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Info Science | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Life Science | 11 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 14 | 13 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 14 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 7 | 6 | 3 |
| Enviro Science | 0 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| Medical Engineering | – | – | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 39 | 52 | 50 | 39 | 44 | 41 | 57 | 63 | 71 | 90 | 61 | 69 | 60 | 56 | 48 | 65 | 53 | 41 | 31 |
| Master Students | 19 | 21 | 26 | 23 | 35 | 30 | 42 | 44 | 62 | 72 | 51 | 58 | 53 | 43 | 37 | 48 | 39 | 24 | 20 |
| Doctoral Students | 20 | 31 | 24 | 16 | 9 | 11 | 15 | 19 | 9 | 18 | 10 | 11 | 7 | 13 | 11 | 17 | 14 | 17 | 11 |
SA Archive (only in Japanese)
- SAたちの声 東北大学特設サイト 日本初・女子大生誕生の地 (第6章)
- 2015年 サイエンスアゴラ2015出展、「KADOKAWA賞」受賞
- 2015年 センター協力教員の倉田祥一郎教授（薬学研究科）が文部科学大臣より表彰
- 科学技術賞（理解増進部門「サイエンス・エンジェル活動による理系女性研究者の普及啓発」
2014年 SA輝友会（サイエンス・エンジェルOGによる活動団体）第1回澤柳政太郎記念東北大学男女共同参画賞B賞受賞 - 2011年 第6回「ロレアル－ユネスコ女性科学者 日本奨励賞 特別賞」受賞
- 「発信！ 理系女子」日経の大学生向けサイト「日経カレッジカフェ」にSAによる連載を掲載しています。
- 「サイエンス・エンジェル座談会」NatureダイジェストとSAのコラボレーション記事を掲載しています。
