Using Start-up Research Funds
Sachiko Toma, Associate Professor, Division of Materials Science, Complex Molecular Systems Laboratory(Kamikubo Lab)
I had never heard of this program before I came to NAIST. After I arrived at the university, I was contacted by the Gender Equality Office, and I remember thinking, "This is very helpful. At that time, I wanted to finish what I was doing in my previous organization, and there was a collaborative research project that I had started after I arrived at the university. With this research grant, I was able to create an environment in which I could be more proactive in pursuing my newly started research. If you want to start research, you need research funds, but since I am doing joint research with people of my generation, we are not all big supporters and our budgets are not large. I was able to use this budget in situations where I could do such experiments with a small amount of money, so I was able to start my research smoothly. During the two years, we were able to produce new results as well as continue existing research topics, and we were able to use this as a basis for applying for budget support for research expenses for the next fiscal year and beyond.
As for the specific use of this research fund, we were able to use it to purchase the equipment needed to conduct our research and to pay for the courier service of the measured samples. For home delivery, we sent samples to large synchrotron radiation facilities such as Tsukuba and Spring-8 for data measurement. This is a method I have used since my children were small, but it is physically impossible for them to conduct experiments in Tsukuba and return home in the middle of the night or early morning, or to prepare lunch boxes in the morning for a field day the next day. Originally, the mainstream method was for me to go to the site and conduct experiments in half a day or all night, but the measurements were automated, and I have been using automated analysis since the beginning of my career. Recently, I have been able to check the progress and results of my experiments on the web. During this grant period, I also used the method of "sending measurement samples," which I arrived at in my quest for efficiency to balance caring for my children.
(January 2021)
As for the specific use of this research fund, we were able to use it to purchase the equipment needed to conduct our research and to pay for the courier service of the measured samples. For home delivery, we sent samples to large synchrotron radiation facilities such as Tsukuba and Spring-8 for data measurement. This is a method I have used since my children were small, but it is physically impossible for them to conduct experiments in Tsukuba and return home in the middle of the night or early morning, or to prepare lunch boxes in the morning for a field day the next day. Originally, the mainstream method was for me to go to the site and conduct experiments in half a day or all night, but the measurements were automated, and I have been using automated analysis since the beginning of my career. Recently, I have been able to check the progress and results of my experiments on the web. During this grant period, I also used the method of "sending measurement samples," which I arrived at in my quest for efficiency to balance caring for my children.
(January 2021)
