Receiving Start-up Research Funds for Women Researchers
Assistant Professor Hitomi Takada, Stem Cell Technologies Laboratory（Kurisaki Lab.）, Division of Biological Sciences
I was appointed to this position in April 2017. When I first arrived, I had to start my lab from scratch with Professor Kurisaki, who transferred with me from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), so I was very grateful for the grant from this program. My research topic is based on cell culture as the basis of experiments, but the proteins needed for cell culture are very expensive, so I was able to use the grant to purchase them.
As for my opinion on this program, I think it would be better if the grant period were up to two years, as is the case with the rules for the operation of the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research. Especially in my case, I was only able to start my lab for about four months after I arrived at my new job, so I wished that I could pool the extra funds for the next year so that I could use them when I was more settled. I also think it would be good if the start-up research fund could be used during the start-up period, regardless of whether the researcher is female or male.
(June, 2018)
