Professor Takuji Hatakeyama of the Graduate School of Science and Technology has been selected as one of the winners of the 18th Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Award, which honors researchers who are expected to be future leaders in academic research in Japan. He received the award for his research entitled "Development of Next-generation Organic Electroluminescence Materials.” The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), an independent administrative institution, made the decision based on the selection by the JSPS Prize Screening Committee and announced the winners on December 16. 

The reason given for the award was as follows: "OLED displays are attracting attention as one of the next-generation display technologies, and the development of light-emitting materials with excellent efficiency and color purity is desired for further progress. Among them, boron-containing π-conjugated molecules have been attracting attention as functional materials such as next-generation organic EL materials because of their unique optical and electrochemical properties, but they have problems with stability and difficulty in synthesis. In contrast, Prof. Hatakeyama has succeeded in creating a group of boron-containing π-conjugated molecules with excellent stability by developing a new reaction for their synthesis based on an original molecular design in which boron is incorporated into the polycyclic framework together with nitrogen. 

In addition, by controlling the position of boron, the material has both excellent luminescence properties and durability. By controlling the position of boron, he has achieved the development of a blue light-emitting material that has become a world standard. In this way, Prof. Hatakeyama has conducted original research ranging from the basics of organic chemistry to the development of functional materials, and has made remarkable achievements. He is expected to play an even more active role as a world-leading researcher in the fields of organic chemistry and materials chemistry in the future."

The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Awards are designed to identify young researchers who are highly creative and have outstanding research abilities, and to recognize them from an early stage in order to motivate them and support the development of their research. In all fields of the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, the winners are selected from researchers who are under the age of 45 in principle, have a doctoral degree or equivalent in academic research ability, and who have achieved notable outstanding academic results through research achievements such as publications.

This year, 317 candidates were nominated along with 163 candidates from the previous year, and 25 winners were selected from among the 480 candidates.

List of JSPS Prize Recipients