## Sony and Nature Launch Award for Women in Technology
Sony Group Corp. and Nature magazine have joined forces to create an international award recognizing outstanding female researchers in the field of technology. The "Sony Women in Technology Award with Nature," announced on March 6, aims to champion women in tech domains that are currently dominated by male researchers.
Magdalena Skipper, the first female editor-in-chief at Nature, emphasizes the need for more women in active research and engineering. She believes the award will provide a global platform to celebrate the work of emerging women researchers and engineers who might otherwise go unnoticed.
The first three winners of the award will be announced early next year and will each receive $250,000 (37.5 million yen) in research funds. The joint announcement highlights the underrepresentation of women in research, with only around 30% of professional researchers and less than 20% in the technology sector being women.
Sony and Nature established the award ahead of International Women's Day to promote societal diversity and inclusion. The first three winners will be selected from researchers in mathematics, science, and engineering who obtained their undergraduate degrees less than 25 years ago. At least one winner will be in the early stages of her career, having obtained her undergraduate degree less than 15 years ago.
Applications can be submitted through the award's website (https://womenintechnology.sony.com/) until the end of May. The winners will also be given the opportunity to showcase their research work and achievements on Nature's website.
Hiroaki Kitano, Sony's chief technology officer, emphasizes the importance of diversity of expertise and experiences for achieving creativity. He expresses delight in collaborating with Nature on this significant initiative.