Based on new ideas and perspectives she obtained through cross-disciplinary international joint research, Associate Professor Ochi proposed the premise theory of general principles, which serves as the foundation for theory on legal system and the theory of legal sources and holds that the circumstances and values (=premises) assumed by international criminal procedure law are specific determinative factors of the general principles of law. These findings clarify the theoretical foundations of general principles that underpin the systematicity and underlying principles of international criminal procedure law, which also governs the ICC—an institution gaining increasing importance amid international issues such as the Russia–Ukraine conflict and the Gaza situation. They are expected to contribute to a more inclusive understanding of the international criminal justice system, as well as to legal interpretation and practice.

I believe that this award is a testament not to me alone, but to the Japanese community of international law scholars, and in particular to the entire body of research that the International Humanitarian Law and Criminal Law Research Group has accumulated over the years. If I may be so bold, I also hope this will be a great encouragement to all law and humanities scholars in Japan. Furthermore, I hope that this will serve as an opportunity to draw more attention to international criminal justice and the ICC, an institution that promotes the rule of law to combat violence in the international community. I would like to express my gratitude to all those who have supported my research, and I am committed to working even harder on my research activities going forward.

Associate Professor Ochi earned her PhD in Law from the Graduate School of Law and Politics at Osaka University in March 2015. Before joining Ritsumeikan in 2020, she worked as a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow (SPD) at the Kyoto University Graduate School of Law from 2015, a Senior Researcher at the Hyogo Earthquake Memorial 21st Century Research Institute from 2019, and an Assistant Professor at the Hakubi Center and Graduate School of Law at Kyoto University from 2019. Her area of expertise is international criminal justice (international law).

Associate Professor Takemata applied Hi-C, a three-dimensional genomic structure analysis method that has rapidly advanced in recent years, to members of the domain Archaea, which is the origin of eukaryotic organisms. By doing this, he found that the archaeal and eukaryotic genomes share various structural similarities. This discovery will not only contribute significantly to our evolutionary understanding of eukaryotic genomes, but also help to manipulate and modify useful traits in Archaea by artificially controlling the genome structure.

I am deeply honored to have won this very prestigious award. I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to all the professors who have supervised me thus far, to all my collaborators, and to my family, who have quietly supported me from the sidelines. I will continue to work diligently to further expand this award-winning research and contribute to the advancement of archaeal biology.

Associate Professor Takemata earned his PhD at Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tokyo in September 2016. Before joining Ritsumeikan in 2025, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Indiana University in the United States from 2017 (2018-2020: JSPS Overseas Research Fellow), a PRESTO full-time researcher from 2020, and an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Engineering of Kyoto University from 2021. His research focuses on the structure and function of archaeal genomes.

Associate Professor Motomura focused on the role of the nuclei at the tip of a pollen tube, which is essential for plants to produce seeds. He succeeded in creating the world's first pollen tube without the nuclei at its apical region, and he discovered that pollen tube cells continue to grow without new instructions from the nuclei and have the remarkable ability to recognize and reach the position of the female ovule. This discovery, which overturned the conventional theory, is an epoch-making achievement that contributes greatly to the advancement of plant reproduction science and is expected to be applied to efficient seed production technology in the future.

I am truly honored to receive the Young Scientists’ Award. I was able to pursue my research with the support of many people, including my advisor and collaborators, lab members and colleagues, university officials, and my family. I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to them. I am currently working on even more advanced research based on these award-winning findings. I will continue striving to produce research findings that contribute to the advancement of biology.

Associate Professor Motomura earned his PhD from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tokyo. Before assuming his current position in 2024, he worked as a JSPS PD Fellow at the Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules at Nagoya University from 2015, an assistant professor at the Ritsumeikan Global Innovation Research Organization from 2019, a PRESTO researcher, and an assistant professor at the College of Life Sciences of Ritsumeikan University. His areas of expertise are cell biology of plant reproduction and RNA biology.