Applications Now Open for the 2026 Sony Women in Technology Award with Nature
NEW YORK and LONDON and BERLIN and TOKYO, March 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Group Corporation (Sony) and Nature today announced the application cycle for the 2026 Sony Women in Technology Award with Nature is now open. The annual award, launched to champion promising women researchers during crucial phases in their research and career development, recognizes three outstanding early to mid-career women researchers in technology (including science, engineering and mathematics) whose work is driving positive impact on society and the planet. Applications for the award will be accepted from March 6, 2025 at 12 AM GMT through May 30, 2025 at 11:59 PM GMT.
The winners of the award will be announced in early 2026. The three winners will each receive a prize of $250,000 U.S. Dollars to support and accelerate work related to their research and a chance to showcase their achievements on nature.com.
Submissions will be evaluated by a judging panel of independent, esteemed technologists, scientists and experts from across the globe, including Nature Editor-in-Chief Magdalena Skipper and Hiroaki Kitano, CTO of Sony Group Corporation. Each application will be judged on the merits of ambition, innovation, conceptual excellence, impact and social significance.
Hiroaki Kitano commented:
"Earlier this year, we were honored to recognize the inaugural finalists and winners of the Sony Women in Technology Award with Nature, each of whom is pioneering fascinating, multidisciplinary research that will have real-world impact outside of the lab. I am optimistic that this year's cohort of applicants will also embody excellence and help expand this growing community of researchers across the globe. Whether you are in the early or mid-stage in your research career, we are excited to hear from you and champion your ambitions."
Remarking on Nature's continued role in the program, Dr. Skipper said, "At Nature, we want to ensure that extraordinary technological breakthroughs get the recognition they deserve throughout the global research community. In partnering with Sony, we are jointly creating a high-caliber platform for rewarding and raising awareness of vital technological achievements from women researchers. The world needs their research and inventions."
The award is open to applicants who self-identify as women and conduct research and development in technology. Eligible researchers working within a university, research institute, or university spin-out company are encouraged to apply. For more details about eligibility, please refer to the award site here.
About Sony Group Corporation
Sony Group Corporation is a creative entertainment company with a solid foundation of technology. Across its six business segments - Game & Network Services; Music; Pictures; Entertainment, Technology & Services; Imaging & Sensing Solutions; and Financial Services - Sony's purpose is to fill the world with emotion through the power of creativity and technology. For more information, visit: https://www.sony.com/en/
About Nature PortfolioNature Portfolio's high-quality journals and services across the life, physical, chemical and applied sciences help move science and society forward.
Nature Portfolio is home to the leading, international weekly journal of science, Nature – founded in 1869. It is also home to the Nature research and Nature Reviews journals, the leading open access multidisciplinary journal Nature Communications, and open access journals including Scientific Reports. Together, these journals publish some of the world's most significant scientific discoveries.
Online, nature.com provides over nine million unique visitors per month with content, including news and comment from the Nature journal, and the leading scientific jobs board, Nature Careers. As part of Springer Nature, Nature Portfolio also offers a range of researcher services, including online and in-person training. For more information, please visit nature.com and follow @NaturePortfolio.
About Springer NatureSpringer Nature is one of the leading publishers of research in the world. We publish the largest number of journals and books and are a pioneer in open research. Through our leading brands, trusted for more than 180 years, we provide technology-enabled products, platforms and services that help researchers to uncover new ideas and share their discoveries, health professionals to stay at the forefront of medical science, and educators to advance learning. We are proud to be part of progress, working together with the communities we serve to share knowledge and bring greater understanding to the world. For more information, please visit about.springernature.com and @SpringerNature.
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/applications-now-open-for-the-2026-sony-women-in-technology-award-with-nature-302393799.html
SOURCE Sony Group Corporation
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Sony Semiconductor Solutions to Release Stacked SPAD Depth Sensor for Automotive LiDAR Applications, Delivering High-Resolution, High-Speed Performance
High-resolution, high-speed distance measuring performance contributes to safer, more reliable future mobility ATSUGI, Japan, June 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation (SSS) today announced the upcoming release of the IMX479 stacked, direct Time of Flight (dToF) SPAD depth sensor for automotive LiDAR systems, delivering both high-resolution and high-speed performance. The new sensor product employs a dToF pixel unit composed of 3×3 (horizontal × vertical) SPAD pixels as a minimum element to enhance measurement accuracy using a line scan methodology. In addition, SSSs proprietary device structure enables a frame rate of up to 20 fps*1, which is the fastest for such a high-resolution SPAD depth sensor having 520 dToF pixels.*2 The new product enables the high-resolution and high-speed distance measuring performance demanded for an automotive LiDAR required in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and automated driving (AD), contributing to safer and more reliable future mobility. Model name Sample shipment date (planned) Sample price (including tax)*3 IMX479 1-type (15.8 mm diagonal) 520-dToF-pixel SPAD depth sensor Autumn 2025 ¥35,000 LiDAR technology is crucial for the high-precision detection and recognition of road conditions and the position and shape of the objects, such as vehicles, pedestrians. There is a growing demand for further technical advancements and developments progress in LiDAR toward Level 3 automated driving, which allows for autonomous control. SPAD depth sensors use the dToF measurement method, one of the LiDAR ranging methods, that measures the distance to an object by detecting the time of flight (time difference) of light emitted from a source until it returns to the sensor after being reflected by the object. The new sensor harnesses SSS's proprietary technologies acquired in the development of CMOS image sensors, including the back-side illuminated, stacked structure and Cu-Cu (copper-copper) connections.*4 By integrating the newly developed distance measurement circuits and dToF pixels on a single chip, the new product has achieved a high-speed frame rate of up to 20 fps while delivering a high resolution of 520 dToF pixels with a small pixel size of 10 μm square. Main Features Up to 20 fps frame rate, the fastest for a 520 dToF pixel SPAD depth sensor*2This product consists of a pixel chip (top) with back-illuminated dToF pixels and a logic chip equipped with newly developed distance measurement circuits (bottom) using a Cu-Cu connection on a single chip. This design enables a small pixel size of 10 μm square, achieving high resolution of 520 dToF pixels. The new distance measurement circuits handle multiple processes in parallel for even better high-speed technologies achieve a frame rate of up to 20 fps, the fastest for a 520 dToF pixel SPAD depth sensor.*1 They also deliver capabilities equivalent to 0.05 degrees vertical angular resolution, improving the vertical detection accuracy by 2.7 times that of conventional products.*5 These elements allow detection of three-dimensional objects that are vital to automotive LiDAR, including objects as high as 25 cm(such as a tire or other objects in the road) at a distance of 250 m. Excellent distance resolution of 5 cm intervalsThe proprietary circuits SSS developed to enhance the distance resolution of this product individually processes each SPAD pixel data and calculates the distance. Doing so successfully improved the LiDAR distance resolution to 5 cm intervals. High, 37% photon detection efficiency enabling detection of objects up to a distance of 300 mThis product features an uneven texture on both the incident plane and the bottom of the pixels, along with an optimized on-chip lens shape. Incident light is diffracted to enhance the absorption rate to achieve a high, 37% photon detection efficiency for the 940 nm wavelength, which is commonly used on automotive LiDAR laser light sources. It allows the system to detect and recognize objects with high precision up to 300 m away even in bright light conditions where the background light is at 100,000 lux or higher. Key Specifications Model name IMX479 Effective SPAD pixels 105 × 1,568 pixels (H × V), approx. 164,000 pixels Vertical effective dToF pixel count 520 dToF pixels Image size Diagonal 15.8 mm (1-type) Recommended light source wavelength 940 nm SPAD unit cell size 10.08 μm × 10.08 μm (H × V) Element size (dToF pixel unit) Minimum 3 × 3 (H × V) Photon detection efficiency 37% (940 nm wavelength) Response speed Approx. 6 ns Power supply SPAD breakdown voltage −20.5V SPAD excess voltage 3.3V Analog 3.3V Digital 1.125V Interface 1.8V Interface MIPI CSI-2 serial output (4 lane) Chip size 12.2 mm × 20.0 mm (H × V) Max. detection distance 300 m Distance precision at 300 m Minimum 5 cm equivalent Mechanical scan LiDAR for evaluating the productSSS has developed a mechanical scanning*6 LiDAR unit equipped with this new sensor for product evaluation, which will be provided to customers and partners. This will contribute to customer and partner LiDAR development and product evaluation initiatives. *1 The frame rate may vary depending on horizontal FoV (Field of View) and its resolution.*2 According to SSS research (as of announcement on Jun 10, 2025)*3 Differs depending on the handling quantity.*4 A technology used when a pixel chip (top) is stacked with a logic chip (bottom), to achieve electrical continuity by connecting the Cu (copper) pads to each other. This increases the flexibility in the design, improves productivity, and enables a smaller size and higher performance compared with Through-Silicon Vias (TSV), where the upper and lower chips are connected via electrodes around the circumference of the pixel area*5 Compared with SSS' IMX459 1/2.9-type 100,000-effective pixel SPAD depth sensor.*6 A method in which a rotating mirror reflects the beam from a fixed laser light source for wide area horizontal scanning. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
SpaceX launches Starlink satellites to orbit on 70th Falcon 9 flight of the year (photos)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The year isn't even half over yet, and SpaceX already has 70 orbital missions in the books. A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 26 of SpaceX's Starlink broadband satellites lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base on Sunday (June 8) at 10:20 a.m. EDT (1420 GMT; 7:20 a.m. local California time). It was SpaceX's 70th Falcon 9 launch of 2025. Fifty-two of those flights have been devoted to building out the Starlink megaconstellation in low Earth orbit (LEO), the biggest satellite network ever assembled. About 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9's first stage landed on SpaceX's Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean. It was the seventh launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description. The rocket's upper stage continued carrying the 26 Starlink satellites to LEO, deploying them as planned about an hour after liftoff. The newly launched spacecraft will now maneuver their way to join the megaconstellation, which consists of nearly 7,700 operational satellites (and counting). Related stories: — SpaceX: Facts about Elon Musk's private spaceflight company — Starlink satellites: Facts, tracking and impact on astronomy — SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 28 Starlink satellites to orbit on record-breaking 28th flight (video) SpaceX has certainly been busy so far in 2025, but it's still 100 launches away from its goal: Company representatives have said they aim to fly 170 orbital missions this year. The 70-launch tally does not include the three missions of SpaceX's Starlink megarocket that have taken place in 2025. Those suborbital test flights lifted off in January, March and late May.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
The New Nintendo Is Here. It's Missing Something Crucial That the Previous Ones Have All Had.
Of the many reasons Nintendo has flourished during its four-decade run in the video game industry—a Pixar-like dedication to quality, a memorable roster of mascots, an inherent creative brightness that cuts against the grimdark fantasies promulgated by other franchises—the company's prime advantage might be its commitment to affordability. The Nintendo Switch, a massively successful console that first made landfall in 2017, retailed for $299—a bargain compared with the $599 Xbox Series X and $699 PlayStation 5 Pro. Remember the Wii? The motion-controlled triumph that became all the rage in retirement homes during the mid-2000s? It was priced at $249, half as much as the lumbering PlayStation 3 which arrived one week prior. (It also included the eternal Wii Sports, bundled in the box, as a bonus.) It's a strategy that has sent an enduring message to consumers. Nintendo might not flex the same graphical fidelity of its rivals—Sony and Microsoft may consistently boast more impressive technical specs—but families could expect to save money when they purchased the company's hardware. And, frankly, that's what's been on my mind most as I surveyed the launch of Nintendo's latest console last week. The long-awaited Switch 2 is here, and it weighs in at an eye-popping $449. Its marquee launch title? A new Mario Kart game that costs an unprecedented $80. The Switch 2, it should be said, has an impressive design. Nintendo has outfitted the console with a gorgeous LCD screen, robust internal storage, and a motherboard powerful enough to furnish its lineup of games in glistening 4K. If you are one of the millions of people curious about the next installments of The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, or Animal Crossing, it is easy to consider its inflated price tag as a genuinely worthwhile investment in your future. And yet, like every other piece of video game machinery that has debuted this decade, the Switch 2 isn't going to shift any paradigms, because we are rapidly approaching a ceiling of what is possible with a graphics card. In the 1990s, each new console release represented a watershed moment in the industry. The Nintendo 64 arrived in 1996 with a suite of games rendered in 3D, leaps and bounds more impressive than the Super Nintendo, which imprisoned everything on-screen in a 2D plane. The justification for the cost was self-evident—a couple hundred bucks was more than worth it to unlock a whole new dimension. The Switch 2, meanwhile, functions essentially like a prettier, svelter, and more efficient update to the previous generation of hardware. The price is dramatically outpacing the novelty of the technology, and that discrepancy has been noticed by the gaming public. During the rollout of the Switch 2, when Nintendo hosted livestreams showcasing its upcoming 2025 catalog, the chat box on the side of the screen billowed up with the same message repeated ad nauseam: 'DROP THE PRICE.' It is hard to get a straight answer out of Nintendo about why its hardware has suddenly gotten so expensive, but it must be said that the company unveiled the Switch 2 on the afternoon of Donald Trump's so-called 'liberation day'—on which he announced a barrage of ill-conceived tariffs to be levied on the global population. Nintendo, recoiling from the chaos, briefly suspended preorders of its new consoles 'in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions.' The announced price tag would eventually go unchanged, because Trump, as the saying goes, chickened out, but the impact may not be over: It wasn't long before Nintendo also warned of 'price adjustments' on accessories. The United States' self-inflicted financial uncertainty may also have already been factored into the Switch 2's retail calculus. That's certainly what industry analysts think. Joost van Dreunen, who studies the business of video games at New York University, told IGN in April that with the higher price, 'Nintendo appears to be building in a buffer against these potential trade barriers,' while Piers Harding-Rolls, who studies the gaming market at Ampere Analysis, speculated that the company 'probably had a range of pricing for the US market in play up until the last minute due to the uncertainty on import tariffs.' Nintendo, naturally, has remained publicly neutral about the issue. 'Our basic policy is that for any country or region, if tariffs are imposed, we recognize them as a part of the cost and incorporate them into the price,' said Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa during a fiscal year report in May. (Given how open-ended Furukawa's statement was, I'm not surprised some experts believe that the Switch 2 might get even more expensive if Trump reintroduces portions of his tariff program, especially his original planned 46 percent tariff on Vietnam and 49 percent tariff on Cambodia, the countries where the company does much of its Switch manufacturing.) To be clear, Nintendo isn't the only heavy hitter jacking up its prices. Video game development is taking longer and growing steadily more expensive, and that has caused all the power brokers in the industry to print out new price tags. Just yesterday, Microsoft showed off The Outer Worlds 2, due out in October, which is a madcap sci-fi RPG that will also be the company's first $80 game. (For context, the average video game cost $60 for much of the 21st century. That number jumped to $70 in 2020, and five years later, norms are shifting again.) Similarly, remember that Xbox Series X I mentioned earlier? The one clocking in at $599? That's actually a recent phenomenon. When the console launched in 2020, it was a hundred bucks cheaper. The tech hasn't changed, but those ominous 'market conditions' certainly have, so Microsoft bumped up the cost earlier this year. This is a pretty radical departure, and it can't be explained away by simple inflation. Not long ago, video game hardware decreased in price over time, once it became sufficiently outpaced by flashier tech. But the titans of this industry have become increasingly responsive to fluctuations in the supply chain, and those old patterns have fallen by the wayside. The only question, it seems, that Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo are asking of their consumers is how much they're willing to pay. If that shift in philosophy turns their consoles into a luxury? Then so be it. Last weekend, I re-created a ritual I've savored every summer since I started playing video games. A few friends came over to fire up the latest Nintendo, down some beers, and enjoy a rousing evening of Mario Kart. The latest entry in the series hasn't altered the formula much; This is still the crowd-pleasing racing game it was in 1998, and 2007, and 2021. Gamers and nongamers alike instinctually internalized the controls, and together we jostled for position on the circuit, creating fleeting rivalries with those homing red shells. It left me a little melancholy. To think such a simple joy has become a premium experience? A new Mario Kart game is like manna from heaven for college dorms and bachelor pads. But today broke twentysomethings will need to scrounge up half a grand for the price of admission. I suppose that's just what life is like in 2025, when everything—rent, groceries, concert tickets, gym memberships—leaves us feeling gouged. No leisure goes unpunished anymore, and given the Trump economy's gloomy forecast, I fear it'll get worse before it gets better.
