Shiseido and the Keio University Institute for Advanced Biosciences Sign Comprehensive Collaboration Agreement of Creation of Beauty Innovations and Human Resource Development

On June 21, 2022, Shiseido Company, Limited (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Masahiko Uotani; hereinafter “Shiseido”) signed a comprehensive collaboration agreement with the Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University (Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture; Director General: Masaru Tomita; hereinafter “IAB”), for the purpose of fostering talented individuals who will lead future innovation.

Under the agreement, Shiseido and IAB will work together, supporting researchers in identifying issues within their research fields, and create future innovations through unprecedented research approaches and exchanges between experts. In the long run, the goal is to develop new leaders going beyond the conventional frameworks in the R＆D field.

Details of the comprehensive collaboration agreement

The comprehensive collaboration agreement to foster talent for future innovation research
- Medium- to long-term fostering of talented individuals to lead future innovation
(including long-term dispatches to IAB)
- Promotion of research activities using cutting-edge technologies and implementing them in the real world
- Other joint activities to revitalize local communities, etc.

Background

Under its “PEOPLE FIRST” policy, Shiseido believes that people are the company’s most important asset and is actively investing in talent development with the aim of creating an organization in which “strong individuals create a strong company.” In the field of R＆D, Shiseido signed the advisory agreement with Prof. Masaru Tomita, the Director General of IAB in November 2021* and has set up the GIC Tomita Laboratory, where Prof. Tomita provides direct guidance within the Shiseido Global Innovation Center (GIC), an urban open lab located in the Minato-Mirai area of Yokohama. Shiseido is trying to create unprecedented innovations that lead future businesses by taking a new approach based on out-of-the-book thinking, and foster a new culture and strong talented individuals in our R＆D organization.
Ref: Shiseido Signs Advisory Agreement with Professor Masaru Tomita, Director General of The Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University
https://corp.shiseido.com/en/news/detail.html?n=00000000003254

Purpose of the comprehensive collaboration agreement

IAB is a full-fledged research institute that conducts cutting-edge bioresearch while actively nurturing researchers who boldly take on challenges without fear of failure. Located in Yamagata Prefecture, Tsuruoka, on the Shonai plain surrounded by nature, IAB is also actively engaged in industry-government-academia collaboration and has close ties with the local community.

This agreement was signed to further accelerate the creation of innovation and the development of talented individuals involved in innovative research. As part of the agreement, two Shiseido researchers (selected through an in-house recruitment process) will be dispatched to IAB. Along with their work on future innovation in collaboration with the GIC Tomita Laboratory, the researchers will think and act on their own intuition, collaborate with industry, government, and academia, and accumulate experience – both successes and failures – through activities that defy existing frameworks. Through these experiences in business creation and community activities, they will strive to become future leaders.