Kyoto Prize Symposium Scholarships Available to
San Diego Area Students

San Diego – Dec. 28, 2010 -- Scholarship awards of up to $10,000 are available to San Diego City and County high school senior students (public, private and parochial) through the auspices of the Kyoto Prize Symposium Scholarships, the San Diego County Foundation, and the Inamori Foundation of Kyoto, Japan. The deadline for submitting applications is January 10, 2011.

A companion program offering scholarships of the same value is being organized separately for students in Baja California.

The Kyoto Scholarship award, based on merit and community service, is given to graduating students who aspire to use their studies and work to improve society—a concept consistent with the philosophy of the Kyoto Prize. As part of the application requirements, students write an essay about one of the latest Kyoto Prize laureates, which this year are Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, chosen from the field of medical research and technology; Dr. Laszlo Lovasz, selected from the field of mathematics, and William Kentridge, chosen from the field of visual arts.

Winners of the 2011-2012 Kyoto Scholarships will be recognized April 4 at the Opening Ceremony and Gala of the 10th annual Kyoto Prize Symposium. They and fellow high school students will be invited to attend the Laureate presentations at three area universities: Dr. Yamanaka, advanced technology, April 5 at SDSU; Dr. Lovasz, basic science, April 5 at UCSD, and Kentridge, arts and philosophy, April 6 at USD.

Applications forms for the scholarship awards are available at http://kyotoprize.org. The forms and essays must be submitted to the San Diego Foundation by January 10. The essays will be evaluated utilizing the “Formula for Success” developed by the Kyoto Prize founder, Dr. Kazuo Inamori, which states that the success we achieve in our lives or careers is a multiplicative product of three factors: Ability x Effort x Attitude. The essays will be judged on these criteria.