A 26-year-old mathematics researcher at Kyoto University has been presented with the Marie Curie Award — a new prize for up-and-coming Japanese female scientists — by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), a government-affiliated research organization.

Mayuko Yamashita, who was appointed assistant professor in mathematics at the university at 23, was awarded Tuesday for her work on mathematical applications to particle physics.

"I am very honored. Mathematics is a field in which there are few women, so I want to convey the allure of mathematics to as many people as possible and be a role model for female researchers," said Yamashita, who graduated from the University of Tokyo.

The new prize is named after Marie Curie, the Polish-born French scientist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1903 for her pioneering research on radioactivity, and then again in 1911 for chemistry. Curie was the first person — and the only woman — to win the Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win the Nobel Prize in two categories.

The award ceremony was held at the Polish Embassy, who co-sponsored the prize.

Other recipients recognized for their contributions were Mariko Kimura, an astrophysicist at the research institute Riken; Kayoko Shioda, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Emory University in the United States; and Marie Saito, who specializes in genome evolution at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.

The JST has been promoting female researchers for some time, primarily focusing on women in their late 20s and early 30s, when researchers are usually at their most active.

Funded by the Polish embassy in Japan and the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Grand Prize winner will be offered an opportunity to visit research institutions in Poland, where Curie was born and raised.