There are various types of awards in the world and the purposes of these awards are classified into two. One of the purposes is to honor outstanding contributions to the welfare of mankind and to stimulate research in such a field, just like Nobel Prize. Another purpose is to encourage and assist the progress of an exploratory study which is expected to achieve major development in the future. The purpose of Niigata Award includes both. During selection procedures, difficulties are expected because the area of research is quite wide including not only basic and applied researches but also technologies it may not be possible to conduct a review based on the common standards. As for the Encouragement Award, in addition, it is necessary to accept uncertainty of future development. The most important policy is to keep justice and neutrality by maintaining the transparency of the selection process so that people will embrace the result of selection. The selection committee will conduct a strict selection hoping to contribute to the development of the research and technology in the field of food.