Starting between 

Oct 2022-Mar2023

Starting between 

Apr-Sep 2023

Faculty Research Interests and Project Information

Click here for more information on Research Activities at OIST.

The topic of the project will be determined according to the research interest of the intern. Examples of research projects are: comparative genomics of termites, coevolution between termites and the intracellular parasites Wolbachia and Cardinium, coevolution between termites and their gut prokaryotes.

1. Social dilemmas and governance of common goods
2. Biodiversity dynamics and speciation
3. Sustainable fisheries management and fishing-induced evolution
4. Systemic risk and network dynamics
5. Evolutionary community ecology and eco-evolutionary vegetation dynamics
6. Adaptive dynamics theory and models
7. Simplifying spatial complexity
8. Disease ecology and evolution

Projects in computational neuroscience and brain-inspired artificial intelligence.

Theory, simulation, and simple experiments focused on physical and biological processes with interesting geometrical or topological features, including the formation of holes during the growth of the "Swiss cheese plant" (genus monstera), the water driven erosion of stone, the formation of ridges and cracks on the bark of growing trees, and the healing of punctured soap films.

1.  swarm robotics to study the self-organization of social complexity;
2.  human-computer interaction studies to investigate how digital technology becomes incorporated   into our behavior;
3.  EEG hyperscanning experiments to study the neural underpinnings of social interaction;
4.  sensory substitution studies to investigate the dynamics of perceptual learning.

1.  computational neuroscience models of cognitive function.
2.  mathematical/biological mechanisms of learning.
3.  analysis of neural activity data for exploring neural code.

1. The organization and signaling of astrocytes that shape synaptic circuit function
2. The role of sleep molecules in synapse homeostasis

Projects related to genomics and evolutionary cell biology of diverse symbioses (in deep sea protists, insects, corals, etc.) are available depending on interests of the intern.

Development of organic glow-in-the-dark systems including organic synthesis and optical measurements.

Various experimental projects related to electrons on liquid helium (see Unit website for research details).

Project involves training in animal surgery, in vivo two-photon imaging, and/or data analysis dependent on the interest and background of the applicant. Applicants who might want to join the OIST Graduate Program in the field of Neuroscience are specifically encouraged to apply.

Vincent Laudet

Projects on nonlinear partial differential equations and related applications, including the following topics:

1. Surface evolution equations with applications in image processing and crystal growth
2. Optimal control and game theoretic interpretations for nonlinear partial differential equations
3. Analysis of differential equations in metric spaces

pi-Conjugated Polymers Unit

1. Mechanisms that regulate retinal neurogenesis and neural circuit formation
2. Mechanisms that regulate retinal cell death including photoreceptor degeneration
3. Mechanisms that regulate lens fiber differentiation

The Marine Biophysics Unit (MBU) investigates biological processes in the ocean at varying spatial scales, from micrometers for microbes to thousands of kilometers for biogeographic events, by incorporating physical, mathematical, and biological/genetic approaches. The physical oceanographic resources and expertise at the MBU, coupled with tools in marine biology, molecular biology, and paleontology, provide a unique laboratory system for studying marine biological processes, influenced by powerful disturbances (e.g., typhoons) and climatic forcings (e.g., global warming). The MBU was established at OIST in 2009, because of Okinawa’s ideal geographic position and access to the outstanding research resources of OIST. The MBU supports students and postdocs with a variety of backgrounds; however, fluid dynamics and physical oceanography are fundamental to all of the Unit’s research. In particular, MBU welcomes students and postdocs who are interested in employing physical and mathematical approaches to understand marine biological systems.

1. Research projects on energy storage materials and devices (e.g. batteries).
2. Research projects on energy harvesting materials and devices (e.g. solar cells).
3. Research projects on surface and interface sciences.

• Computational analysis of cephalopod behavior 
• Tissue clearing and light sheet imaging of cephalopod brains

Projects in epigenome analysis of plant genomes.

1. Flow instabilities in microfluidics. Students with fluid mechanics, rheology, microfluidics, microfabrication, 3D printing experiences are preferred; but students with general engineering and physics background are also welcome.
2. Microfluidics for biotechnology applications (designing biosensor platforms for disease diagnostics, designing bio-MEMs platforms for bacteria and cell studies). Students with general engineering, biology, chemistry, physics, microfabrication, cell culture background are welcome.

1. Functional studies on synaptic dysfunctions in human iPSC-derived neuronal culture models, using imaging and electrophysiological techniques.
2. Proteomic-based studies of synaptic proteins regarding their brain regional differences and differences between diseased and healthy humans.

Projects in synthetic organic chemistry related to the development of chemical transformation methods, the development of organocatalysts, and the synthesis of functionalized molecules.

Reiko Toriumi

Gravity, Quantum Geometry and Field Theory Unit

1. Focussed ultrasound effects on the brain.
2. Mouse behavior in virtual reality.

Experimental projects on functional nucleic acids that function in cells (mammalian, bacterial), or purely chemical systems (test tubes, artificial cells). Requires some experience in molecular biology, biochemistry, or synthetic chemistry experiments. Some projects may require basic programming skills (e.g. Python) to analyze large sequencing datasets.

Yutaka Yoshida

Neural Circuit Unit

Projects related to analysis and partial differential equations on Heisenberg group, sub-Riemannian manifolds and general metric measure spaces. See unit website for detail