OIST Open Campus 2010

On November 28, 2010, the Okinawa Institute for Science and Technology Promotion Corporation, the purpose of which is to prepare for the opening of the OIST graduate school, enjoyed the support of the Council for Promotion of OIST, Okinawa Prefecture, and Onna Village in holding its first Open Campus at the new campus in Onna Village. A long line of visitors were waiting when the doors opened, foreshadowing the event's final total of 2,130 visitors for the day.

In the Exhibition-Demonstration area, booths were set up with themes like "Let's Craft a Bed for Coral Larvae" and "Decoding Programs in the Brain," where visitors  participated in scientific experiments related to research being done at OIST. In the lectures, five researchers gave accessible explanations of their research. Subjects addressed included the lives of ants, motion and the brain, and a game that allowed the audience to look at living things through a mathematical perspective. The 150-person capacity hall was filled to the aisles with participants listening intently to the researchers. In the lab tours, participants were able to visit research facilities like experimental labs and an electron microscopy room.

It is safe to say that visitors from elementary and junior high students to adults enjoyed meeting researchers and participating in experiments, and the lectures surely deepened their interest in science. The event was also a great opportunity to enable visitors to see for themselves that preparations for the opening of the graduate school are progressing well. It is the goal of the graduate school to conduct world-class research and education while remaining deeply rooted in the Okinawa region. OIST will continue to actively engage in activities to promote the understanding of the prefecture's citizens.