OIST's Visiting Program

OIST TSVP logo

Introduction

Our Visiting Program aims to bring outstanding experts from all disciplines to Okinawa, to intensify collaborations, contribute to OIST's interdisciplinary atmosphere and research output, as well as provide general-audience lectures, courses for students, and outreach activity. The different branches of the progam are outlined below and described on their respective pages (also see this overview).

One of the guiding principles of OIST is to "be the destination of choice to work, learn, and collaborate, linking science to education and leading to innovation and entrepreneurship." In a recent article by Nikkei Asia on OIST President Karen Markides, she summarized this guiding principle and the aims of the Visiting Programs very well:
Markides, who was previously on the committee that selects Nobel laureates in chemistry, says diversity is key to making groundbreaking discoveries that will help solve societal challenges. "When I'm asking Nobel laureates, 'How did you come to this new idea?' they almost always tell me that they put their brain in a different environment and were inspired by a company, some friends, or another culture -- a change in context allowed them to expand knowledge into new areas," she said.

These webpages provide information about the Visiting Programs, and associated events, including lectures intended for a general audience. More information can be found on the Events page or by subscribing to this iCal calendar.

Overview of programs and applications
blackboard full of mathematical formulae
Visiting Scholars

Individual long-term visits by independent researchers

More information

Thematic Programs

Group of researchers

More information

RC-family_airplane_travel
Domestic Visitors

Flexible visits by scholars working in Japan

More information

News

On September 4, TSVP Visiting Scholar Miguel Bastos Araújo has been announced as the winner of the Marsh Award for Climate Change Research by the British Ecological Society.
The prize was awarded for his outstanding contribution to climate change research.

Miguel Marsh Award by British Ecological Society

 

Previous News

A news article on how "Octopus sleep is surprisingly similar to humans" was published in the journal "nature" in June 2023. It results from a collaboration between Visiting Scholar Leenoy Meshulam and OIST's Professor Sam Reiter and his group. Leenoy visited OIST in 2022/2023 through the Theoretical Sciences Visiting Program (TSVP). More information in the video embedded below and this news article

 

General-audience lectures

 An archive of all TSVP and EVSP Talks is embedded below as Youtube playlist. These talks are intended for general audiences, with topics spanning from Blackholes, via Mathematics and Neuroscience, to Quantum Information.

Podcasts about the Visiting Program

In this podcast, DJ Nick Luscombe, OIST Podcaster in Residence, checks out OIST's Visiting Program (TSVP). He talks to Dr. Jonas Fischer, Academic Coordinator, and Prof. Simone Pigolotti to learn more about the program. He also interviews the guest researchers visiting OIST as part of the program and asks them about their experiences at OIST. Listen to the episode to find out why visitors "just don't know any better sabbatical program in the world" (Shinichi Nakagawa) and OIST's "big diversity of world-class researchers" (Malgorzata Lagisz).

 

In the second episode Nick talks to Dr. Samuel Ross, OIST researcher who is scientific coordinator for the Thematic Program on "The Future of Response Diversity and Ecosystem Stability" in March 2024 and Dr. Harini Desiraju from the University of Sydney, who was one of the coordinators of the first Thematic Program "Exact Asymptotics: From Fluid Dynamics to Quantum Geometry", which took place from August 1 to October 28, 2023. Last but not least, he interviews Prof. Nic Shannon of the  Theory of Quantum Matter unit, who is one of the founders of the Visiting Program at OIST.

 

In the third podcast episode listeners can experience a day in the life of visiting researchers on the OIST campus together with DJ Nick Luscombe. In the TSVP office area, we will meet the people who are running the program and hear from visitors about their research. Experience what it is like to be a part of the Visiting Program.

Graphic of Japanese Podcast called Ken en no Naka

Recent visitor Ayaka Kato talked about her experience at OIST in an episode of "Ken-en no naka" (研エンの仲), her Japanese podcast on science and related topics. Check out the episode from September 4, 2024 to hear about her experiences: Spotify, Apple podcasts, Pocket Casts