OIST is inviting applications for the FY2026 pilot of the Sustainable Energy Testbed Validation Program. The Program supports startups and SMEs, in Japan or overseas, in validating energy-centered technologies in real-world or field-like settings, and in turning the results into credible evidence for their next technical, business, partnership, or deployment decision.

Up to two projects will be selected. Each will receive up to JPY 2 million, and up to an additional JPY 1 million may be considered for meaningful collaboration with an OIST Research Unit or Core Facility. Projects must be completed by the end of March 2027.

Applications may be submitted in Japanese or English from 9 October 2026, 10:00 JST, to 28 October 2026, 17:00 JST.

OISTは、Sustainable Energy Testbed Validation Program（パイロット）のFY2026公募を実施します。本プログラムは、国内外のスタートアップおよび中小企業を対象に、エネルギー関連技術を実環境またはそれに近い環境で検証し、その結果を次の技術開発、事業、連携、導入に関する意思決定につながるエビデンスとして活用することを支援するものです。

採択件数は最大2件で、1件あたり最大200万円を支援します。OISTの研究ユニットまたはコアファシリティとの実質的な連携がある場合は、最大100万円の追加支援を検討します。プロジェクトは2027年3月末までに完了する必要があります。

応募は日本語または英語で受け付けます。応募期間は2026年10月9日 10:00から10月28日 17:00まで（いずれも日本時間）です。

OIST Workshop | Website | Main organizer: Marco Terenzio (Molecular Neuroscience Unit) |OIST members are welcome to attend all scientific sessions. Meals are closed sessions for registered participants only.

Short Talks & Elevator Speeches

In this webinar, we will discuss the most important components of scientific storytelling, namely: how to make a talk focused and engaging; how to present the appropriate amount of data with appealing slide design; how to make the talk personal, memorable, and aid future collaborations - useful tool for conferences and proposals. The webinar is highly interactive so students should come prepared to share selective ideas of their work.

Seminar by Dr. Luca Gennaioli, University of Warwick

Language: English

TSVP Talk Language: English (no interpretation). Target audience: General audience / everyone at OIST and beyond. Freely accessible to all OIST members and guests without registration (also via Zoom).

In this seminar, I will present our studies of DNA replication origins from evolutionarily distant bacteria, including Escherichia coli, the hyperthermophile Thermotoga maritima, and the alphaproteobacterium Caulobacter crescentus. Comparison of these species reveals striking differences in origin architecture, providing a unique opportunity to explore how replication initiation systems evolve while maintaining the same fundamental function. By combining biochemical, genetic, and comparative approaches, we uncovered unexpected flexibility in DnaA-dependent origin function.

Monthly Co-working space - by Bioinformatics User Group

TSVP Talk Language: English (no interpretation). Target audience: General audience / everyone at OIST and beyond. Freely accessible to all OIST members and guests without registration (also via Zoom).

TSVP Talk Language: English (no interpretation). Target audience: General audience / everyone at OIST and beyond. Freely accessible to all OIST members and guests without registration (also via Zoom).

Guest Seminar hosted by CDQT. Speaker: Dr.Thore Posske(University of Hamburg) Title: Synthesizing quantum matter with magnetic and nonmagnetic adatoms on superconductors — the topological secrets of hybridizing Machida-Shibata states

A mini course on the application of machine learning in polymer chemistry

Professor Rong Tong is Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering at Virginia Tech

5 lectures over 5 weeks. October 16 to November 13 (Friday afternoons)

Speaker: Mahendra Verma, Dept of Physics & Kotak School of Sustainability, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India

The Provost Lecture Series

【Seminar】The Ghost Neuron Protocol for Integrative Structural Analysis of CNS Axons by Dr. Christian Biertuempfel, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI/NIH)

Speaker: Prof. Mahendra Verma, Dept of Physics & Kotak School of Sustainability, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India

Speaker: Dr. Sascha Sadewasser, Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), Portugal

"Visiting Program Coffee Hour": informal discussions and getting to know each other, in the Visiting Program (TSVP) area in Lab 5 EF03

Enric Solé-Farré (Beijing Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Applications): October 26, 4pm-5pm, lecture room L5D23.

Title: Spin(7) Bubbles and Flops under Cohomogeneity-One Assumptions

Abstract: In this talk, I will discuss geometric transitions and gauge theory on complete noncompact Spin(7) spaces with Aloff–Wallach principal orbits. Cohomogeneity-one symmetry reduces both the torsion-free Spin(7) equations and the invariant gauge theory equations to dynamical systems, providing a setting in which metric degenerations and curvature concentration can be visualised and studied explicitly. On the gauge-theoretic side, I will describe the construction and moduli problem of invariant Spin(7)-instantons, including a compactification model incorporating both metric and gauge-theoretic bubbles. On the metric side, we will describe three families of asymptotically locally conical metrics, and describe bubble-like behaviour as in the gauge theoretic side. In particular, we will outline how two of the metrics are related by a Spin(7)-flop in the orbifold category, following the expectations of the physicists Cvetic--Gibbons--Lu--Pope and earlier results of Lehmann. Based on joint work with Hanci Chi.

Long Talks and Dissertations

This webinar is dedicated to the skill of holding an audience’s attention for longer periods of time, such as during dissertations, defenses, or critical job talks. Special attention will be given to long-form storytelling, using consistent and repetitive imagery and connecting data to the larger theme, while stressing skill sets and novel contributions to the field. Other topics include delivery techniques for long talks, and how to demonstrate knowledge, pride, and commitment with humility and grace.

[Seminar] "Making input-specific synaptic changes last: from synaptic tagging mechanisms to cell-adhesion codes" by Dr. Mathieu Letellier, The Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience (IINS), University of Bordeaux

October 27, 2026 11:00-12:00 @B503, Center Bldg.

サイエンスデイ群馬2026は、群馬大学とOISTが共催する、群馬県内の高校生を対象とした科学アウトリーチイベントです。セミナーや体験型展示、進路・キャリア相談を通じて、量子コンピューティング、量子センサー、未来の電池、先端医療などの最先端研究に触れるとともに、科学分野における将来の進学やキャリアについて学ぶ機会を提供します。

Seminar by JSPS Fellow: Asa Conover

A mini course on the application of machine learning in polymer chemistry

Professor Rong Tong is Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering at Virginia Tech

5 lectures over 5 weeks. October 16 to November 13 (Friday afternoons)

National holiday

Mr. Hongda Zhao, Kyoto University

TSVP Talk Language: English (no interpretation). Target audience: General audience / everyone at OIST and beyond. Freely accessible to all OIST members and guests without registration (also via Zoom).

Startup Elevate の2日目として開催される「OIST Innovation Day」では、—初期段階の研究シーズから、最先端技術を活用したスタートアップまで、OIST全体で進行中のイノベーションをご覧いただけます。セッションは、Startup Elevateのテーマに沿って「ライフサイエンス」と「ディープテック」の2部構成で行われます。OISTとのイノベーション面での連携方法を模索されている方に、ぜひご参加いただきたいイベントです。

A mini course on the application of machine learning in polymer chemistry

Professor Rong Tong is Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering at Virginia Tech

5 lectures over 5 weeks. October 16 to November 13 (Friday afternoons)

Prof. Takashi Ohshima, Professor. Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyushu University. Language: English

Celebrate OIST's 15th Anniversary with a special afternoon of chamber music featuring Mitsuki Okada (violin), Itsuko Arakaki (viola), Megumi Shiroma (cello), and Yuka Oyabu (piano). This commemorative performance marks an important milestone in OIST's history, bringing together researchers, students, staff, and the wider community through the shared experience of live music.

OIST Workshop | Website | Main organizer: Tom Froese (Embodied Cognitive Science Unit) | OIST members are welcome to attend all scientific sessions (registration required).

The PCD Team will host the OIST Career Fair 2026 on November 9th and 10th, 2026. This will offer OIST students a unique opportunity to engage directly with companies across Japan and explore diverse career paths beyond academia.

Introducing differential calculus in infinite-dimensional spaces, with applications to the calculus of variations and optimal control

Dr. Denis Brazke is a Postdoctoral scholar at Analysis and Partial Differential Equations (APDE) Unit (Abdulla Unit)

Four sessions over four Tuesdays, November 10, 17, 24, and December 1st, from 1000-1200 in L4F01

[Speaker] Prof. Eckart Meiburg, Distinguished Professor, University of California at Santa-Barbara

TSVP Talk Language: English (no interpretation). Target audience: General audience / everyone at OIST and beyond. Freely accessible to all OIST members and guests without registration (also via Zoom).

Dr. Caroline L. Monteil, Senior Researcher at Aix-Marseille University, CEA, CNRS, Biosciences and Biotechnologies Institute of Aix-Marseille, Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France

Seminar by Prof. Spatafora

Digital AgTech Europe–Japan Meetup brings European agricultural technology to Tokyo. Hear how farms in Spain and Cyprus are using sensors, drones, and automation today, see short pitches from companies working in the field, and meet others across Japan's agriculture sector.

A mini course on the application of machine learning in polymer chemistry

Professor Rong Tong is Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering at Virginia Tech

5 lectures over 5 weeks. October 16 to November 13 (Friday afternoons)

Plant Engineering Biology: Engineering green organisms for a sustainable future

Seminar by Dr. Florian Gabriel from Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB)

[Speaker] Prof. Takahiro Tsukahara, Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Tokyo University of Science

OIST Innovation Bridge 2026は、OIST発スタートアップとアクセラレーター卒業生が、県内の事業者・行政・投資家と直接出会うための1日です。卒業生と県内事業者による協業の実績や、これから取り組む課題を語るトーク、県外大手企業との連携事例の紹介、スタートアップ8〜10社によるピッチを通じて、OISTで育まれた技術を沖縄の現場へつなぎます。 日時：2026年11月20日（金）13:00–17:00（予定） 会場：おきなわアリーナ 2F（ResorTech EXPO 2026 内） 参加費：無料（ResorTech EXPO 2026への事前登録が必要です） ※KOZA ROCKS 2026のサイドイベントとして開催します。 English OIST Innovation Bridge 2026 is a one-day event where OIST startups and Accelerator alumni meet directly with Okinawa's businesses, government, and investors. Through talks on real collaborations and new challenges to tackle together, case studies of partnerships with major corporations from outside Okinawa, and pitches from 8–10 startups, the event bridges technology nurtured at OIST with the people and industries of Okinawa. Date: Friday, November 20, 2026, 13:00–17:00 (tentative) Venue: Okinawa Arena 2F (within ResorTech EXPO 2026) Admission: Free (registration for ResorTech EXPO 2026 required) *Held as a side event of KOZA ROCKS 2026.

National holiday

[Seminar] "Direct measurement of coupling distance by Flash & Freeze-fracture replica labeling" by Prof. Ryuichi Shigemoto, Institute of Science and Technology Austria ( ISTA)

November 27, 2026 11:00-12:00 @L5D23

2026 COI-NEXT Annual Symposium Building Research Ecosystems That Work

Date: December 14th, 2026, at 10:00-17:00 Venue: Sydney Brenner Lecture Theater (B250) Target audience: General audience/ open to everyone at OIST and beyond.

National holiday

National holiday

OIST Workshop | Website | Main organizer: Shu Zhang (Collective Dynamics and Quantum Transport Unit) |OIST members are welcome to attend all scientific sessions. Meals are closed sessions for registered participants only.