The Graduation Ceremony to award degrees to those who graduated in the period May 2025 to January 2026. The ceremony will take place at the OIST Auditorium on Friday, February 27, 2026.

Moderated by Lauren Ha, Associate Vice President for Technology Development and Innovation, the conversation will explore Kris’s career, current initiatives, and his perspective on the global tech industry. After a 20‑minute interview, the floor will open for audience questions. The event will be followed by a special OIST Teatime in Center Court.

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).

Speaker: Cindy Poo, a senior scientist with the Allen Institute for Neural Dynamics and an Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Washington

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).

Title: Rocks instead of clocks: Bayesian modelling of the fossil record enlightens the diversification and extinction of Hemiptera in deep time

Abstract: Untangling the patterns and drivers behind the diversification and extinction of highly diversified lineages remains a challenge in evolutionary biology. While insect diversification has been widely studied through the “ Big Four” insect orders (Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, and Diptera), the fifth most diverse order, Hemiptera, has often been overlooked. Hemiptera exhibit a rich fossil record and are highly diverse in present-day ecosystems, with many lineages closely associated with their host plants, making them a crucial group for studying how past ecological shifts—such as mass extinctions and floral turnovers—have influenced insect diversification. This study leverages birth-death models in a Bayesian framework and the fossil record of Hemiptera to estimate their past diversity dynamics. Our results reveal that global changes in flora over time significantly shaped the evolutionary trajectories of Hemiptera. Two major faunal turnovers particularly influenced Hemiptera diversification: (i) the aftermath of the Permo-Triassic mass extinction and (ii) the Angiosperm Terrestrial Revolution. Our analyses suggest that diversification of Hemiptera clades was driven by floristic shifts combined with competitive pressures from overlapping ecological niches. Leveraging the extensive fossil record of Hemiptera allowed us to refine our understanding of diversification patterns across major hemipteran lineages. We also the recently developed Bayesian Brownian Bridge model, which estimates the timing of lineage origin and extinction through fossil-based Bayesian modelling, to provide a temporal framework for the rise and fall of 310 major hemipteran lineages.

Speaker: Dr. Samuël Borza, University of Vienna Title: Ollivier-Ricci curvature in non-smooth Lorentzian geometry and causal set theory Abstract:

This talk will explore some aspects of non-smooth Lorentzian geometry, the mathematical framework underlying Einstein’s general relativity, which is currently being developed. Just as metric length spaces provide a synthetic generalisation of smooth Riemannian manifolds, the time-separation function plays the role of a “distance” in Lorentzian geometry. The need for a non-smooth Lorentzian framework appeared early on, most famously with Penrose’s singularity theorems. After introducing the basic concepts and some initial results in this synthetic setting, we will turn to causal set theory, a radical approach to quantum gravity in which spacetime is modelled as a discrete causal graph. I will formulate a new notion of curvature, inspired by Ollivier-Ricci curvature on metric graphs, using optimal transport between causal diamonds. We will see that it does recover Ricci curvature on smooth Lorentzian manifolds, and numerical examples will be presented.

旅費相談会を開催いたします。

February 24th (Tue) @A151 Center Bldg. 15:00-16:00

Prof. Mircea Dincă , Department of Chemistry, Princeton 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).

Speaker: Dr Lewis Picard, Caltech, USA

Title: Entanglement-assisted readout and cooling of neutral atom qubits in an optical tweezer array

A workshop on developing collaboration across sectors to work effectively with community to advance research and activities addressing social challenges.

Speaker: Takuji Hiroishi, CEO, Empublic Inc. , Japanese with English translation

Register

Faculty Affairs Office (FAO) is pleased to announce the first Buribushi Mini-Symposium , to be held on Thursday, February 19, 2026 . All OIST faculty, researchers, students, and staff are warmly invited to attend. Come and join us for a fun research talk !

Experience MAXHUB’s latest interactive meeting solutions.

Showcase includes the All-in-One Meeting Board and Microsoft Teams Room devices.

Live demos highlight how these tools enhance communication and meeting efficiency.

MAXHUB の最新インタラクティブ会議ソリューションを体験できる展示イベントです。

All-in-One Meeting Board や Microsoft Teams Room対応デバイス紹介、会議の効率化・可視化を支援する最新テクノロジーを会場でデモします。

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).

QG Seminar (Zoom) Speaker: Nicolas Cresto (Perimeter) Title: sw1+infinity asymptotic symmetries: Carrollian & Celestial lessons

Speaker: Dr Scott Parkins, Associate Professor, The University of Auckland, NZ

Title: Nonclassical light – getting more of it out of a single atom

Japan’s next wave of global innovation is emerging from the south. This roundtable session, co-hosted by OIST Innovation and Kyushu University Kyusokai , explores the strategic potential of the Okinawa–Kyushu axis as a powerhouse for national-level Deep Tech.

Join us to discuss how we can leverage our unique geographic and academic strengths to create a sustainable supply base for world-changing technologies. We will move beyond theory into the practical realities of venture capital and domain-specific scaling.

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Dr. Jing Yan Haw, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore. Language: English, no interpretation. Open to OIST members.

StrucShare meeting: Demo and hands-on experience by Prof Matthias Wolf

Target audience : Students and researchers in the field

Language : English

Abstract : Supersingular elliptic curves and supersingular Abelian varieties are important mathematical background of modern cryptography.

Speaker: Dr. Oliver Dreesen, Senior Principal Investigator, Cell Aging Laboratory, A*STAR Skin Research Laboratories (A*SRL)

Talk Title: Molecular functions of the nuclear lamina in cell aging & senescence

Join Zoom link

Target audience: Interns, Students, PostDocs, and those who are interested in the same research field. Language: English

Lecture title: Early life sleep shapes brain development and social behavior in the socially monogamous prairie vole

Speaker: Miranda M. Lim, MD, PhD, Professor in the Department of Neurology at Oregon Health & Science University.

“Welcome to Okinawa and OIST”

This orientation is a chance for new family and community members to get to know OIST and its community services. You’ll meet other families and pick up tips and stories from those who’ve been here a while

Title: Neutral-Atom Based Quantum Computing with 171Yb Nuclear-Spin Qubits

Speaker: Dr Sebastian Pucher, Quantum Engineer at Atom Computing, Boulder, Colorado, USA

The aim of the GWB (Global Women’s Breakfast) series is to celebrate the accomplishments of Women in Science and to inspire younger generations to pursue careers in science. Please register here by Friday, February 6th.

QG Seminar (Zoom) Speaker: Hassaan Saleem, (SUNY Albany) Title: Non-supersymmetric strings on AdS3

Title : "Introduction to Isogeny-based Cryptography"

Abstract : Isogeny-based cryptography is a fast-moving field, and recent developments have introduced several new techniques, making the barrier of entry particularly high for young researchers wishing to work in the field. To aid new researchers in the field is the aim of this "summer" school, which introduces all of the many essential tools that are used today. Among the topics to be covered are the correspondences between ideals and isogenies that give rise to both the Deuring correspondence, which is an essential part of protocols such as SQIsign, and the class group action on CM curves and oriented supersingular curves, which gives other cryptographic primitives such as CSIDH and SCALLOP. Further, higher dimensional abelian varieties and isogenies between these have recently become an integral part of isogeny-based cryptography, providing huge improvements to many existing protocols, as well as creating new protocols.

OIST startup EF Polymer invites everyone to join their annual carrot harvesting event!

Date: Saturday, February 7, 2026 Time: 10:00–12:00 Meeting: 9:50 at the Tancha-mae-no-hama Monument

If you plan to participate, please be sure to register in advance using the Form. https://forms.office.com/r/Hm5GuvFC6g

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).

Speaker: Sylvester Eriksson-Bique, University of Jyv¨askyl¨a

Title: P-Dirichlet spaces and the resolution of the resistance and energy image density conjectures

Abstract: I will describe the resolution of two conjectures related to Dirichlet forms. In both cases a conceptually simple solution arises by stepping away from the p=2 regime. This leads to a new definition of a p-Dirichlet space, which unifies three quite different areas: Dirichlet form theory, Analysis on fractals and Analysis on metric spaces. The talk includes joint work with Mathav Murugan

Speaker: Aleksis Koski, Aalto University

Title:The Trace Theorem for Sobolev Homeomorphisms

Abstract: Classical Sobolev trace theory tells us when a boundary map can be extended as a Sobolev function inside a given domain in R^n. For the purposes of minimization problems in Nonlinear Elasticity, it is natural to rephrase this question in the context of extending a given embedding of the boundary as a homeomorphic Sobolev map. In this talk, I will explain what is known about this problem, ending with a full trace theory for Sobolev homeomorphisms in 2D.

Dr. Giovanni Consoli, Postdoctoral Fellow from Imperial College London

Evident FV5000 seminar and demonstration

Date: Monday, February 2, 2026 - 11:00 to 12:00 @L5D23, Lab5

Title: "Looking at neurodevelopmental disorders through the lens of evolution: a role for the autolysosomal pathway"

Speaker: Prof. Nael Nadif Kasri, Radboud University

OIST COI-NEXT Annual Symposium 2026 Sustaining Innovation Beyond the Lab Date: March 9th, 2026, at 9:30-17:00 Venue: Sydney Brenner Lecture Theater (B250) Target audience: General audience/ open to everyone at OIST and beyond. Registration Deadline: February 26, 2026 Please register by the deadline to secure your spot. *The deadline has been extended.

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).

QG Seminar Speaker: Veronica Collazuol (IFT Madrid) Title: The Boundary of Symmetric Moduli Spaces and the Distance Conjecture

Onna Elementary’s mandatory orientation is on February 5 ^th . To support non-Japanese speaking OIST parents, the Educational Support Services (ESS) Team would like to hold a pre-orientation event so that the February 5 ^th orientation will be even more beneficial.

During this event, we will provide an overview of the annual school schedule and key events, explain what to prepare and how, outline what to expect in classes, and share general requirements of the Japanese school system.

Although this event is mainly directed at parents of incoming Onna Elementary School 1 ^st grade students, parents of all children are welcome to attend .

Event details:

Title: Onna Elementary School incoming 1 ^st grader pre-orientation

Date: Thursday, January 29th

Time: 12:05PM – 12:55PM

Location: Center Building C210

We look forward to seeing you there.

A series of short (5-20 minute) talks by Thematic Program " Isogeny-Based Cryptography" participants

Title: Harnack’s inequality for nonlocal parabolic equations

Speaker: Prof. Naian Liao (University of Salzburg)

Title: Phragmén-Lindelöf-type results for functions in homogeneous De Giorgi classes

Speaker: Prof. Ugo Gianazza (University of Pavia)

Join farmers, startups, and innovation leaders to explore real issues facing agriculture in Okinawa. This is a hybrid event with simultaneous interpretation in English and Japanese. Local experts will share short, focused insights on the challenges farmers encounter, followed by a panel discussion on how entrepreneurial solutions can address them. Early-stage startups will pitch technologies and ideas. The event concludes with networking, offering a chance to connect, collaborate, and spark new partnerships for the future of Okinawa’s agriculture.

Talk by Thomas Astner, Austrian Academy of Sciences (Austria).

Internal and external workshop

旅費相談会を開催いたします。

January 27th (Tue) @A151 Center Bldg. 15:00-16:00

OIST-Keio Showcase Talk Series Vol. 9 – Proteins in Focus: Cryo-EM and Structural Frontiers

The ninth edition of the OIST-Keio Showcase Talk Series brings together experts from Keio University, The University of Osaka’s Institute for Protein Research, and OIST to explore cutting-edge advances in protein science and cryo-electron microscopy. Talks will cover drug design, photosynthetic complexes, molecular motors, enzyme evolution, and viral architectures. This symposium highlights how cryo-EM is transforming our understanding of molecular mechanisms and driving innovation in medicine, biotechnology, and environmental science - with the aim of connecting researchers across institutions to enable interdisciplinary innovation.

This symposium will be followed by the 2026 Cryo-Electron Microscopy Course from January 28 to 30, which is aimed at beginners (admission is free). There experienced researchers will provide an overview of the current state-of-the-art and share their experiences in demonstrations and hands-on practice.