2022 Year-End Letter from President Gruss

 

Dear friends, colleagues, members and supporters of the OIST community,

          From challenges emerges opportunities, and with some hard work, dedication, and perseverance opportunities can be made into accomplishments. At OIST, the challenges of the last few years gave rise to new opportunities in 2022, a year that started with us all “zooming” in to work from our homes but also the year that brought us together in celebration of our 10^th anniversary. A year when we welcomed Prime Minister Kishida to our campus and also the year when scholars from Ukraine found new opportunities in our remote island. A year when we celebrated our first faculty to win the Nobel Prize and also the year that marked the 50^th anniversary of Okinawa’s reversion to Japan. This year we celebrated the graduation of OIST’s 100^th student but this was also the year we mourned the loss of our founder, Mr. Koji Omi. And now, at the end of this momentous year as we open our doors after more than two years to welcome once again communities local and foreign at our campus, I’m reminded of so many other significant developments that resulted from the hard work and dedication of our colleagues, mentors, and students and which I hope to celebrate with you through this year-end letter.

Campus Update

After patiently enduring the long wait at the height of the COVID pandemic, our new students, faculty, staff, and executives finally arrived at their new home in our beautiful Okinawa. We celebrated the beginning of their new journey at OIST with our Welcome Ceremony in September. Along with 79 PhD students from 29 countries and 12 faculty members, this year we also welcomed several new members to our senior management board.

With the addition of new talent, we also bid farewell to two of our outstanding champions. Dr. Masayuki Shibata diligently served us, first as the Vice President for Financial Management and subsequently as our Acting Secretary General during the highly uncertain time of the COVID pandemic. Also, Dr. Mary Collins has left an impact not only on OIST’s history but also on our memory. In her five years at OIST, Mary helped shape key elements of our university, first as our Dean of Research and later as the OIST Provost. It’s our extraordinary community, our patrons and their support that helps OIST to stand out. Liz and Ken Peach have supported us over many years through their philanthropic contributions and this year we were able to celebrate their beneficence by the unveiling of a plaque in their honor. To encourage young Okinawans to pursue a career in the sciences, Mr. Robert Nakasone helped to establish the Matsuro and Tsuruko Nakasone Fund last year in honor of his parents. We celebrated his commitment to a better future with the unveiling of a plaque last month.

Two major developments for OIST have come just recently. First is the establishment of a new framework for hypothesis-driven consortia. It is not enough to participate in the emerging science and technology realms of tomorrow. At OIST we want to lead the creation of our shared future. And this is why thematic clusters in which a hypothesis-driven scientific inquiry is probed from many different approaches are key to the advancement of science and innovation at OIST. This will be launched with the OIST Center for Quantum Technologies (OQT) led by Prof. Kae Nemoto. And in our second major development, OIST will soon set up a new Global Bioconvergence Center of Innovation. Supported by the award of a 10-year grant from the Japan Science and Technology Agency, the new center at OIST will tap into the academia-industry interactions for co-creation with the society in Japan.

The Theoretical Sciences Visiting Program (TSVP), together with the Distinguished Visiting Scholar Program might only have begun this year but bustling with activity, they have already garnered much attention. Such visiting programs offer great value to the host institution for creating a bridge between the scientific knowledge that the researchers bring and the science they facilitate. TSVP at OIST readily integrates into our strategy and interdisciplinary mission. Thanks to the hard work of the Establishing Committee led by Prof. Nic Shannon, the Visitor Selection Committee chaired by Professor Tomoki Fukai, and the TSVP team, we had the opportunity to host a diverse group of distinguished theoretical scientists at OIST this year.

With the C-Hub, professional development continued for our students, staff, and researchers. In February, the Inclusive Mentoring Mini-Symposium brought together around 150 aspiring and established professionals, who together delved into the matter of how inclusive mentorship has the potential to give rise to successful and flourishing teams with productive collaborations. Additionally, a new Certificate Program in teaching and course design has been launched that I’m sure will benefit many in our community.

The OIST Ombuds Office that was started in 2019, added a new service for informal mediation to its portfolio this year. Such an alternative dispute resolution approach will enable our community members to safely voice their concerns and find the best solution for them. OIST has a fresh new look with our new website and I’m proud of our digital content team whose tremendous effort has brought this massive project to reality. Before COVID entered our lives and possibly our bodies, Teatime was a popular social event that helped to create new connections, friendships, and even collaborations. Its resumption is a delightful gift from this year.

This magnificent campus of ours continued to evolve this year. Construction of lab 5 reached its final phase while an installation plan for a solar power system at OIST was put in place. A new convenience store, Aeon, moved on to the campus to provide us with fresh produce, over the counter medications, and ready-made meals, while a popular new social space was born at the lab 4 level D lounge. Construction finished in our Gardens while our children at the CDC enjoyed a new rubberized play area. The sight of the blooming sunflowers reminded us to remain hopeful during dark times while the enthusiastic volunteers who made them possible reminded us to always find solidarity in our community.

Tragedy struck us in October when a beloved OIST student was involved in a marine-related accident and lost his life. As we all came together to mourn our loss, we provided comfort to those around us. We also attended new ocean safety training courses to safeguard our community.

 

10^th Anniversary Celebration

In May this year, we had a celebration to remember marking the 10^th anniversary of OIST. Starting with the Graduation Ceremony, we proudly celebrated our 22 PhD graduates and all that they accomplished during their time at OIST. Mr. James Higa, who was this year’s commencement speaker, shared his experience and advice with our graduates, which served as an inspiring reminder to always push the boundaries and strive for excellence. Congratulations to all our graduates, including Dr. Jigyasa Aurora of the Evolutionary Genomics Unit, who was awarded this year’s Peter Gruss Doctoral Dissertation Excellence Award.

A beautiful rendition of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons greeted us at the 10^th anniversary concert. Eiko Kano, the Ryukyu Symphony, musicians from Tokyo, and Mr. Kazuki Sawa, former President of the Tokyo University of the Arts successfully came together to put on a splendid show for all of us to enjoy.

At the 10^th anniversary ceremony, we heard from many distinguished guests. Prime Minister Kishida, Speaker of the House of Representatives Mr. Hiroyuki Hosoda, and Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs Mr. Kosaburo Nishime spoke about OIST’s successful journey in its first decade. Governor of Okinawa Prefecture Denny Tamaki and Mayor of Onna Village Yoshimi Nagahama remarked on the influence that OIST has had on the local community. Mr. Takeshi Niinami, CEO of Suntory Holdings expressed how proud he was to be involved in advancing OIST’s mission. And Nobel Laureate Dr. Venki Ramakrishnan delivered the keynote speech in which he talked about science and innovation and their role in creating prosperity and advancement for a country. My sincere gratitude to all our guests who honored us with their presence and especially to our speakers for their kind words celebrating OIST.

Behind these spectacular events and their seemingly effortless execution lies countless hours in preparation from many individual divisions and sections at OIST. This was truly a collective accomplishment and without your support and understanding it would not have been possible. My deepest and sincere gratitude to members of PO, CPR, Office of the Secretary General, TDIC, BFM, and to all others who played a role in making this possible. I received many praises and compliments from our guests, who especially lauded our precautionary measures against COVID-19, including on-site vaccination for OISTers, and the provision of PCR and antigen tests for keeping the community safe and healthy.

OIST’s 10^th anniversary campaign that was launched last year, gained success in surpassing its target. Thanks to the OIST Foundation and to all the contributors to OIST for your overwhelming generosity. And finally, the OIST time capsule was an exciting community project as part of our anniversary that reminded us to cherish the people at OIST today and to leave a message for the future generation of OISTers.

 

Research Highlights

After more than two years, the Presidential Lecture series was resumed with Dr. Wieland Huttner, who shared with us his research on “A gene that made our brain big.” A new Provost lecture series was born bringing us closer to the OIST faculty and their varied research areas. Prof. Ichiro Maruyama, who retired from OIST in November, gave the inaugural talk in which he shared his personal journey in science. The Neuro2022 conference, co-led by Prof. Kenji Doya was held in Okinawa and was an astounding success with around 2,000 on-site participants discussing issues ranging from neurodegenerative diseases to synaptic plasticity and brain circuits.

The high quality of science and technology research at OIST gave rise to new breakthroughs this year. Researchers in the Physics and Biology Unit successfully developed a cheap and efficient squid aquaculture system and showed for the first time the camouflage behavior of squids matching the substrate to avoid predators. In brain science, the team at the Cellular and Molecular Synaptic Function Unit shed light on the role of tau protein in Alzheimer’s disease. The Tob gene, whose name is derived from the Japanese verb “tobu” meaning to fly or to jump, was found to play an important role in depression, fear, and anxiety, as revealed in the research of our Cell Signal Unit. This year we also learned of the garden eel’s unique way of feeding, the evolutionary journey of Drywood termites and giant sea anemones, and of the existence of two new freshwater goby fish species in the Philippines. At the Evolutionary Genomics Unit, researchers analyzed 1500 species of termites to overturn a popular theory of termite size. And, for the first time, researchers at the Nucleic Acid and Engineering Unit showed the existence of a neutral network that is thought to be vital for increasing genetic diversity. Accelerating the development of long-lasting and commercially viable solar cells was the latest research of our Femtosecond Spectroscopy Unit. Their team also succeeded in unveiling the movement of the moiré excitons with significance for quantum technologies. And advancing toward the next-generation LEDs, the Energy Materials and Surface Sciences Unit discovered a promising new way to overcome the instability problem of perovskites.

In the quantum world, researchers at the Quantum Machines Unit discovered a new technique to correct quantum errors and proposed a new method for stabilizing quantum systems using machine learning. Revealing the building blocks of the poxvirus, the Molecular Cryo-Electron Microscopy Unit succeeded in capturing the high-resolution 3D images that could lead to the development of drugs for the treatment of poxvirus diseases. In the Chemistry and Chemical Bioengineering Unit, scientists developed an organic catalyst system for making molecules from pyruvate, which are of important use in biomedical research and pharmaceuticals.

Assisting proteins in nearly half of all the reactions they catalyze are molecules called co-enzymes. At the Protein Engineering and Evolution Unit, researchers uncovered the coenzyme-protein interaction that can aid the design of artificial enzymes with wide-ranging applications. Pearl oysters are an important Japanese animal due to the high economic value of the pearls they produce. But recently, their declining population has made many worried. Researchers at the Marine Genomics Unit were successful in constructing their genome this year, bringing us a step closer to discovering resilient strains.

And finally, in research spanning the local, scientists at the Science and Technology Group are working on new methods to automate the production of bashofu, which has been traditionally used in making kimonos and comes from the basho yarn that is grown locally here in Okinawa.

 

Awards and Achievements

Recognition and accolades were awarded to several members of our community this year. After receiving the Japan Prize from the Emperor and Empress of Japan in April, OIST Adjunct Professor Svante Pääbo was awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Following the announcement, I was delighted to hear Prof. Pääbo’s remarks on the excellent scientific research environment of OIST and its importance in achieving something fundamentally transformative. The 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics was shared by Prof. Anton Zeilinger, who also received OIST’s 2022 honorary doctorate degree. In March, Prof. Kae Nemoto was decorated as an Officer of the National Order of Merit of the French Republic in recognition of her role in cultivating strong research ties between Japan and France. And, also this year, I was deeply humbled to be elected as an Honorary Member of the Japan Academy.

In recognition of his contributions to the development of sustainable green energy, Prof. Yabing Qi received the Kao Science Award. Prof. Tomoyuki Takahashi, who leads the Cellular and Molecular Synaptic Function Unit was named the 2022 Fellow of the International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS) in recognition of his exceptional contributions to physiological sciences. And for his “foundational contributions to the new field of the physics of animal behavior,” Adjunct Prof. Greg Stephens was awarded the prestigious American Physical Society (APS) Fellowship. The outstanding contributions of OIST Provost Amy Shen were recognized in rheology by the Society of Rheology Fellowship award. And, adding their names to the list of highly cited researchers two years in a row are Prof. Yabing Qi and Dr. Luis Katsuya Ono. Finally, congratulations to OIST Prof. Vincent Laudet and Prof. Timothy Ravasi for publishing a new book in marine sciences on the topic of Anemonefishes.

In student achievement news, Dmitry Kovaleskiy was awarded the Tokubetsu-shou or the jury’s special award at the Japanese Speech Contest. Agneesh Barua received the competitive Graduate Student Excellence Award by the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. And in May this year, six OIST alumni returned to campus to share their experience of life after PhD with our current students.

Our young ones at the School Aged Program (SAP) of the Child Development Center (CDC) received words of thanks and certificates of achievement from Onna Mayor Yoshimi Nagahama for their effort in the monthly local beach cleanup initiative. And our children at the CDC shared a powerful message for peace with their celebrated art exhibition.

Taking care of our community, the resource center along with the OIST POWER club organized several charitable drives throughout the year, which provided much-needed food, clothing, toys, and sanitary products to our neighbors all around Okinawa. We were also honored by the Japan Coast Guard this year for the significant work emerging from their collaboration with Prof. Mitarai, and for which we received their highest honor, the commendation award.

My heartfelt congratulations to everyone on your achievements that have made us all very proud.

 

Outreach

This year, we came closer to our community by successfully seizing several new opportunities. The “Girls, Be Ambitious!” initiative was launched on the International Women’s Day with the aim of empowering girls and young women in the subjects of STEM. At the HiSci Lab 2022 held in March, 35 girls from high schools across the Okinawa Prefecture participated in workshops in which female scientists from OIST shared their personal journey of becoming a scientist. At the Children’s School of Science, about 200 students of grades 1-9 participated in learning about topics ranging from life in water to how does evolution works. The Blue Economy Challenge inspired students across Japan to engage in a 10-week program for tackling ocean-related challenges. And at the OIST Science Festival held just last month, about 600 children and adults came together to marvel and experience the world of science that surrounds us all. We represented Japan at the Science Summit of the 77th UN General Assembly along with our partners to host seven sessions that explored how science can help us to solve the SDGs. After successfully running for a decade, our 11^th SCORE! event once again brought together budding Okinawa entrepreneurs who used their curiosity to solve a pressing business or social problem. And in the OIST talk series produced in collaboration with Forbes earlier this year, you can hear my discussions with many prominent business and science leaders on critical issues such as how can we bring more innovation to Japan and what does creative university education bring to society.

SDG Initiative

In just its second year, the SDG Initiative at OIST has succeeded in bringing together people from across the university who want to work towards the common goal of a sustainable future. Along with this, the initiative has also brought new opportunities to our budding university. The Okinawa Sustainable City Summit held in March this year received participants from across the globe with wide-ranging interests. A broad spectrum of topics were discussed for the development of sustainable, resilient, and self-sufficient small cities and communities of the future. Embarking on our new collaboration with the SDG-Universities Platform (SDG-UP) and University of Okinawa Consortium’s SDG Project, this year we further enhanced information exchange and cooperation channels with Japanese universities. In October, we were cordially invited to participate in the celebration of IBM Japan’s 50^th anniversary in Tokyo. With featured talks, panel discussions, and exhibits, the event explored the potential of science for our future with a focus on sustainability. And finally, ending the year by launching a new and highly ambitious project, we are proud to be taking a step further towards a sustainable campus by joining the prominent Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating system called STARS. This will help in advancing our voluntary reporting efforts to build an OIST where sustainability is wholeheartedly pursued as part of our strategic priorities.

Two interactive and popular workshops this year brought us closer to a better understanding of sustainability. “What would you eat for a sustainable future?” taught us about plant-based food sustenance in Japan and the “Sustainability for All” workshop cleared up several misconceptions that are prevalent on this topic. Knowledge of island sustainability and culture was also shared with high school students from our neighboring communities at our annual SHIMA outreach event.

Innovation

A new center of innovation is taking shape at OIST, the first of its kind for the university. The Global Bioconvergence Center of Innovation will work towards realizing the vision of a “One World, One Health” society by tapping into the interdisciplinary synergies between life science, engineering, marine science, AI, and complex systems. The new center is made possible through funding from the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), the largest grant award in OIST’s history.

This grant award caps a stellar year at OIST and cements the university as an emerging center of innovation and entrepreneurship in the region. Investments made over the last few years to seed an innovation ecosystem centered around the university continue to bear fruit.

The Startup Accelerator Program, established in 2018 in collaboration with the Okinawa Prefectural Government, welcomed 2 new entrepreneurial teams from Osaka and Colombia and was awarded the Innovation Net Award in recognition of its efforts to attract and provide hands-on support to global startups. These teams, called Osaka Heat Cool and Anda, join a selective program whose alumni include HerLifeLab and GenomeMiner, recipients of an award from the Bank of Okinawa, and EF Polymer, recipient of the Minister’s Prize for Environmental Startups from the Japanese Ministry of the Environment.

We have also entered into a partnership with Lifetime Ventures to launch a new venture capital fund. The OIST-Lifetime Ventures Fund will invest in early-stage startups from OIST and around the world delivering solutions for healthcare, sustainable living, the blue economy, and the future of work.

There has never been a better time to start a company in Japan and we aim to make Okinawa the destination of choice for entrepreneurs from around the world to incubate their high-growth startup companies.

We also strengthened the pipeline of technologies that can form the basis of future startups by launching 6 new Proof-of-Concept projects, bringing the total number of translational research projects supported by the program to 56. Two of these POC projects spun out of the university as new startup companies, RyuDyn and Watasumi, the latter going on to reach the global finals of the ClimateLaunchPad business plan competition.

Along with technology, entrepreneurs, and financing, partnerships play a significant role in promoting innovation, and 2022 was a significant year for OIST to establish many new partnership structures. For the first time, OIST hosted MBA students as interns through a unique partnership with Hitotsubashi University to link science and business. We strengthened alliances with local organizations by establishing a formal link to the Okinawa Industry Promotion Public Corporation to support the science and technology industry in Okinawa. We also established the university’s first industry affiliates program, the Innovation Network at OIST, that attracted 34 Japanese and multinational companies to its paid membership network within the first year.

New frameworks for collaborating with industry were also launched through unique projects with Suntory in health and wellness, Corundum Systems Biology in microbiomics, and SONY Computer Science Labs for human-computer integration.

OIST continues to go from strength to strength in its important mission to transfer technologies from the research labs to where they are needed most and can make the greatest impact in the world.

Collaboration

The expansion of our network of partners from local and national to new international ties has made 2022 even more special. Earlier this year, we began a significant new collaboration with our home village, Onna-son, to launch the Ecological Smart Resort Project for the revitalization of our village. This will help us to protect the surrounding beautiful ocean for aquaculture and tourism and improve the visibility of the village through marine science research. Our close connection with the International House of Japan was made even stronger this year as we entered into a strategic partnership with this renowned institution that celebrated its 70^th anniversary this year. And existing associations were built further through new agreements with Onna-son and Yomitan Village.

We secured our place within Japanese academia and nurtured our relationship with several Japanese universities. With Keio University, we began a new cooperation agreement in August with the goal of working together across a range of activities that will contribute towards the advancement of science and technology. With Kyoto University, we kickstarted a new series of workshops in biomedical sciences for the promotion of ideas and knowledge transfer. With our academic partner, Tohoku University, exchange of research curiosities continued through joint workshops spanning biodiversity and marine sciences. And we relished our continued cooperation with the University of the Ryukyus, University of Tokyo and Osaka University.

 

Thank you

2022 has been an incredible year for OIST. For me, it was even more so, as it marked my last year as OIST’s President and CEO. These last six years that I’ve had the privilege of leading OIST were incredibly fulfilling. They have brought extraordinary experiences and fabulous people along my way. I want to thank you for your generosity and support, and for your partnership in this journey.

Wishing you a joyful holiday season with this music from our 10^th anniversary concert.

An upcoming publication summarizing OIST’s development in the last 6 years will be published soon and I hope you will get an opportunity to read it.

Best regards,

Peter Gruss
President and CEO
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology