MLDS Visiting Research Scholar Program 2025

The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST; see www.oist.jp) is a dynamic new graduate university of science and technology in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The university is located on 85 hectares of protected forestland overlooking beautiful shoreline and coral reefs. The campus is striking architecturally, and the facilities are outstanding (OIST campus video tour). There are no academic departments, which facilitates multidisciplinary research. Outstanding resources and equipment are provided and managed to encourage easy access and collaboration. English is the official language of the University, and the university research community is fully international, with more than 50 countries represented. OIST is rapidly gaining recognition in the worldwide academic community as a model for excellence in education and research.

Machine Learning and Data Science (MLDS) unit 

In the machine learning and data science (MLDS) unit, we focus on developing fundamental machine learning algorithms and solving important scientific problems using machine learning. We are currently interested in statistical modeling for high-dimensional data, including kernel and deep learning models and geometric machine learning algorithms, including trustworthy ML, optimal transport problems, and self-supervised methods.

Target of visiting

• Collaborate with MLDS members and publish papers at ML venues (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, AISTATS, ICLR, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV)
• Unit Members

Eligibility

• Master / Ph.D. students. (This is a hard constraint; for undergraduate students, please apply to the OIST internship program).
• Programming skills: Python, C++, etc.
• Mathematical skills: Linear algebra, optimization, probability and statistics.

​Number of openings and duration

• Up to 5 graduate students in 2025 (We may be able to consider starting in early 2025).
• 3 months. (The duration and start date can be negotiable) 

Support

We will provide the following support for successful applicants.

• Allowance. JPY 2,400 per working day (weekends excluded)
• Commuting Allowance. OIST Shuttle Bus Pass
• Travel Expenses. One direct round-trip air ticket
• Accommodation. Furnished apartment on- or off-campus
• In the OIST, we have 8xA100 (80G) and multiple V100 GPUs (4 per person) are available. We also have more than 10 A6000 GPUs. 

How to apply?

submit the following documents

• Curriculum vitae
• Research statement (about one A4 page)
  • Motivation.
  • The list of math and programming courses and their grades.
  • The current research projects.
  • Your research interest.
  • Who do you want to work with in the unit (can be multiple)?

Application Timeline

Due to many applications, we will only contact the shortlisted candidates.