Past Visitors

The following are the profiles of all previous visitors of the TSVP, including its predecessor, the "Visiting Mathematics Professor Program" (until 2020).

FY2022

Visitors in Fiscal Year 2022 (April 2022 - March 2023).

The visitors' profiles can be found further down.

Name Arrival Departure Field Units of Interest
Artur Tsobanjan 2023/03/22 2023/08/15 Physics Höhn, Busch, Neiman, Toriumi, Twamley
Anatole Lecuyer 2023/03/14 2023/05/28 Computer Science, Virtual Reality, Brain-Computer Interfaces Doya, Froese, Kuhn
Jochen Steil 2023/03/03 2023/07/31 Robotics Tani, Fukai, Doya
Shinichi Nakagawa 2023/03/02 2023/10/31 Biology Pigolotti, Armitage, Froese
Leenoy Meshulam 2023/02/05 2023/02/23 Physics, Neuroscience Reiter, Tanaka, Doya, Fukai, Miller, Pigolotti
Jeffrey Teo 2023/01/26 2023/07/23 Physics, Condensed Matter Shannon, Okada
Timothy O'Leary 2022/12/06 2023/02/28 Neuroscience, Systems Theory and Control Doya, De Schutter, Wickens
Guido Boffetta 2022/12/02 2023/01/28 Physics, Fluid Dynamics Rosti, Chakraborty
Mark Wildon 2022/10/04 2022/11/10 Mathematics Speyer
Kyoji Saito 2022/09/11 2023/01/15 Mathematics Hikami, Speyer
Leon Loveridge 2022/08/15 2022/12/15 Mathematics, Physics Höhn
Takashi Ikegami 2022/08/08 2022/12/04 Neuroscience Froese
Sebastiano Nicolussi Golo 2022/08/05 2022/10/28 Mathematics Zhou
Merav Stern 2022/07/18 2022/08/14 Neural Networks Modeling Fukunaga, Fukai, Doya
Kerstin Lenk 2022/07/18 2022/08/18 Neuroscience De Schutter, Kuhn
Dana Ballard 2022/06/22 2022/08/12 Neuroscience Tani, Froese, Fukai, Fukunaga, Uusisaari, Doya
Mog Stapleton 2022/06/10 2023/03/31 Cognitive Science Froese
Robert Osburn 2022/06/09 2022/09/01 Mathematics Speyer, Feichtner-Kozlov
Shiro Ikeda 2022/05/09 2022/07/31 Data Science Doya, Fukai, Kuhn
Leenoy Meshulam 2022/05/09 2022/07/31 Physics, Neuroscience Reiter, Tanaka, Doya, Fukai, Miller, Pigolotti
Chris Bowman 2022/04/06 2022/05/02 Mathematics Speyer
Daniel Bulmash 2022/03/21 2022/07/03 Physics Shannon, Okada

 

Charles Fosseprez

Office at OIST: Lab 5 EF03r

Deep into the micro-world, I've been captivated by the complexity of microbial communities. My scientific journey is rooted in the exploration of collective evolution within living systems. Biochemistry, Microbiology and Cybernetics are my focal points, and I'm eager to share the marvels of this field with a broader audience. My approach is decidedly interdisciplinary, with a global footprint spanning diverse subjects. From unraveling the geometric symphony of embryo organization to delving into the fabrication of nanorobots for information processing, my pursuits have been wide-ranging. I've navigated through startups and ventured into the realm of art, guided by a persistent curiosity about constraints and compartments in biological systems. Philosophical contemplation is woven into my scientific exploration, yet I maintain a practical mindset as I am an Engineer with an eye on real-world applications.

Charles Fosseprez

 

 

Stefan Baeuml

Office at OIST: Lab 5 EF03n

Stefan Baeuml obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, under the supervision of Andreas Winter. His Ph.D. thesis focused on quantum repeaters and bound entanglement. He then moved to the group of Bill Munro at NTT Basic Research Labs in Japan as a postdoc, focusing on upper bounds on key rates achievable in general quantum network scenarios. After continuing his work on quantum networks in the group of Stephanie Wehner and David Elkouss at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, he moved to the group of Antonio Acin at the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) in Barcelona, Spain. His current research is focused on security proofs for discrete modulated continuous variable quantum key distribution.

Stefan Baeuml

 

 

Daniel Grumiller

Visit from 2023/07/04 - 2023/08/30

Daniel Grumiller is professor at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at TU Wien in Vienna, Austria. He is head of the black holes research group since 2009, after returning to his alma mater from postdoc positions with Roman Jackiw at MIT and Dmitri Vassilevich at Leipzig University. His research focus is on black holes and the holographic principle. For details of his research, see his home page.

TSVP Talk: "Black Holes and the Holographic Principle" by Daniel Grumiller on July 20th at 3pm in L4E48
Office at OIST: Lab 5 EF03r

Daniel Grumiller

 

 

Mahir Bilen Can

Visit from 2023/06/02 - 2023/09/29

Mahir Bilen Can is a Professor of Mathematics at Tulane University in New Orleans. His research interests include algebraic (semi)group theory, real algebraic geometry, representation theory as well as information theory. He has a particular interest in the application of algebraic geometry to the theory of error-correcting codes. In his recent work, he has developed a theory of quantum error-correcting codes that can handle biased information channels. Personal Website

TSVP Talk: "Quantum Error Correction via Poset Metrics" by Mahir Bilen Can on June 29th at 3pm in L4E48
Office at OIST: Lab 5 EF03q

Mahir Bilen Can

 

 

Paolo Piovano

Visit from 2023/08/04 - 2023/08/20

Paolo Piovano is a Tenure Track Assistant Professor at the Polytechnic University of Milan whose research is devoted to the mathematical modeling of phenomena with applications to materials science and more recently, bioengineering. The focus is on the characterization of the optimal shapes and instabilities of crystalline and biological interfaces by means of variational methods in the framework of continuum and molecular mechanics. He received his PhD at Carnegie Mellon University, USA, and after a Post Doc at the Italian National Research Council, he was University Assistant and then Project Group Leader at the University of Vienna, where he is currently Senior Researcher. He is also Secretary and Treasurer of the “International Society for the Interaction of Mechanics and Mathematics” (ISIMM). Personal Website

TSVP Talk: "Analytical Validation of Variational Models for Epitaxially Strained Thin Films: A Review" on August 10 (Thursday), 2023 at 3pm in L4E48.
Office at OIST: Lab 5 EF03p

Paolo Piovano

 

David Meyer

Visit from 2023/06/20 - 2023/07/27

David Meyer is Professor of Mathematics at the University of California, San Diego, having arrived there as a postdoc with Brosl Hasslacher in the Physics Department, after postdoctoral positions with Gerard ‘t Hooft at Duke University and in the Relativity Group at Syracuse University. His research interests include quantum gravity (specifically the causal set program), quantum information and computation (quantum lattice gas automata, algorithms, quantum games, topological error correcting codes, measures of entanglement), knot theory, discrete models for fluid dynamics, and data analysis problems from the social sciences (voting, networks, time series, spatial data, rankings). He completed his PhD in Mathematics at MIT, supervised by Rafael Sorkin and Daniel Freedman. Prior to that he spent a year at Cambridge University as a Churchill Scholar after completing his undergraduate and master’s degrees at the Johns Hopkins University. Personal Website

TSVP Talk: "Quantum Data Science?" by David Meyer on July 6th at 3pm in L4E48
Office at OIST: Lab 5 EF03p

David Meyer

 

 

Christophe Claramunt

Visit from 2023/04/10 - 2023/07/07

Christophe Claramunt is a professor of computer science at the Arts et Métiers Institute of Technology and deputy director of the Interdisciplinary Graduate School in Marine Science and Engineering (ISBlue) in Northwest France. His interests are in theoretical and multidisciplinary aspects of geographical information science, and their application to urban, environmental, and maritime contexts. He is currently working on the development of spatio-temporal conceptual models and their logical and computational implementations. Personal Website

TSVP Talk: "People, Environments, Sensors: Cyber Opportunities for Exploring Human Mobilities"on May 18 (Thursday), 2023 at 3pm in L4E48.
Lecture Course: Big Geographical Data: a digital revolution for transportation studies
Office at OIST: Lab 5 EF03k

Christophe Claramunt

 

 

Anatole Lécuyer

Visit from 2023/03/14 - 2023/05/28

Anatole Lécuyer is Research Director and Head of Hybrid Team at Inria, the French National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology, in Rennes, France. He has been leading a research activity on "Virtual Reality" for the past 25 years. He initiated and still leads the OpenViBE open-source software for brain-computer interfaces. His research interests are in virtual/augmented reality, haptic interaction, 3D user interfaces, and brain-computer interfaces. Anatole Lécuyer obtained the IEEE VGTC Technical Achievement Award in Virtual/Augmented Reality in 2019, and was inducted in the IEEE Virtual Reality Academy in 2022.

TSVP Talk: As part of the Virtual Reality Seminar on April 21 (Friday), 2023 at 5:30pm in B250.
Office at OIST: Lab 5 EF03q

Anatole Lecuyer

©Innovaxiom

FY2022: First year of the TSVP

 

Artur Tsobanjan

Visit from 2023/03/23 - 2023/08/15

Artur Tsobanjan is a theoretical physicist who explores foundational issues in quantum theory raised by attempts to quantize gravity. He is particularly interested in finding ways to consistently incorporate the dynamical nature of time in general relativity within a quantum mechanical framework. Artur Tsobanjan received his PhD from the Pennsylvania State University in 2011. He is currently an associate professor at King’s College, Pennsylvania, USA. Google Scholar

TSVP Talk: "From Gravity to Quantum Clocks (And Rulers!)" on April 27 (Thursday), 2023 at 3pm in L4E48.
Office at OIST: Lab 5 EF03o

Artur Tsobanjan

 

Malgorzata Lagisz

Visit from 2023/03/02 - 2023/10/31

Malgorzata Lagisz is a biologist with research experience and skills in different fields of science. She often ventures outside biological topics and data, such as biomedical, environmental, conservation, or even social sciences. In her research, she uses research synthesis methods, such as systematic reviews/maps and meta-analyses.

Career Talk: "Systematic Reviews for Beginners" by Malgorzata Lagisz on September 26, 2023

Malgorzata Lagisz

 

Shinichi Nakagawa

Visit from 2023/03/02 - 2023/10/31

Shinichi is originally from Japan but has studied and worked in New Zealand, UK, Germany and Australia. He is currently a Professor of Evolutionary Ecology and Synthesis at the University of New South Wales (UNSW, Sydney). His work revolves around understanding individual variation and its maintenance of it. Yet, his work is interdisciplinary with publications in (bio)medicine, psychology, ecology, evolutionary biology, education, environmental sciences, statistics and neurosciences. For more info, please visit his webpage and check this recent article in Current Biology.

TSVP Talk: "Meta Research & Meta-Analysis in Ecology & Evolution" on March 16 (Thursday), 2023 at 4pm in L4E48.
Career Talk: "How to write a lot and well" on September 27, 2023
Office at OIST: Lab 5 EF03n

Shinichi Nakagawa

 

Jochen Steil

Visit from 2023/03/03 - 2023/07/31

Jochen Steil is a Professor of Robotics at the Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany. He has a background in neural networks and AI with applications in robot learning and coordinated large scale European projects in robotics and robot learning including H2020 CogIMon (Cognitive Compliant Motion in Interaction). His research interests reach from recurrent neural networks over robot learning and human-machine interaction to applications for flexible production and the future of work in the digital society. Personal Website

TSVP Talk: "Robot Learning: Where Science Meets Fiction" on April 13 (Thursday), 2023 at 3pm in B250.
Career Talk
Office at OIST: Lab 5 EF03m

Jochen Steil

 

Jeffrey Teo

Visit from 2023/01/26 - 2023/07/23

Jeffrey Teo is a theoretical physicist specializing in topological phases of electronic condensed matter. This includes topological (crystalline) insulators and superconductors, integer and fractional quantum Hall states, and spin liquids. In particular, he focuses on the emergence of exotic quasiparticles and topological defects that exhibit fractional behaviors, such as electric charge and statistics. Jeffrey Teo completed his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania. He was a Simons postdoctoral fellow at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He is now an Associate Professor at the University of Virginia. Personal Website

TSVP Talk: "Topological Phases and Universal Fractional Quasiparticles" on February 19 (Friday), 2023 at 4pm in L4E48.
Office at OIST: Lab 5 EF03l

Jeffrey Teo

 

Mog Stapleton

Visit from 2022/06/10 - 2023/03/31

Mog Stapleton is a researcher at East China Normal University. Her background is in cognitive science and philosophy (with master's degrees in both). She received her PhD from the University of Edinburgh in 2012. Her research focuses on embodied, embedded, enactive, and extended (so-called "4E") approaches and on the importance of affect for cognitive science. She is co-editor-in-chief of the journal Cognitive Systems Research. Google Scholar

TSVP Talk: "A Body-First Approach to Cognitive Science" on November 24, 2022 at 4pm in L4E48
Office at OIST: L4F22d

Mog Stapleton

 

Timothy O'Leary

Visit from 2022/12/06 - 2023/03/12

Timothy O’Leary is Professor of Information Engineering and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. His research uses concepts and methods from systems theory and control engineering to understand the brain at the cellular and network level. He trained in pure mathematics and obtained his PhD in biophysics and physiology at the University of Edinburgh. He then worked with Eve Marder as Swartz Theoretical Neuroscience Fellow in Brandeis University before starting his group in Cambridge in 2016. Google Scholar

TSVP Talk: "Feedback Control and Variability in the Nervous System" on January 12, 2023 at 4pm in L4E48
Mini Course: Control and Computation in Living Systems | OIST Groups
Office at OIST: L4E25j

Timothy O'Leary

 

Guido Boffetta

Visit from 2022/12/02 - 2023/01/28

Guido Boffetta is professor of theoretical physics of matter at the University of Torino (Italy). He works in fluid dynamics, in particular turbulence, turbulent convection and mixing. He is fellow of the European Mechanics Society and associate editor of Physical Review Fluids (APS). Personal Homepage

TSVP Talk: "Time Irreversibility in Turbulence" on December 15, 2022 at 4pm in L4E48
Office at OIST: L4F22d

Guido Boffetta

 

Kyoji Saito

Visit from 2022/09/11 - 2023/01/15

Kyoji Saito is a Senior Scientist at the Institute for Physics and Mathematics of the Universe at the University of Tokyo, and a Professor Emeritus at the Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences of Kyoto University. His research area covers complex algebraic geometry, representation theory and mathematical physics. In particular, the theory of primitive forms, which he has developed, plays the role of mirror symmetry between complex geometry and mathematical physics. Inspired by these facts, he is now developing a new type infinite dimensional Lie theory, including elliptic Lie algebras and their representations. Personal Homepage

TSVP Talk: "Platon's Symmetry" on October 6, 2022 at 4pm in L4E48
Office at OIST: L4E13

Kyoji Saito

 

Leon Loveridge

Visit from 2022/08/15 - 2022/12/15

Leon Loveridge is an associate professor at the University of South-Eastern Norway. His research interests are in the mathematical foundations of quantum mechanics, where he aims to understand the physical content of the theory through the lens of mathematics. Recent work is largely focused on quantum reference frames and general probabilistic theories. He has side interests in pure mathematics (mostly functional analysis and operator theory), and the history and philosophy of science, particularly quantum theory. Personal Homepage

TSVP Talk: What Is Quantum Mechanics About? on September 15, 2022 at 4pm in L4E48
Office at OIST: L4E25j

Leon Loveridge

 

Takashi Ikegami

Visit from 2022/08/08 - 2022/12/19

Takashi Ikegami is a Professor at the Department of General Systems, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of the University of Tokyo. He works in the area of artificial life research. His simulation and experimental research interests include open-ended evolution in artificial life models, experiments with self-moving droplets, large-scale Boids models, and new theories of collective intelligence. He also conducts experiments on consciousness using an android (ALTER-3). At the same time, he has presented performance art (Kugutsu Kagura2020) with ALTER-3 and VR (SnowCrash at WhiteHouse 2021, Reverse Destiny Bridge at AICHI2022). Personal Homepage

TSVP Talk: "Collective Intelligence in Living/Nonliving Systems" on September 29, 2022 at 4pm in L4E48

Takashi Ikegami

 

Mark Wildon

Visit from 2022/10/04 - 2022/11/10

Mark Wildon is a professor of mathematics at Royal Holloway, University of London, visiting the University of Bristol in 2021–22. His interests are in algebraic combinatorics and representation theory, especially the representation theory of the symmetric groups and related algebras. Personal Homapage

TSVP Talk: "Primes, Partitions and Power Series" on October 20, 2022 at 4pm
Office at OIST: L4F22d

Mark Wildon

 

Sebastiano Nicolussi Golo

Visit from 2022/08/05 - 2022/10/31

Sebastiano Nicolussi Golo is a postdoc in mathematics at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland (EU). He works on the interface between metric analysis and Lie group theory. He has worked in sub-Riemannian geometry and later he expanded his interests to geometric measure theory on Lie groups equipped with non-Riemannian distances. He completed his Ph.D. from the University of Jyväskylä in 2017. Personal Homepage

TSVP Talk: "Sub-Riemannian Geometry Is Everywhere!" on September 9, 2022 at 10:40am
Office at OIST: L4E25j

Sebastiano Nicolussi Golo

 

Robert Osburn

Visit from 2022/06/09 - 2022/09/01

Robert Osburn is an associate professor at University College Dublin. He completed his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University in 2001 in the fields of algebraic K-theory and number theory. His recent work has focused on special functions, modular forms, combinatorics and quantum knot invariants. Personal Homepage

TSVP Talk: "Knots and Modularity" on July 7, 2022 at 4pm

Robert Osburn

 

Merav Stern

Visit from 2022/07/18 - 2022/08/14

Merav Stern is a theoretical neuroscientist. Her research unveils the relationships between neural activity and connectivity, in both biological and artificial neural networks by improving the tools for studying non-linear dynamical system. She completed her PhD with honors at the Interdisciplinary Center for Neural Computation at Hebrew University while collaborating with Columbia University’s Center for Theoretical Neuroscience. She won the Zuckerman leadership scholarship and worked at the Swartz Theory Center at the University of Washington. She is currently a postdoc at the Hebrew University, collaborating with the University of Oregon. Personal Homepage

TSVP Talk: "Modeling Networks Reveals How Neural Connectivity Transforms Space Into Time" on August 9, 2022 at 10am

Merav Stern

 

Kerstin Lenk

Visit from 2022/07/18 - 2022/08/18

Kerstin Lenk is an assistant professor of Computational Neuroscience at the Graz University of Technology in Austria. She has received a PhD in Computer Science from the Clausthal University of Technology in Germany. Her group focuses on the development of computational single-cell astrocyte and neuron-astrocyte network models in healthy conditions and pathologies like epilepsy and schizophrenia. Personal Homepage

TSVP Talk: "Modeling Neuron-Astrocyte Interactions in the Brain" on August 4, 2022 at 4pm
Career Talk: Academic Careers in Europe

Kerstin Lenk

 

Dana Ballard

Visit from 2022/06/23 - 2022/08/19

Dana Ballard is a professor of Computer Science. His focus is on reverse engineering the brain where models of the brain are motivated by the technical problems the Brain’s circuits solve. These modules combine data from Neuroscience and Psychology as well Computer Science. Personal Homepage

TSVP Talk: "A Generative Model of Communication in the Brain" on July 21, 2022 at 4pm

Dana Ballard

 

Shiro Ikeda

Visit from 2022/05/09 - 2022/07/31

Shiro Ikeda is a professor at the Institute of Statistical Mathematics. He has been working in the field of applied mathematics, which includes, but is not limited to, signal processing, information theory, information geometry, statistics, and astrostatistics. Personal Homepage

TSVP Talk: "Data Science for the EHT Blackhole Shadow Imaging" on June 2, 2022 at 4pm (click the title to view the recording)

Shiro Ikeda

 

Leenoy Meshulam

Visit from 2022/05/09 - 2022/07/31 and
2023/02/05 - 2023/02/23

Leenoy Meshulam is a Swartz Theory Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Washington, Seattle. She works at the interface of physics and neuroscience, mainly drawing on theoretical frameworks from statistical physics and dynamical systems to uncover principles of brain function.  She is particularly interested in how function emerges from the coordinated activity of large neuronal populations. Dr. Meshulam received her PhD from Princeton University in 2018. Prior to that she completed her undergraduate and masters at Tel Aviv University, Israel. Here at OIST she is looking forward to fruitful interactions and collaborations. 

TSVP Talk: "Can We Hope for Simplicity When Describing the Brain?" on June 23, 2022 at 4pm
Office at OIST: L4F22d

Leenoy Meshulam

 

Chris Bowman

Visit from 2022/04/06 - 2022/05/02

Chris Bowman is a Reader at the University of York. His interests are in the combinatorics and representation theories of diagrammatic algebras (for example symmetric groups, KLR algebras, and diagrammatic Soergel bimodules). Before his current position, he was a reader at the University of Kent,  held a research fellowship from Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 at City University of London, and had a postdoc with Eric Vasserot at Paris 7.  His PhD was at Corpus Christi College Cambridge, 2008-2012. Personal website

TSVP Talk: "Diagrammatic Algebra" on April 19, 2022 at 4pm

Chris Bowman

 

Daniel Bulmash

Visit from 2022/03/21 - 2022/07/03

Dr. Danny Bulmash is a postdoctoral researcher in theoretical condensed matter physics at the University of Maryland, College Park. He received his Ph.D. in 2017 from Stanford University. His research interests are in proposing, classifying, and probing novel phases of matter, with particular expertise in topological phases. Google Scholar

TSVP Talk: "From Coffee Cups to Conductivity: Topological Phases of Matter and Beyond" on June 16, 2022 at 4pm

Daniel Bulmash

 

FY2020: Visiting Mathematics Professor Program

The OIST Visiting Mathematics Professor Program was the predecessor of the TSVP. It brought promising mathematicians to OIST for periods of up to 6 months, to organize symposia and contribute to mathematics research at OIST as well as to contribute to mathematics education in Okinawa.

Paolo Piovano

Visit in 2020

Paolo Piovano is a group leader/Privatdozent at the University of Vienna. He received his Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA, in August 2012 under the supervision of Irene Fonseca and Giovanni Leoni. After a postdoctoral position of one year at the National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Applied Mathematics and Information Technology in Pavia under the mentorship of Ulisse Stefanelli, he has been employed at the University of Vienna, Austria as Universitätsassistent. Since September 2017 he is group leader at the University of Vienna of the research group “Variational Methods and Applications” (www.univie.ac.at/variationalmethods/). Dr. Piovano obtained the Austrian habilitation in Mathematics (venia docendi) at the University of Vienna in November 2019 and the Italian national habilitation in June 2020. Full Profile

Paolo Piovano

 

James McCoy

Visit in 2020

James McCoy is an Associate Professor at the University of Newcastle. He completed his PhD in pure mathematics in 2002 under the supervision of Klaus Ecker at Monash University. The title of his thesis was "The surface area preserving mean curvature flow". After completing post-doctoral positions at the Australian National University, in 2005 he took up an ARC Postdoctoral Fellowship as part of a joint ARC grant with Ben Andrews.  In July that year he moved to the University of Wollongong, combining a lecturing position with the ARC research grant. In January 2018 he moved to the University of Newcastle where he is now Head of Mathematics Discipline. Full Profile

James McCoy

 

Andrew Lobb

Visit in 2020

Andrew Lobb is an Associate Professor at Durham University. He was an undergraduate at Oxford University and then took up a Kennedy Scholarship at Harvard University for his PhD studies.  During these studies, he became interested in low-dimensional topology and wrote his thesis on applications of quantum knot invariants to 4-dimensional problems. Dr. Lobb moved back to the UK for a postdoctoral position at Imperial College London, then returned to the USA for second postdoc at Stony Brook which included six months leave to take part in a program at MSRI.  He arrived at Durham University in 2011 as an Assistant Professor, being promoted to Associate Professor in 2015. Full Profile

Andrew Lobb