OIST Facts and Figures

What is OIST?

The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) is an interdisciplinary graduate school offering a 5-year PhD program in Science. Over half of the faculty and students are recruited from outside Japan, and all education and research is conducted entirely in English.

People | Academics | Research | Intellectual Property | Community Relations

Ideals and Guiding Principles

Mission Statement

The OIST Graduate University shall conduct internationally outstanding education and research in science and technology, and thus contribute to the sustainable development of Okinawa, and promote and sustain the advancement of science and technology in Japan and throughout the world.

Central Concepts

Best in the World: Recruit the best students in the world to work in an environment that encourages creativity, uniqueness, and diversity.
International: Recruit over half of the faculty and student body from outside of Japan and use English as the official language.
Flexible: Encourage innovation, creativity, and adaptability; accommodate new initiatives; ensure a thoroughly interdisciplinary academic environment; and treat every student as a unique individual.
Global Networking: Host, attend, and participate in international meetings, conferences, workshops, and other events to enhance the university’s visibility and increase research and education opportunities.
Collaboration with Industry: Create an environment where research outcomes are developed and applied by industry for the benefit of society, the sustained development of Okinawa, and the competitiveness of Japan.

What makes OIST different

English: The international language of science used in peer-review journals and international conferences is also the daily operational language
International: Half of students and faculty are recruited from outside Japan.
Interdisciplinary: Collaboration and exchange between specialities is encouraged by such things as the absence of administrative departments, campus architecture, and the curriculum of the graduate program.
Education: With a 2:1 student to faculty ratio, students do research side-by-side with top-class researchers as they work toward their degrees.
Funding: OIST is a Special Private School Corporation, funded mostly by the Japanese government but granted the administrative freedom to take innovative initiatives.
Location: Okinawa is a beautiful tropical island in the center of Asia’s rapid economic development, but as a part of Japan, it enjoys all the convenience and stability of a developed nation.
Commitment: OIST strives to provide an environment for work and study where each individual is valued and encouraged to realize his or her potential.

For more information about OIST ideals and guiding principles, please see Chapter 1 of the Policy Library “Who We Are”.

People

Employees

OIST Employees (as of January 2020)
	Japanese	International	Total	% of Women
Faculty	30	50	80	18%
Research Units Staff	206	239	445	44%
Research Support Staff	66	17	83	40%
Administrative Staff	264	70	334	65%

Students

OIST Students (as of September 2019)*
	Total	% Japanese	% Women
Students	205	15%	40%

*Excluding students enrolling in January 2020

Student Nationalities: 205 Students from 48 Countries and Territories (as of Sept 2019)

Map showing where students are from
Click for larger image

Number of Students Admitted per Academic Year
Year	Total	% Japanese	% Women
2012	34	14.7%	29.4%
2013	20	25.0%	25.0%
2014	27	22.2%	44.4%
2015	24	8.3%	29.2%
2016	35	17.1%	48.6%
2017	37	13.5%	35.1%
2018	34	2.9%	41.2%
2019	46	19.6%	39.1%

Academics

The graduate school accepts 60 students per year, creating a very low student to instructor ratio. Students also receive support for living costs, health care, housing, childcare, and other needs that would otherwise distract them from the science. Balancing lectures and lab work, the doctoral program places students in well-funded labs where they work side-by-side with top researchers on state-of-the-art equipment. Frequent visits from internationally-known scientists further enrich the program and provide opportunities for collaboration and exchange. By the time they graduate, students have accumulated not only abstract knowledge and practical skills but also the kind of professional connections necessary to launch their careers as world-class researchers.

Academic Events

Total Number of Academic Events at OIST

OIST Workshops* for FY2016 [40 Countries and Regions / 996 Participants and Lecturers]

*including OIST co-organized conferences

Click for larger image

Research (June 2019)

Research units: 65

Fields of Research

Physics
Chemistry
Neuroscience
Marine Science
Environmental and Ecological Sciences
Mathematical and Computational Sciences
Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology

Cross-Disciplinary Approach to Research and Education

OIST research units take a cross-disciplinary approach to research, and the PhD program encourages students to explore the intersections of disparate fields of science and technology.

Circles representing research fields with lines draw between to represent interdisciplinary research and points of intersection.

Scientific Productivity (May 2018)

Fiscal Year	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	Total
Conference Presentations	59	43	43	99	99	163	213	230	309	430	491	535	615	696	4,025
Seminars	3	1	3	6	21	19	20	40	147	119	166	167	181	191	1,084
Dissertations	0	0	2	3	3	0	1	1	2	4	3	1	4	7	31
Books, Edited Books	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	2	2	10
Book Chapters, Journal Articles	16	22	26	62	78	84	96	152	192	211	261	294	324	268	2,086
Software	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	9	10	10	8	0	44
Total	78	68	75	179	207	267	339	427	677	791	976	1069	1242	1254	7,649