FY2013 General Report - I. Education and Research

1. Ph.D. Program

(1) Graduate School Opening

OIST welcomed the second class of 34 doctoral students with a ceremony on September 2, 2013. The students came from 21 countries and regions with highly diverse scientific backgrounds in disciplines ranging from life science to physics to engineering. The second class began their studies at OIST on September 9 after a weeklong orientation. The curriculum provides students with a strong grounding in their core discipline and courses will also be required to extend their discipline-specific knowledge in ways that promote cross-disciplinary research.

(2) Student Recruitment

OIST held regular strategy meetings to make effective recruiting plans and an intensive period of student recruitment took place within Japan and globally. This included participation in recruitment fairs and booths at international conferences and academic meetings in London, Tokyo, Boston, and visits to universities in UK, Scotland, Australia as well as the USA.

The science cafe called "OIST cafe" has been introduced to attract Japanese students. The events took place in cities including Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Okinawa. Also, the Graduate School hosted a video contest titled "Why Science?" to increase the visibility and recognition domestically. 27 students from all around Japan visited OIST campus to receive an English seminar and learned about OIST programs and its research environment in March 2014.

Student admission workshops refined based on 2012 experience to enhance their ability to select good students. 20 new students admitted in 2013, from 12 different countries (25% from Japan, 5/20 students)

Caliber of incoming students (PDF)

(3) Courses

OIST continued to develop the curriculum to include courses taught by newly recruited faculty. The six new courses below were added in 2013 and approved by MEXT. They are Epigenetics; Immunology; Ultrafast Spectroscopy; Quantitative Molecular Biology; Electron Microscopy; Molecular Electron Tomography. Meanwhile, a Structural Biology course was modified, and approved by MEXT. OIST also continued to provide a program for Professional Development for all students, which aims to develop knowledge and skills important for leadership in scientific research and education. This includes weekly seminars covering basic principles of research conduct and ethics, scientific communication, and aspects of science in society; a cross-disciplinary group project, and practical training in oral presentation and writing skills. Visiting speakers are invited each month.

OIST continued to provide the customized Ph.D. program, including pre-thesis research training and laboratory rotations and assignment of an Academic Mentor for each student. All course information including the list of courses and syllabus of each course is available online from the OIST Website.

The Curriculum and Examinations committee has been established and meets three times per year to review individual student progress. The procedures for progression to thesis research have been approved by the committee and are now being implemented.

OIST also provided programs to learn English and Japanese communication in laboratories and/or other practical skills to the incoming students during the “gap” period (March – September) with laboratory placements and intensive language training. Several students were placed at OIST prior to formal start of courses, and three students (2 from Japan, 1 from Taiwan) studied English at UNSW in Sydney Australia, in conjunction with lab placements appropriate to their interests.

(4) Educational Environment

Relationships with other universities continue to develop, with a two-tiered approach being taken (overall university-to-university agreement, and then separate agreements for students exchange, special research students, etc). A total of 10 new university agreements were reached, with universities such as the University of Tokyo in Japan and other universities in Africa, Asia, and Europe. Several students were involved in teaching English at Okinawa National College of Technology in Nago City. An agreement with the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Tokyo provides possibilities of exchange opportunities.

Academic Exchange Agreement List (PDF)

The Student database has been maintained and enhanced by providing access for different functions (faculty, students, health center, and academic administration). A new teaching resources coordinator position has been filled, which will assist in providing support for teaching, especially in laboratory areas. Further development of the teaching laboratory equipment continued, improving the laboratory experience for OIST PhD students using the laser laboratory. Final fit-out of the teaching lab in June allowed its use for external workshops (DNC2013) offering large group teaching space and equipment for histology and microscopy, with students receiving hands-on training in developmental biology techniques including microdissection, optogenetics, and nematode biology. Examination of the training procedures at OIST identified several areas where OIST can enhance training of students in practical skills.

(5) Student Support

OIST continued the orientation program for incoming students during the first week after admission in September. This includes orientation to life in Japan, introduction to OIST, PhD program overview and academic affairs. Students are supported during their first days in Japan; the Graduate School staff accompanies them with necessary immigration related procedures, registering their addresses in the City Hall, opening bank account etc. Students learn about OIST, graduate courses and academic program, course advising, faculty assignment of teaching, teaching resources etc. OIST compiled a Student Support Information Package on Life in Okinawa and Student Travel Handbook for incoming students and provided the guidance on Japanese Taxation system, Japanese National Health Plan, and National Pension Plan at the Orientation during the Enrollment week.  OIST also provided updated safety training to new students in the forms of seminar and online at new student orientation.

OIST continued to provide Research Assistantship support for living costs, excellent on-campus accommodation in single or shared apartments. To coordinate among related administrative sections OIST established workflows for student financial support payment involving Student Support Section (to create and provide monthly payment data with deductions for Tuition fee), Facilities Section (provides monthly housing and utilities deduction data to HR and Student Support Section), HR (compiles all the data including tax deduction and finalize the payment data), Budget Section and Accounting.

The Students Support Section gathered and provided information related to domestic and international external scholarships. The main scholarship opportunities (such as JSPS) assume students already have a thesis project and supervisor, which will be achieved in 2014 and result in applications. Staff attended seminars/information sessions and searching the information on available scholarship opportunities for the students. Staff exchanged information with Sponsored Research Section about JSPS fellowship which will be available to 2nd year students and created the application workflow.

A position is currently being advertised for a careers advisor / Professional Development Coordinator in the Dean’s Department of the OIST Graduate School. The Coordinator will support the delivery of a Professional Development program providing skills training and help OIST PhD graduates to find postdoctoral positions.

OIST continued to provide a program for Professional Development for all students, which aims to develop knowledge and skills important for leadership in scientific research and education. This includes weekly seminars covering basic principles of research conduct and ethics, scientific communication, and aspects of science in society; a cross-disciplinary group project, and practical training in oral presentation and writing skills. Visiting speakers are invited each month.

To open a clinic which will provide care for mental, health, and medical issues, recruitment activities were conducted. The recruitment breakdown is as follows: 1 doctor, 1 nurse, 3 clinical psychologists, 4 part-time counselors, and 1 administrative staff. Among them, a nurse, counselor, and administrative staff already joined OIST in the FY2013. The recruitment process for doctor and 2 clinical psychologists is now at the final selection  stage. Also, “Resource Center”, established in October 2013, started its service by helping students and their tour in Kyoto and Nara to provide opportunities to experience the Japanese culture in November.

2. Scientific Research

(1) Faculty Recruitment

OIST carried out an international search for 5 faculty members in the general areas of marine science, chemistry, and mathematics. The target of the search was faculty candidates in the top 5-10% of their field internationally based on their scientific standing. The positions were widely advertised in major international journals, relevant professional society websites, and by informing leaders in the field. A total of 317 applications were received. These were reviewed in detail by faculty search committees at OIST, and 20 candidates were selected to visit OIST for 3 days to give a research seminar and meet with and be interviewed by the OIST faculty, research community, and leadership. Of these a subset was selected for which letters of reference were sought from outside reviewers in the relevant field. Thus far two appointments have been made (Applied Mathematics and Nanofluidics) and negotiations are in progress for the remaining positions.

(2) Promotion of cross-disciplinary research

Opportunities for cross-disciplinary interactions and collaborations were strengthened through introduction of new instruments and new staff.  Several new imaging technologies that are important for both biological and physical studies were introduced, including super resolution light microscopy, high resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray micro-CT scanning.

Regular communication and exchanges were maintained with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and other marine facilities for the implementation of the coastal observatory and other planned marine facilities.  The Japanese Coral Reef Society Annual Meeting was hosted at OIST with the theme Genomics and the Future of Coral Biology.

The Thursday Afternoon Tea, monthly Friday afternoon Internal Seminar, and specialized journal clubs have continued to provide a stimulating environment for mixing scientific ideas and people.

In FY2013, the Media Section released 28 press announcements and organized 4 press conferences (2 each in Tokyo and Okinawa). In addition to these, the Media Section published 27 Web articles about research results in FY2013, including one story about a research honor awarded to an OIST faculty member.

OIST researchers and staff are kept up to date with opportunities to develop social relationships through the internal website TIDA. Each week a summary of local events is posted. This activity has been strengthened with the opening of the Resource Center, which provides full information on social activities and possibilities of interaction.

(3) Research Support

Research Support Division recruited seven new full-time staff (2 in Marine Science, 2 in Physics, 2 in Sponsored Research, 1 in DNA Sequencing) to enhance its support capability.

As the main component of the Okinawa Coastal Ocean Observing System (OCOOS), the "Ocean Cube" system was successfully installed off the coast near Churaumi Aquarium. Marine Science Resources Section took a leading role in technical collaboration with Woodshole Oceanographic Institute and legal arrangements with local stake holders, including fishermen’s coops, Japan Coastal Guard, National Park Agency, and Churaumi Foundation. The real-time data from some of the sensors of the OCOOS were made publicly accessible from the web site. The rules for the access and use of the data were developed.

The safety rules and training procedures for marine research activities were established. With new technical staff for surface analysis equipment and electronic workshop, the operation of the Physics facility was streamlined. Reservation of those machines can be made through a web-based calendar, REServe.

A new staff member in the Physics Resources Section started to perform daily maintenance and safety checking of the environmental transmission electron microscopy (ETEM). Experienced research unit staff performed user training and scheduling under a dual-role agreement.

The Open Technology Center drafted the rule and procedure for the use of OIST research facilities by external users through collaboration with Research Support section leaders and the accounting section.

Genomics Resources Committee was created to monitor and to make recommendations on the operation of the DNA sequencing support. Sequencing user meetings were held to report the status of the sequencing operations and collect user feedback. Recruiting of bioinformatics staff started.

A new 11.7T MRI machine was installed inside the rodent facility and an experienced technical staff was appointed. The high-performance computing cluster was extended with about 1,500 additional CPU cores. New common file servers were installed for more capacity and reliability. The specification of an off-site back-up storage system was completed and became ready for early FY2014 installation.

Full operation of Chemical Management System launched at OIST in order to improve safety in the use and management of chemical substances, improve the convenience of researchers, and ensure regulatory compliance. One person has been certified as a Biosafety Officer by Japan Biomedical Science Association.

(4) Publication and Communication

OIST continued to produce a broad range of scientific publications in international journals with high impact factor, as well as publications in important specialized journals These are peer-reviewed publications with rigorous evaluation standards.

OIST Publications List (PDF)

Presentations by both OIST faculty and researchers were made in many leading international meetings and symposia. Such presentations enhance the visibility and reputation of OIST and its faculty, and they also provide an opportunity for OIST postdoctoral researchers to gain visibility and recognition critical for their finding new positions at the conclusion of their OIST research training.

Four press conferences took place in Tokyo and Okinawa (two each), including one targeting editorial writers and science reporters of the leading Japanese newspapers. Four press releases were sent out, including two joint press releases with other organizations, and 27 Web articles about research results by OIST researchers were published. Additionally, 28 press announcements were made, including those targeting local Okinawan journalists.

OIST continues to have an outstanding Website. The main public website (www.oist.jp) is one of the few truly bilingual university websites in Japan. In last year’s report, OIST based FY2012 statistics for “the Website” on the combined hits from the main public website www.oist.jp and the workgroup public website groups.oist.jp -- the totality of OIST public websites at the time. However, OIST continues to expand its web assets, making the definition of “the OIST Website" more complicated, so this year we are reporting only main public website hits for both FY2012 and FY2013 to make apparent the yearly increase in traffic.

Number of unique visitors:

  • FY2011: 272,173
  • FY2012: 487,736
  • FY2013: 506,471

FY2013 showed a 17.26% increase in Unique Visitors, with 80.22% of Visits coming from Japan. Second in number of Visits was the United States, with 6.38% - an increase of 14.43% over FY2012. In the past year, visits from Japan increased by 2.69%; Australia, 42.49%; India, 33.60%; Canada, 25.42%; and United Kingdom, 14.73%.

In October 2013, the Media Section launched OIST Update, an mail newsletter, which leverages Web articles to bring subscribers to the main OIST Website. As of April 1, 2014, the English newsletter had 748 subscribers; the Japanese newsletter, 1639. Community-oriented stories like high school visits and cultural events are posted on the OIST Facebook page, as is every Web story from the main OIST Website. As of April 3, 2014, OIST's Facebook page had 1,750 Facebook Likes. The Media Section Leader attended two events in Tokyo to pitch OIST research to TV program producers and directors.

(5) Process of Research Evaluation

Evaluation of six faculty research units was initiated while 3 are completed, and the remaining ones are in process. As the university has grown, the complexity of running faculty searches and reviews has increased greatly. This year major effort was directed at completing the new faculty searches, and this was achieved successfully, but the need to both streamline the procedures and strengthen the administrative support became clear.  The existing policies, rules and procedures (PRPs) were reviewed, and a decision was made to establish a new Office of Faculty Affairs, reporting to the President and headed by a Dean of Faculty Affairs. The Office will focus on the administration of faculty affairs in hiring, promotion and review. The Office was established and an Acting Dean was appointed. The PRPs are being revised and the reviews for tenure promotion and research progress will be continued under the new PRPs.

Another major research training initiative this year was the introduction of a Postdoctoral Scholar Program that will focus on short term postdoctoral training, similar to programs in most leading international universities. The basic training period will be three years with extension to four or a maximum of five years permitted only in special circumstance (childbirth, illness, etc.). This change required establishment of a revised HR classification for new and existing postdoctoral researchers, and the introduction of revised PRPs, employment contracts, and performance and promotion review procedures. The postdoctoral program will also be managed by the Office of Academic Affairs.

These are major but necessary changes in the faculty and postdoctoral programs that must be implemented at this stage in the university’s development. The procedures will include public availability of a roster of OIST faculty and their status reflecting the outcome of the reviews.

3. Global Networking

Relationships with other universities continue to be developed, with a two-tiered approach being taken (overall university-to-university agreement, and then separate agreements for students exchange, special research students, etc). A total of 10 new university agreements were reached, with universities such as the University of Tokyo in Japan and other universities in Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Total number of universities with OIST collaboration agreements (PDF): 23

The Conference and Workshop Section (CWS) helped faculty members to host 11 international courses and workshops (OIST International Workshops for FY2013).

  • Total participation from Japan: 124
  • Total participation from overseas: 339
  • Lecturers from Japan: 49
  • Lecturers from Overseas: 104
  • Participants from Japan: 75
  • Participants from overseas: 235

The majority of the expenses of these workshops comes from airfare, accommodation and catering. To reduce these costs, various measures have been taken, including: supporting a portion of the participants' travel expenses in some workshops, change the class of lecturer airline tickets from business class to economy, switched to lunchboxes, increased utilization of OIST accommodation facilities, encouraged local hotels to participate in the tendering process and sharing the costs with other institutes by co-hosting. In addition, CWS provided venue for 10 externally organized academic conferences and workshops, and 6 academic conferences and workshops co-hosted with other institutions. Also OIST faculty members held 223 academic seminars in FY2013.

Hosting top undergraduate students from across the world continued in FY2013, with a total of 58 research interns hosted at OIST between April 2013 and March 2014. The number of long-term placements for supervision at OIST of graduate students enrolled at other universities was 28 in FY2013, with several departures due to graduation.

4. Collaboration with Industry

(1) Research Exchange and Collaboration

The sections "Business Development and Technology Licensing" focused on identifying new business or IP opportunities from OIST research. Collaboration agreements and joint research contracts with 19 companies (of which local companies are 8 (new 2, on-going 6) and research funding from two private foundations were realized.)

Non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with a major manufacture was concluded and a new contracted research has been prepared. Information exchanges with OIST researches were repeatedly performed with researches from the above company in order to look for collaboration opportunities in the field of R&D of the group companies.

Following agreement with Shionogi, two faculty members visited R&D center in Shionogi and discussed about collaborations. In FY2013 alone, OIST was introduced and opportunities for collaboration/co-development intensively discussed with 60 new private companies. Out of 60, 15 of them are Okinawan companies.

Six new inventions were disclosed from OIST researchers and 5 new patents were filed. As a result, OIST newly collaborating with 14 private companies making 6 new NDAs and 7 new joint research agreements (JRAs), including a consortium type agreement.

The procedures for hosting externally sponsored workshops and conferences on OIST campus was streamlined, such that more researchers have chances to come visit OIST. Based on the Stipulations for Joint Use of RI Facility, an external researcher from the University of Ryukyus registered to joint use program of OIST RI facilities.

FY 2013 Collaborations and Events (PDF)

The "Invention/Business potential evaluation committee" has been implemented to provide a formal process of evaluation of inventions and business plans disclosed by OIST researchers. The evaluation committee was held 5 times on 6 inventions.

Preparation of the launch of Prof. Skoglund’s venture company is underway. The company will be set up after the first quarterly of FY2014. Entrepreneurship education program dedicated to OIST students run by Pullapproach has been organized. The business plan has been co-developed for the venture company out of Prof. Skoglund research. Tsukuba Seed Capital coordinated the drug repositioning project proposed by OIST.

Patent Status (PDF)

Rules and regulations to setup and run the OIST venture and how to charge and handle OIST machine usage by such external companies are being prepared. The list of equipment to be made available for external users was prepared and will be made public through the web page as soon as the rules and procedures are officially determined.

Taking into account the findings from the 2nd international workshop on R&D cluster development in Okinawa, to promote academic and industry collaborations in a targeted technological area we organized with Sony CSL an international symposium to promote the Open Energy System (OES) technology related to a sustainable energy management system. Many following communications with industrial partners have been initiated.

The new patent application scheme has been successfully implemented to execute the evaluation and patent application.  Two new reliable external patent specialists have been integrated to existing specialist network.

OIST participated in BioJapan for the third time and co-organized its attendance with other Okinawa participants, creating an "Okinawa center". The event went successful bringing many contact points with private companies from Japan and abroad. OIST participate in Innovation Japan (Aug. 2013) and Nanotech Japan (Jan. 2014) for the first time and Prof. Sowwan gave a technology presentation in Nanotech Japan that lead to a marketing research conducted by a US based consultancy company. These contacts are followed by exploration of research collaborations.

As a consequence of the visit from Japanese pharmaceutical companies organized by CAO, discussion with one of the companies will be initiated. As a result of BioJapan attendance business matching with 29 pharmaceutical companies and other institutions has been achieved. Same effort will be done by attendance of coming Nanotech Japan. In addition,  discussions on mutual internship of researchers has been initiated with one of major pharmaceutical company.

Under the START program sponsored by MEXT a collaboration project has been performed with a Japanese pharmaceutical companies and this activity is co-developed with the promoter venture capital company. MEXT highly recognized the OIST project to prepare university venture and decided to further support the project until July 2014 despite of initial plan to terminate the support in FY2013. In order to set a policy to support OIST venture companies a workshop has been organized inviting 5 international specialists in March 2014.

Existing five collaborative research projects were carried out with private partners and academic institutions in Okinawa under the “Intellectual Cluster Project,” “Coral Reef Restoration Research Project,” and “Bio Industry Vitalization Project” funded by OPG. In addition, three new joint projects under the, “Subtropical/Island Energy Infrastructure Technology Research Project”, “Intellectual Industrial Cluster Project” and “Business Development Support Project” has started with funding from OPG. The research areas include chemistry and cell, marine, plant and system biology.

One of the OPG grants was funded from the commerce and labor division for the first time in OIST. In the project sewage from AWAMORI brewery was successively treated next to the factory and highly evaluated by the evaluation board. A continuous grant awarding on FY2014 was decided. A new project has been proposed and collaboration has been started with Nago Livestock Center to treat waste from livestock farm using MFC technology. OIST contribution is more focused on its core competency, i.e optimization of microbial population.

(2) Intellectual Property Management

A new US patent agent joined the OIST professional network as a contractor. The contractor was evaluated its professional knowledge and English skill through the patent lecture held in the previous fiscal year. To efficiently cope with increased number of invention disclosures and patent related interactions a new IP docket management system (, Sophia) was introduced in Technology Licensing Section. This is the first case to be introduced in Japanese university. The software's characteristics are to cover the whole process from technology scouting to licensing.

Three IP Seminars were organized by Chen Yoshimura LLP in USA, Colorado State University Ventures in USA, SAGE from Colorado in USA where all OIST Researchers were invited.

(3) R&D Cluster Development

For the development of the R&D cluster, the dialog has been intensified with the relevant sections of OPG and CAO including the new business development section. In addition, in terms of National Strategic Special Zone, OIST discussed ideas with OPG and CAO, and submit proposal to the government with OPG. Furthermore, OIST also participated in the discussion on the introduction of heavy particle cancer therapy facilities promoted by OPG.

Based upon the conclusion of the second R&D Cluster Workshop held in OIST in March 2012, the Task Force for the establishment of an R&D Cluster Promotion Organization for Okinawa (TF) was established aiming at creating an autonomous entity to promote R&D cluster development.Three TF meetings were held. OIST provided its secretariat functions, and led the discussion of the TF in which the President chairs and some OIST executives are its members.

For better understanding and collaborations with local academic institutions, OIST made an official visit to the Integrated Innovation Center for Community of the University of the Ryukyus and discussed about future collaborations. To get a better insight on international R&D cluster activities OIST sent a delegation to visit 5 European benchmark organizations (MINATEC in France, ETH in Switzerland, Alsace BioValley in France, EMBL in Germany and Cambridge in UK). This visit not only enriched OIST’s information on success factors of R&D clustering, but also created useful network related to the TF meeting.

Following two previous R&D cluster workshops, a two-day OES symposium was organized with international specialist from academia, private companies and public sector to discuss and to promote the OES system that was co-developed by OIST and Sony CSL.

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