OIST Graduation Ceremony 2023


The University

The University

OIST is international, with over 60 nationalities working onsite. Over 60% of faculty come from outside Japan, and the working language is English. OIST produces highly trained young scientists who are completely at ease in the global environment of science and industry.

OIST is committed to interdisciplinary research. The university encourages faculty, researchers, and students from diverse fields to share ideas, methods, and experience in collaborative initiatives that break through the restrictive barriers of traditional scientific disciplines.

To ensure that new research progress is readily applied in industry and high technology entrepreneurship, OIST works closely with the Okinawa Prefectural Government and industry to develop a self-sustaining, high technology economy on the island. Due to OIST, Okinawa is becoming recognized as a center for excellence in Science and Technology.


Close-up of the weaver's hands as she makes the red and white obi sash.

Academic Dress

Academic dress is part of a tradition spanning a thousand years of history, connecting us to the first universities in Europe. Originally the daily dress worn by students and professors alike, their use more recently has been restricted to formal occasions of the university.

The OIST academic dress was designed entirely by the students, and follows the red, white and black of the OIST colors. The hood, worn only by OIST PhD graduates, features a local textile, called Yuntanza Minsa using "Guushi-Bana" method, again in red, white and black. The design of the hood combines local auspicious patterns for luck in money and life, and stylized sine waves representing the sciences.

The hoods were generously hand-woven from locally hand-dyed cotton from Yuntanza Hanaui, a craft weavers guild from Yomitan, and we thank them for their wonderful contribution.

Program

2:00pm – 4:00pm Friday, 19th May 2023
OIST Auditorium

13:30

  • Auditorium Doors Open

14:00

  • Musical Introduction and Academic Procession

14:15

  • Welcome by Dr. Albrecht Wagner, Acting President of OIST Graduate University

14:25

  • Address by the Okinawa Prefectural Government

14:30

  • Address by the Cabinet Office

14:35

  • Commencement Address by Dr. Karin Markides, President-Elect of OIST Graduate University

14:55

  • Conferment of PhD Degrees, Introduced by Prof. Thomas Busch, Dean of the Graduate School

15:40

  • Peter Gruss Doctoral Dissertation Excellence Award

15:50

  • Graduating Student Speech

15:55

  • Closing Remark
    Music Finale and Academic Processions
    Close

Commencement Speaker

Karin Markides

Dr. Karin Markides
President-Elect, OIST Graduate University

Dr. Karin Markides earned her doctorate degree from University of Stockholm in Sweden and specializes in analytical chemistry. As a researcher, she has filed and registered numerous patents, including "Novel Liquid Crystalline Compounds and Polymers," "Chiral Polysiloxane Compounds and Polymers," and “Encapsulated Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery,” published 289 peer-reviewed papers, and delivered over 500 presentations to academia and general public.

After serving as President and CEO of Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden as well as American University of Armenia, she was elected for President and CEO of Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology in February 2023 to assume the post on June 1, 2023.

Dr. Markides is appointed Professor Emeriti of Analytical Chemistry at Uppsala University as well as Elected Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (KVA), where she has been involved in the selection of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the promotion of science for society, schools, and academia.

Graduates

  • Ratnesh Kumar Gupta

    Ratnesh Kumar Gupta

    Supervisor:
    Professor Sile Nic Chormaic

    Research Unit:
    Light-Matter Interactions for Quantum Technologies Unit

    Thesis:
    Evanescent Field Mediated Interactions of Cold Rubidium Atoms with Optical Nanofiber Guided Light

  • Makoto Tokoro Schreiber

    Makoto Tokoro Schreiber

    Supervisor:
    Professor Matthias Wolf

    Research Unit:
    Molecular Cryo-Electron Microscopy Unit

    Thesis:
    Diffraction-Based Experiments in Transmission Electron Microscopy: Lensing, Charging, and Amorphous Structures

  • Agneesh Barua

    Agneesh Barua

    Supervisor:
    Professor Vincent Laudet

    Research Unit:
    Marine Eco-Evo-Devo Unit

    Thesis:
    The Evolutionary Genetics of Venoms: How Nature Created the Perfect Chemical Weapon

  • Shan Zou

    Shan Zou

    Supervisor:
    Professor Denis Konstantinov

    Research Unit:
    Quantum Dynamics Unit

    Thesis:
    Detection of the Rydberg States of Electrons on Superfluid Helium Confined in Microchannel Devices

  • Alexandru Mihai

    Alexandru Mihai

    Supervisor:
    Professor Eliot Fried

    Research Unit:
    Mechanics and Materials Unit

    Thesis:
    Soap Film Mediated 3D Self-Assembly: Suspended and Displacement Driven Geometries Using Centimeter-Scale Tiles

  • Dmitrii Koldaev

    Dmitrii Koldaev

    Supervisor:
    Professor Eliot Fried

    Research Unit:
    Mechanics and Materials Unit

    Thesis:
    Mathematical Modeling and Numerical Analysis of Unstretchable Elastic Ribbons

  • Tim Keller

    Tim Keller

    Supervisor:
    Professor Thomas Busch

    Research Unit:
    Quantum Systems Unit

    Thesis:
    Controlling Superfluid and Insulating States in Interacting Quantum Gases

  • Saahil Acharya

    Saahil Acharya

    Supervisor:
    Professor Akihiro Kusumi

    Research Unit:
    Membrane Cooperativity Unit

    Thesis:
    SynGAP Condensates Recruit PSD95, and Selectively Retain Multivalent Receptors, Functioning as the Basic Platform for Generating Neuronal Excitatory Synapses

  • Takeshi Ricardo Tabuchi Yagui

    Takeshi Ricardo Tabuchi Yagui

    Supervisor:
    Professor Yohei Yokobayashi

    Research Unit:
    Nucleic Acid Chemistry and Engineering Unit

    Thesis:
    High-Throughput Screening of Cell-Free Riboswitches for Chemical Communication between Microdroplets

  • Dongqi Han

    Dongqi Han

    Supervisor:
    Professor Jun Tani

    Co-supervisor:
    Professor Kenji Doya

    Research Unit:
    Cognitive Neurorobotics Research Unit

    Thesis:
    Self-Organization of Action Hierarchy and Inferring Latent States in Deep Reinforcement Learning with Stochastic Recurrent Neural Networks

  • Aliya Mari Purser

    Aliya Mari Purser

    Supervisor:
    Professor Izumi Fukunaga

    Research Unit:
    Sensory and Behavioural Neuroscience Unit

    Thesis:
    Designing a Tractable Behavioral Paradigm for Investigating Olfactory Figure-ground Segregation

  • Sofiia Kosar

    Sofiia Kosar

    Supervisor:
    Professor Keshav Dani

    Research Unit:
    Femtosecond Spectroscopy Unit

    Thesis:
    Characterization of Nanoscale Defects in Hybrid Perovskite Thin Films for Photovoltaic Applications

  • Christine Joy Guzman

    Christine Joy Guzman

    Supervisor:
    Professor Hiroshi Watanabe

    Research Unit:
    Evolutionary Neurobiology Unit

    Thesis:
    Investigating the Role of Neurexins in the Early Evolution of the Nervous System

  • Mizuki Kato

    Mizuki Kato

    Supervisor:
    Professor Erik De Schutter

    Research Unit:
    Computational Neuroscience Unit

    Thesis:
    A Computational Model of Granule Cell Migration and Purkinje Cell Primary Dendrite Selection during Cerebellar Development

  • Ainash Garifullina

    Ainash Garifullina

    Supervisor:
    Professor Amy Shen

    Research Unit:
    Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit

    Thesis:
    Estimating Protein-Protein Interactions with High Aspect Ratio Plasmonic Nanopillars

  • San To Chan

    San To Chan

    Supervisor:
    Professor Amy Shen

    Research Unit:
    Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit

    Thesis:
    Torsional Instability of Rheologically Complex Liquid Bridges

  • Maki Kohata Thomas

    Maki Kohata Thomas

    Supervisor:
    Professor Satoshi Mitarai

    Research Unit:
    Marine Biophysics Unit

    Thesis:
    Role of Island Systems in Mangrove Biogeography

  • Manana Kutsia

    Manana Kutsia

    Supervisor:
    Professor Ichiro Masai

    Research Unit:
    Developmental Neurobiology Unit

    Thesis:
    Single cell transcriptome analysis reveals heterogeneity and a dynamic regenerative response of quiescent radial glia in zebrafish adult brain

  • Kimberly Remund

    Kimberly Remund

    Supervisor:
    Professor Nic Shannon

    Research Unit:
    Theory of Quantum Matter Unit

    Thesis:
    Spin–1 Magnets and Their Excitations

  • Lewis Ruks

    Lewis Ruks 

    Supervisor:
    Professor Thomas Busch

    Co-supervisor:
    Professor Sile Nic Chormaic

    Research Unit:
    Quantum Systems Unit

    Thesis:
    Wave Propagation and Light-Matter Interactions in Optical Nanofibers and Discrete Media

  • Mohamed Atwa

    Mohamed Atwa

    Supervisor:
    Professor Yoshinori Okada

    Research Unit:
    Quantum Materials Science Unit

    Thesis:
    Doping Evolution of Magneto-Transport Properties in the Layered Magnetic Semimetal Cr(1+δ)Te2

  • Christopher Campbell

    Christopher Campbell

    Supervisor:
    Professor Thomas Busch

    Research Unit:
    Quantum Systems Unit

    Thesis:
    Supersymmetry and Nonequilibrium Quantum Dynamics

  • Aleksandra Bliznina

    Aleksandra Bliznina

    Supervisor:
    Professor Nicholas Luscombe

    Research Unit:
    Genomics and Regulatory Systems Unit

    Thesis:
    Cross-genome Comparison of Global Oikopleura dioica Populations 

  • Qiong Huang

    Qiong Huang

    Supervisor:
    Professor Kenji Doya

    Research Unit:
    Neural Computation Unit

    Thesis:
    Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning for Distributed Solar-Battery Energy Systems

  • Friederike Metz

    Friederike Metz

    Supervisor:
    Professor Thomas Busch

    Research Unit:
    Quantum Systems Unit

    Thesis:
    Machine Learning Applications for the Study and Control of Quantum Systems

  • Yuna Hattori

    Yuna Hattori 

    Supervisor:
    Professor Pinaki Chakraborty

    Research Unit:
    Fluid Mechanics Unit

    Thesis:
    Self-similarity in a Boundary-layer Flow over a Dynamic Boundary: Flow of Air Induced by a Falling Soap Film

  • Tsung-Yen Huang

    Tsung-Yen Huang

    Supervisor:
    Professor Hiroki Ishikawa

    Research Unit:
    Immune Signal Unit

    Thesis:
    Phosphoenolpyruvate Regulates the JunB-Dependent Pathogenic Th17 Transcriptional Program

  • Stefano Pascarelli

    Stefano Pascarelli

    Supervisor:
    Professor Paola Laurino

    Research Unit:
    Protein Engineering and Evolution Unit

    Thesis:
    Protein Sequence, Structure, and Dynamics Reveal Insights in the Divergence of Protein Functions

  • Nadine Wirkuttis

    Nadine Wirkuttis

    Supervisor:
    Professor Jun Tani

    Research Unit:
    Cognitive Neurorobotics Research Unit

    Thesis:
    Social Interaction Under the Free Energy Principle: A Cognitive Robotics Approach