Programs
Supporting Scientific Breakthroughs
Global Science Leadership
Innovate Okinawa
Women in Science
Inspiring the Next Generation
Connect the U.S. and Japan Through Science
The OIST Foundation collaborates with the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) (www.oist.jp) to accomplish our common goals in science and innovation. OIST is a pioneering graduate university that bridges disciplines to explore new frontiers of scientific knowledge. OIST educates a new generation of scientific leaders, encourages bold thinking, and strives for excellence. A catalyst for breakthrough innovation locally and globally, OIST bridges Okinawa, Japan, and the world.
The OIST Foundation focuses on five core areas: 1) climate & the environment, 2) health innovation, 3) education, 4) science policy links, and 5) art, must, and science.
Apply Now for the Japan-U.S. Science Communication & Policy Fellowship Network
The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Foundation, the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University’s Center for Professional Development & Inclusive Excellence (C-HUB), the Wilbury Theatre Group, and University of California, Riverside Science to Policy — will partner for the inaugural Japan-U.S. Science Communication & Policy Fellowship Network Program funded by The Japan Foundation. The program, which looks to link scientists in the United States and Japan, focuses on helping scientists better communicate their studies and discoveries. Applications, due May 27, are now open. For more information, visit: tinyurl.com/SciComm2022.
This program promotes meaningful cooperation between the two countries on global challenges by bridging a critical gap between science and policy. The Program brings together early-career scientists from Japan and the U.S. to engage in bilateral training and exchange for effective communication towards strategic collaboration with policymakers. Selected Fellows will participate in a year-long cohort experience and receive training to communicate science-informed policy to a wide audience.
Supporting Scientific Breakthroughs
The OIST Foundation supports scientific breakthroughs by funding innovative research at OIST, helping OIST researchers foster strategic partnerships in the U.S., and developing endowed professorships.
OIST delivers world-leading research and a world-class Ph.D. program in the sciences. The OIST Foundation works with OIST to assist the university in its strategic growth in these areas. As the University grows, the OIST Foundation aims to assist OIST in developing endowed professorships and in supporting campus expansion in order to ensure the University has global impact. The OIST Foundation works closely with OIST on naming opportunities for buildings, conference rooms, and also endowed professorships.
Global Science Leadership
Donations to the OIST Foundation foster the development of science leaders by providing scholarship support and by empowering OIST to provide a dynamic campus experience for students, postdocs, researchers, and all members of the community.
In partnership with OIST, the OIST Foundation aims to empower students to become global science and technology leaders who can positively transform Okinawa, Japan, the region and the world. Funding from the OIST Foundation aims to provide additional support to students and also to build a dynamic campus experience including the expansion and development of student clubs and activities.
Innovate Okinawa
With your support, the OIST Foundation can provide the funding needed to transform inventions in the laboratory into globally relevant technologies and help build an entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem in Okinawa.
The OIST Foundation and OIST aim to work with Okinawa to transform it into a “go-to” destination for entrepreneurs. OIST aims to use their knowledge and facilities to address critical global issues. Through donations and investment, the OIST Foundation works with OIST to create and sustain an innovation ecosystem in Okinawa.
Women in Science
The OIST Foundation supports OIST’s outreach to women as students and professors, seeks to inspire local girls’ interest in science, and helps ensure that women can thrive as scientists and engineers.
Diversity and Inclusion is a critical value at OIST as is evidenced by the fact that OIST won The Optical Society’s 2018 Diversity and Inclusion Award for its work in this area. OIST aims to encourage more women to enter the sciences and thrive as scientists. Furthermore, the University collaborates with the University of the Ryukyus to run the Ryukyu Girls in the Sciences program, which encourages girls in Okinawa to study the sciences.
The OIST Foundation supports OIST’s efforts to engage more women as students and scholars at OIST and also aims to encourage girls in Okinawa to pursue the sciences as an area of study.
Inspiring the Next Generation
Donations to the OIST Foundation enable OIST to inspire the next generation of Okinawans to excel in the sciences through educational outreach to young people.
OIST not only focuses on research and education programs that push the frontiers of knowledge to benefit humanity, but also the Institution aims to deepen relationships with local schools, teachers, and students, in order to impact the next generation. With the help of the OIST Foundation, OIST aims to inspire Okinawan students to study science and technology and have the potential to become future OIST students.
The OIST Foundation works with OIST to support outreach to schools via such programs as Science Demonstration Trips, the Onna-OIST Children’s School of Science, the Ryukyu Girls in the Science Program, SCORE! (Science in Okinawa: Research for Enterprise) Science Contest for High School Students, school visits to OIST, teacher professional development, and OIST’s mentoring program.
Connect the U.S. and Japan Through Science
The OIST Foundation fosters opportunities for U.S.-Japan collaboration in science and technology and promotes U.S.-Japan science diplomacy through events, workshops, and strategic partnerships.
The United States and Japan are both world leaders in the field of science and technology. Since the signing of the U.S.-Japan Agreement on Cooperation in Science and Technology in 1988 and its extension in 2014, the two countries have collaborated on complicated issues ranging from life sciences to space. These achievements illustrate that enhancing scientific cooperation presents an opportunity to strengthen the U.S.-Japan alliance and further its role in addressing critical global challenges.
The OIST Foundation achieves this through: 1) bringing together leading scholars and thinkers from Japan and the U.S. to examine and discuss these topics, 2) assisting the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology in developing research links with institutions in the United States, and 3) bringing together leaders in entrepreneurship and venture capital in the U.S. and Japan to work with OIST to build an innovation ecosystem in Okinawa, and 4) cultivating a strong OIST alumni network in the United States.