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About Us

Group Information

Name of OrganizationMANAI
Governing BodyThe Manai Foundation
HeadquarterIchigaya Cross-place 8F, 2-7-15, Ichigayatamachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan 162-0843
Phone+81-3-6455-1299
RepresentatiteTakeshi Kinugawa
WEBhttps://manai.me
https://manai.or.jp
Facebook Pagehttps://www.facebook.com/manai.institute.of.science.and.technology

Founder’s Message

Produce innovators who solves the world’s challenges using science and technology as a tool to create a new world
We create an environment where students are free to immerse themselves in their interests and develop their individual abilities and potential. We hope that students from Manai will be able to solve problems that humanity will face in the future and achieve new discoveries and inventions. We want to create a world filled with the hope of “what interesting things can we get into today” and the positiveness of “Let’s do it” mentality – this is at the core of starting our Institute.
In the past, we have conducted short-term summer schools in preparation for the establishment for the Institute and to provide what we can offer to high school students at this stage. In addition to junior high and high school students from Japan, many students from overseas participated in research activities of themes decided on their own. We watched students spend day and night participating in countless discussions leading up to the final day of presentations.
Students discussed in a common language of humanity called – science, sometimes experiencing conflicts, deadends and persistently unraveling problems while going through the process of learning how to communicate all of that to others.
Until now, people who had ‘a compass’ trying to solve problems and those who were able to guide ‘how to solve them’ were considered useful. However, there is no ‘way to guide’ in this day and age where the present teens will live in. The road is not visible, the road is not there in the first place. Therefore, what is necessary now – is the ability to create new ways. The ability to create a path and move society forward without ‘a path.’ We are confident that the knowledge and experience gained by students participating in the Manai Institute of Science and Technology will be the engine create new paths in the future.
Learning at Manai will change students – students from Manai will make the world better and more exciting. We hope that you can support Manai’s activities and support the devoted students in their research to get there and explore the future.

MANAI Founder
Ryuichi Nomura

Member

Ryuichi “Richie” Nomura
Ryuichi “Richie” Nomura
Founder / Trustees
Richie graduated from The University of Tokyo College of Arts and Sciences. While still enrolled he participated in a foreign exchange program and studied at The University of California, Santa Barbara. In 2001, he first worked as a TV program production director for NHK. After NHK he joined the corporate planning department of USEN then to Accenture as a member of the SBA. He is now the founder of the Logical Thinking Training School Lojim Inc. While in charge of the overall management of the school, he plans logical thinking training curriculums and teaches topics such as “how to handle complex problems without any clear answers.”
Takeshi Kinugawa
Takeshi Kinugawa
Representative Director
Takeshi graduated from Kyoto Sangyo University. He first worked for a Japanese-based security firm and eventually gained experience of managing an IT venture company. He has worked and is still currently working on countless amount of cases related to M&A and management consulting. After the earthquake disaster, he founded the Social Marketing CO., LTD which supports finances and consulting for the social sector.
Gaku Nagashima
Gaku Nagashima
Concept Director / Mentor

M.S. in Applied Physics from Harvard University
B.S. in Physics from SUNY Stony Brook

Motoko Hasegawa
Motoko Hasegawa
Administrative Officer
After graduating University, Motoko worked in the human resource division of an international automotive company, and experienced planning and management of both – domestic and international HR and recruitment. She left the position and joined the ISSJ project with the belief that, “the sooner we expand our horizon and recognize diversity, the richer and better our life becomes.”
Ryo Yoshida
Ryo Yoshida
Internship Coordinator
Ryo graduated from the Hosei University of the department of Global and Interdisciplinary Studies(GIS). While in a full time enrollment in Hosei University, he has studied abroad at the University of California, Davis as an exchange student. He participated in the ISSJ Summer Program for the first time in 2016. After the graduation, he is in charge of design, management, and operation of the Internship Program at Manai.
Fred Junghans
Fred Junghans
Research Mentor / Experiment Designer
B.Sc./M.Sc. in Biochemistry from MLU Halle/Wittenberg
His main expertise in research is molecular biology and oncology.
Cristina Valle
Cristina Valle
Research Mentor / Experiment Designer
University lecturer; mathematics consultant for an IT company
Ph.D. in Mathematics and Information Science from Tokyo Metropolitan University
M.S. in Mathematics from University of Turin
Ildar Gaisin
Ildar Gaisin
Research Mentor
JSPS research fellow at the University of Tokyo
PhD at Sorbonne, Paris VI
Masters at University of Cambridge in mathematics
B.S. at University of Cambridge in mathematics
Pavel Prosselkov
Pavel Prosselkov
Research Mentor
Used to work for RIKEN BSI (Japan) and Queensland Brain Science Institute (Australia)
PhD in Veterinary Medicine (Tokyo Uni)
Cand.Sci. in Biochemistry
MS in Biology and Biology Teaching
Interested in brain, behavior, intelligence, and evolution
Alexander Tang
Alexander Tang
Research Mentor
Lecturer at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia
Ph.D in Neuroscience from University of Western Australia
Stephen Lee
Stephen Lee
Research Mentor
Ph.D Candidate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Columbia University
Sarah Kostinski
Sarah Kostinski
Research Mentor
Postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Chemistry at Tel Aviv University
Ph.D in Physics from Harvard University
Da Guo
Da Guo
Research Mentor
Postdoctoral Scholar at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University
Ph.D. in Neuroscience from University of Tübingen
Josephine Ng
Josephine Ng
Research Mentor
Postdoctoral Scholar at Tufts University
Ph.D. in Molecular Cell Biology from Innsbruck Medical University
Josephine Ng
Ayaka Sugawara
Research Mentor
Assistant Professor at the Center for English Language Education in Science and Engineering, Waseda University
Ph.D. in Linguistics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jaya Ramchandani
Jaya Ramchandani
Research Mentor / Workshop Designer
M.S. in Astronomy and Science Based Business from Leiden University Research interests include self-directed and transformative learning

History

October 2014International School of Science founding project founded
August 2015Summer Program 2015 at Yokosuka Telecom Research Park
August 2016Summer Program 2016 at Yokosuka Telecom Research Park
July 2017Summer Program 2017 at Ritsumeikan University / Tokyo University of Science
April 2018Spring Program 2018 at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST)
July 2018Summer Program 2018 at Hokkaido University
October 2018Launched Manai Lab, a science laboratory for elementary and junior high school students
March 2019Spring Program 2019 at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST)
July 2019Summer Program 2019 at Hokkaido University
Company name changed to Manai Enterprise., Inc.
September 2019Manai Institute of Science and Technology established