Student life after enrollment

At Manai, students will not have a common timetable.

Students will optimize their own schedule, centering on what they want to learn. Mainly focusing on research, students will spend their days selecting workshops, experiment programs and online courses that supplement basic knowledge provided by Manai.
Sometimes, in order to obtain a high-level experimental environment necessary for research, students will visit nearby universities and laboratories and conduct joint research. In that case, some students may do research all day long, while other days may be a camp style overnight research using weekends. On the other hand, students may exchange ideas and discuss with colleagues at lunchtime and cafe time and may continue discussion online after returning home. As for sports and extracurricular activities, students can enjoy things they want to with their friends.

There will be no days that are the same at Manai.

Research

Manai will not have a typical lecture style learning, but will have the students’ research as a main method of learning. We learn the most when we are proactively approaching things. We can explore further and deeper by immersing ourselves. Investigate thoroughly. That is to research.

Analyze, investigate in detail, make hypotheses, plan an experiment and repeat seeking solutions to every problem. Experiencing those in depth, creates a sense of self-affirmation, creative thinking and problem-solving will enrich one’s life. Students will choose research themes that they are interested in and proactively learn by themselves, which will help them grow with new knowledge and discoveries.

Innovative Curriculum

Individually tailored program to learn through research.
No simple knowledge-acquiring courses, provide students an environment where they can proactively learn by themselves.

Under the guidance of the Mentor, students will immerse in their studies everyday and be able to write and present their research papers. Manai will provide every environment necessary for its research.
Manai will make full use of our network with researchers around the world and secure access to abundant and good quality knowledge and resources.

By providing these environments, we believe that not only can students freely immerse themselves, but also express themselves to their fullest.

Experiements

To cultivate research abilities and to learn useful scientific knowledge, Manai has prepared about 100 experiments.
The knowledge required for experiments and writing reports can be learned through online courses and other sources.
It is most important for individuals to recognize the necessity of the different field of studies and want to learn more.

Our Mentors

Gaku Nagashima

Concept Director / Mentor

Concept Designer at Manai Institute of Science and Technology
M.S. in Applied Physics from Harvard University
B.S. in Physics from SUNY Stony Brook
At Harvard University as a PhD candidate in applied physics, Gaku worked on the phase transition of water using nanotechnology.
Besides working as Concept Designer at Manai, Gaku practices yoga and plays DJ.

Fred Junghans

Research Mentor / Experiment Designer

B.Sc./M.Sc. in Biochemistry from MLU Halle/Wittenberg
Fred’s main expertise in research is molecular biology and oncology. During university his research focused mainly on RNA-biology and microRNAs in the context of cancer progression. Besides research he has gathered extensive experience in private tutoring of Japanese students in science and English.On the side he is interested in kickboxing, yoga and all sorts of crafts.

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
For my Ph.D. I specialised in Algebraic Geometry, with a focus on plane curve singularities.
In my spare time I enjoy hiking and rock climbing.

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
Ildar is currently working in arithmetic geometry. In particular trying to link classical number theoretic properties to the geometry of the Fargues-Fontaine curve.

Pavel Prosselkov

Research Mentor

PhD in Veterinary Medicine at the University of TokyoCand.Sci. in Biochemistry
MS in Biology and Biology Teaching
Interested in brain, behavior, and evolution
At Tokyo University as a PhD candidate in Veterinary Medicine,
Pavel worked on the evolution of IQ-affecting genes.
Besides working as Lecturer at Saitama Medical, Pavel practices Volleyball, ping-pong and badminton.

Daniel Kambey

Research Mentor

Medical Doctor from Pelita Harapan University, Indonesia
At the University of Tokyo as a Research Student in International Cooperation for Medical Education under the Graduate School of Medicine,Daniel worked on implementing interprofessional education and collaborative practice in healthcare in the Asia-Pacific region.
Besides working as a Mentor at Manai, Daniel also runs a foodie account on Instagram and do career and life consultation.

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

Research Mentor

Ph.D Candidate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Columbia University

Sarah Kostinski

Research Mentor

Postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Chemistry at Tel Aviv University
Ph.D in Physics from Harvard University

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

Research Mentor

Postdoctoral Scholar at Tufts University
Ph.D. in Molecular Cell Biology from Innsbruck Medical University