Moving from a Japanese National University to OIST
Johannes Nicolaus Wibisana Updated in SEPTEMBER 2026

Having studied at Osaka University for my undergraduate and master's before coming to OIST for my PhD, I have had a clear view of how different these two environments can be. Both are excellent places to do research, but the culture and day-to-day experience are quite distinct.

The most noticeable difference is probably around time and structure. At a Japanese national university, there is often an expectation, sometimes spoken, sometimes not — that you are in the lab for long hours. Core hours can be rigid, and it is not uncommon to feel like leaving at 6pm is somehow frowned upon. At OIST, there is much more flexibility. The focus is on getting your research done, and as long as you are progressing, nobody is counting how many hours you are at your desk. However, this might depend also on your supervisor, so definitely check with your prospective lab members before deciding to join one!

Hierarchy is also more visible at national universities. The senpai-kōhai (senior-junior) dynamic is real, and how much you can speak up, what tasks you are expected to do, and who gets credit can all be shaped by where you sit in that order. At OIST, the structure is flatter. Professors to be more direct and accessible, and there is less of a feeling that you need to earn the right to have opinions about your own research.

Mentorship quality, though, is hard to generalize — it depends much more on the individual supervisor than on the institution. I have heard of very supportive supervisors at national universities and less attentive ones at OIST, and vice versa. The rotation system at OIST does help, because you get to try out multiple labs before committing, which gives you a better sense of fit than in a traditional system where you often choose a supervisor before you even arrive.

One area where I think OIST genuinely excels is core facilities — shared equipment like microscopes, sequencers, and computing infrastructure that the whole campus can access. The equipment is well-maintained and accessible, and the technical staff running them are very capable. That said, big national universities are not behind either: the difference is that equipment at large universities tends to be spread across different schools and institutes, so access can be more fragmented depending on which department you are in.

If you are coming from a Japanese national university environment, expect OIST to feel quite different at first, more international, more informal, and more focused on your individual scientific development. That takes some adjustment, but for most people it is a welcome one.