How fungi generate one of the highest pressures in biology: the cell wall as a living nanoporous material

September 7 (Mon) 14:00 - 15:00, 2026

Naoyoshi Kumakura (Senior Research Scientist, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS))

Many devastating crop diseases, including anthracnose and rice blast, begin when a fungal pathogen builds a single infection cell called an appressorium. This single cell generates up to ~8 megapascals of turgor pressure (roughly 40 times a car tire’s air pressure), among the highest documented in any living organism, to physically rupture the plant's tough surface. This pressure arises because the cell wall acts as a semipermeable membrane, retaining internal osmolytes such as glycerol while allowing water to pass. What confers this selective permeability had remained unknown for decades: melanin was long assumed responsible, but turgor still forms in melanin-deficient mutants. Using genome editing and direct biochemical analysis of these fungi, we identified two enzymes, PKS2 and PBG13, that synthesize a novel polymer from dihydroxyhexanoic acid (DHHA), which narrows cell-wall pore size at the nanometer scale and is required for turgor generation (Kumakura* et al., Science, 2026). I will frame this system as a living adaptive porous material and discuss questions open to mathematical and physical modeling, including how pore geometry sets the limits of selective permeability.

Venue: Hybrid Format (3F #359 and Zoom), Seminar Room #359

Event Official Language: English

The 11th Intensive Lectures on Quantum Gravity

September 7 (Mon) - 9 (Wed) 2026

Yasuyuki Hatsuda (Associate Professor, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Rikkyo University)

In the 11th event of the Intensive Lecture Series, organized by the Quantum Gravity Gatherings (QGG) study group at RIKEN iTHEMS, we will have Prof. Yasuyuki Hatsuda from Rikkyo University, who will deliver a three-day lecture series on the analytic methods in black hole perturbation theory. Black hole perturbation theory plays a very important role in the developments of modern physics. For instance, in gravitational wave astronomy, it can describe the ringdown phase during the merger events of binary black holes. As the frequency and decay rate of each quasinormal mode are unique to the remnant black hole, one can test extreme-gravity physics by extracting those modes from the ringdown signal. In addition, the computation of black hole quasinormal modes based on black hole perturbation theory has relations connecting to conformal field theories and even to the computations of tidal Love numbers. With the broad applications, we expect this lecture series to provide fresh perspectives to researchers across a wide range of fields and to inspire new directions in their own research. The lectures will be delivered in a blackboard-style format (in English), designed to foster interaction, active participation, and in-depth Q&A discussions. In addition, short talk sessions will be held, giving participants the opportunity to present briefly on topics of their choice. Through this informal and dynamic setting, we hope to spark active interactions among participants and create an environment where ideas can be shared openly and enthusiastically. This event will take place in person only. Target audience: Senior scholars, early-career researchers, and students are all warmly welcome. Registration deadline: July 31, 2026

Venue: #435-437, 4F, Main Research Building

Event Official Language: English

Efficient iBF: Balanced Integration of Fragmented Matching Markets for Welfare Improvement

September 4 (Fri) 15:30 - 17:00, 2026

Fuhito Kojima (Professor, Department of Economics, The University of Tokyo)

Matching markets often suffer from fragmentation, which leads to inefficiency. We model a fragmented market in a school-choice context and offer a practically relevant method for integration. Specifically, each student and school belong to a region, and we allow for inter-regional transfer of students with "balancedness" constraint: a matching is said to be balanced if, for each region, the outflow of students from that region to other regions is equal to the inflow of students from the latter to the former. Using a directed bipartite graph defined on students and schools, we characterize the set of Pareto efficient matchings among those that are individually rational, balanced and fair (efficient iBF). We also provide a class of polynomial-time algorithms to compute such matchings. When each region favors local students in their priority, the outcome of an algorithm from this class weakly improves student welfare upon the outcome where each region independently uses the deferred acceptance mechanism. Various real-life examples of fragmentation are discussed, and we illustrate how our method would address the issue.

Venue: Okochi Hall (Main Venue) / via Zoom

Event Official Language: English

Dualizable Additive Categories

September 4 (Fri) 14:00 - 15:30, 2026

Vladimir Sosnilo (Research Scientist, Division of Fundamental Mathematical Science, RIKEN Center for Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS))

We will discuss the notion of a dualizable additive category. Examples include the category of connective modules over an almost ring in the sense of Gabber--Ramero and the category of nuclear modules in the sense of Clausen and Scholze. Most of the theory parallels the theory of dualizable stable categories, and, in particular, any dualizable additive category can be represented as the category of connective modules over a connective almost ring. The theory is also equivalent to the theory of compactly assembled additive categories of Efimov. As the main application of the theory, we prove a universal property of the category of nuclear modules over uniform Tate rings, that doesn't involve condensed mathematics. This talk is based on a joint work with Ishan Levy and Jiancheng Liang.

Venue: via Zoom / Seminar Room #359

Event Official Language: English

Cancellation of loop corrections to soft power spectrum of inflation

September 3 (Thu) 16:30 - 18:00, 2026

Muzi Hong (Postdoctoral Researcher, Division of Fundamental Mathematical Science, RIKEN Center for Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS))

Inflation theory provides an explanation for the seeds of structure formation and inhomogeneities in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) through quantum fluctuations stretched to cosmological scales during inflation. Mechanisms that enhance small-scale curvature perturbations during inflation can lead to the formation of primordial black holes after horizon re-entry. Recently, some arguments have claimed that loop corrections from such enhanced small-scale fluctuations can give a scale-invariant contribution to the large-scale power spectrum and thereby spoil the inflationary prediction for the CMB. This appears to challenge the standard tree-level expectation that large-scale curvature perturbations are conserved on superhorizon scales in single-clock inflation, and has ignited discussion. In this talk, I will show that the scale-invariant contribution from the enhanced small-scale fluctuations indeed cancels, both in an explicit one-loop calculation and as a consequence of the diffeomorphism symmetry of General Relativity. This seminar is jointly organized by the iTHEMS–ABBL Joint Astro Study Group and the Cosmology Study Group.

Venue: Seminar Room #359 (Main Venue) / via Zoom

Event Official Language: English

Can Electric Sheep Evolve? Engineering Evolution in Populations of Language-Model Agents

September 3 (Thu) 15:00 - 16:00, 2026

Ivan Romić (Research Scientist, Mathematical Social Science Team, Division of Applied Mathematical Science, RIKEN Center for Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS))

The idea of artificial intelligence that evolves has long been a theme in science fiction. It also has roots in early research on complex adaptive systems and artificial societies, including Holland’s Echo framework and Epstein and Axtell’s Sugarscape, which modeled adaptation, resource competition, reproduction, and cultural transmission among artificial agents. Contemporary LLM development, however, has largely centered on pretrained models and gradient-based post-training, while explicitly Darwinian population processes have remained comparatively peripheral. This seminar reviews an emerging literature on evolutionary optimization, cultural transmission, and population dynamics in LLM-based agents. I distinguish systems that merely borrow evolutionary terminology from those implementing meaningful variation, heredity, and reproduction. I then assess the strengths and limitations of current studies and ask whether such processes can support cumulative adaptation, collective intelligence, and potentially new levels of organization among artificial agents.

Venue: Seminar Room #359 (Main Venue) / via Zoom

Event Official Language: English

Computational demands shape seizure susceptibility in recurrent neural networks

September 3 (Thu) 13:00 - 14:00, 2026

Sebastian Eydam (Research Scientist, Neural Circuits and Computations Unit, RIKEN Center for Brain Science (CBS))

Why do some brain areas slip into seizures more readily than others? Anatomy and physiology are part of the story, but in this talk we argue that the computation a network performs is itself a determinant of its vulnerability. Working in the language of recurrent neural networks and attractor dynamics, we contrast two computational regimes: networks that represent continuous variables (e.g. tracking a continuous position in space) establish barrier-free state manifolds, whereas networks that store discrete memories have to separate different states by establishing deep wells. A simple energy-landscape picture suggests that continuous networks can amplify perturbations into runaway activity more easily while discrete networks contain them. We test this idea across three systems: handcrafted spiking attractor networks, recurrent networks trained on continuous or discrete computational tasks, and in vivo Neuropixels recordings comparing medial entorhinal cortex (continuous, grid-cell dynamics) with hippocampal CA3 (discrete memory). Under a shared disinhibitory "seizure perturbation," the continuous systems destabilize sooner and drive stronger epileptiform activity, and causal silencing shows this depends on intact entorhinal output. Together, these results establish a direct link between the computation a network is built to perform and its susceptibility to seizures, showing that the very features that enable a network to process information also shape its vulnerability to pathological transitions.

Venue: via Zoom / #359, 3F, Seminar Room #359

Event Official Language: English

Finite cut-off holography and Matrix models

September 3 (Thu) 10:30 - 11:45, 2026

Sounak Pal (Student, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, India)

In this talk, I will discuss finite-cutoff models of two-dimensional topological gravity and their relation to random matrix theories. Random matrix models have emerged as a useful tool for understanding and refining semiclassical holographic dualities, particularly in low-dimensional quantum gravity. I will begin with a brief introduction to large-(N) matrix models and then describe their connection to low-dimensional topological quantum field theories. Along the way, I will highlight how introducing a finite cutoff can lead to significant modifications in the growth of the black-hole interior compared with the matrix-model description of pure JT gravity. Finally, I will discuss the relation between (TT-bar)-deformed Schwarzian theories and their gravitational bulk duals, emphasizing how these deformations provide an avenue for exploring finite-cutoff holography and possible departures from the standard JT-gravity picture.

Venue: #359, 3F, Main Research Building / via Zoom

Event Official Language: English

1st MSS–COGNAC Joint Workshop

September 2 (Wed) 13:00 - 18:00, 2026

First joint workshop between Mathematical Social Science Team from iTHEMS and Computational Group Dynamics Collaboration Unit from CBS. We will introduce ourselves, discuss our research interests and ongoing projects, and explore potential collaborations between the two teams. Schedule 13:00–13:10 Welcome & brief introductions 13:10–13:30 Wataru Toyokawa (COGNAC) 13:30–13:50 Nikoleta Glynatsi (MSS) 13:50–14:10 Ryutaro Mori (COGNAC) 14:10–14:30 Yohsuke Murase (MSS) 14:30–14:50 Alex Witt (COGNAC) 14:50–15:00 Buffer / informal discussion 15:00–16:00 BTCC coffee break 16:00–16:20 Ivan Romic (MSS) 16:20–16:40 Katja Sangati (COGNAC / Kyoto University) 16:40–17:00 Brian Mintz (MSS) 17:00–17:20 Kazuya Horibe (COGNAC) 17:20–17:40 Shinobu Utsumi (MSS) 17:40–18:00 Natsuki Ogusu (COGNAC) 18:30– Banquet in Wako (venue TBA)

Venue: S305 Seminar Room, Brain Science Central Building, RIKEN Wako Campus

Event Official Language: English

iTHEMS-UTokyo Intensive Lectures on Quantum Gravity

August 31 (Mon) - September 2 (Wed) 2026

Hikaru Kawai (Visiting Professor, Nambu Yoichiro Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (NITEP), Osaka Metropolitan University)

iTHEMS-UTokyo Intensive Lectures on Quantum Gravity (10th Quantum Gravity Gatherings Lecture Series) The 10th QGG Lecture Series is a special three-day installment of the intensive lecture series organized by the Quantum Gravity Gatherings (QGG) study group at RIKEN iTHEMS. This celebratory edition will feature Professor Hikaru Kawai from Nambu Yoichiro Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (NITEP), who will deliver a series of lectures on themes related to quantum gravity. This lecture series will follow a style similar to Prof. Kawai's first QGG lectures, held three years ago at RIKEN (Wako) as the inaugural QGG event, which explored fundamental questions in quantum gravity, string theory, and the quantum universe. A distinctive feature of this 10th installment is that it will take place on the Komaba campus of The University of Tokyo, where one of the iTHEMS satellite offices is located. This will be the first QGG lecture series held outside Wako, with the aim of making the event more accessible to a broader group of participants. Format: Lectures will be given mainly in blackboard style and in English, encouraging active participation and in-depth Q&A discussions. Poster sessions will also be held, giving participants an opportunity to present their own work or topics of interest. These sessions are intended to foster communication and stimulate the exchange of ideas among participants. This event will take place in person only. Target audience: Senior scholars, early-career researchers, and students are all warmly welcome. Registration deadline: July 31, 2026

Venue: 21 Komaba Center for Educational Excellence (21 KOMCEE) East Building, Room K214, Komaba Campus, The University of Tokyo

Event Official Language: English

Coulomb branches in supersymmetric gauge theories

August 28 (Fri) 15:30 - 17:00, 2026

Hiraku Nakajima (Professor, Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU), The University of Tokyo)

Supersymmetric gauge theories in 3 and 4 dimensions have no mathematically rigorous foundation. Coulomb branches of gauge theories originally defined via low energy effective theories by non-rigorous physical argument in 90s. I will explain how I interpret this original argument and make a mathematically rigorous definition of Coulomb branches in my joint work with Braverman and Finkelberg.

Venue: Okochi Hall (Main Venue) / via Zoom

Event Official Language: English

Mathematical Application Research Team Meeting #18

August 28 (Fri) 14:00 - 15:15, 2026

Shinichiroh Matsuo (Associate Professor, Graduate School of Mathematics, Nagoya University)

Mathematical Application Research Team is delighted to welcome Prof. Shinichiroh Matsuo from Nagoya University for an upcoming team meeting. We warmly invite everyone to join us to hear his talk. Please note that, exceptionally, this meeting will be held at Okochi Hall. Immediately following Prof. Matsuo’s talk, Prof. Hiraku Nakajima will give a seminar entitled “Coulomb branches in supersymmetric gauge theories.” We encourage participants to join us for both talks. Title: The Index of Wilson--Dirac Operators Revisited: Beyond Regular Lattices on Flat Tori Abstract: This is joint work with Mikio Furuta. Our ultimate goal is to discretise Seiberg--Witten theory. In view of PL = DIFF in dimension four, we would like to construct something like a PL Seiberg--Witten theory. As a first step towards this goal, we have studied the discretisation of the analytic index of Dirac operators. In earlier work, using K-theoretic methods, we showed that the index of the Wilson--Dirac operator associated with a sufficiently fine regular lattice on a flat torus agrees with that of the corresponding continuum Dirac operator. However, this lattice-index construction was confined to regular lattices on flat tori. In this talk, I will introduce “mesoscopic” Wilson--Dirac operators on arbitrary closed Riemannian manifolds. They form a family of bounded integral-difference operators on \(L^2\), parametrised by a mesoscopic length \(a>0\), and they converge, in a suitable sense, to the continuum Dirac operator as \(a \to 0\). The mesoscopic operators are self-adjoint and Fredholm, but not odd, so the usual graded Fredholm index is unavailable. We prove that the “index” of a mesoscopic Wilson--Dirac operator agrees with the index of the corresponding continuum Dirac operator when \(a\) is sufficiently small. Replacing the integrals in our mesoscopic operators by Riemann sums produces finite-dimensional lattice approximations on general closed Riemannian manifolds. The mesoscopic Wilson--Dirac operators thus provide a bridge between the microscopic continuum Dirac operator and the macroscopic lattice Dirac operators.

Venue: via Zoom / Okochi Hall

Event Official Language: English

Multistability in Biochemical Reaction Systems: Structural Approach

August 27 (Thu) 16:00 - 17:00, 2026

Takashi Okada (Associate Professor, Program of Mathematical and Life Sciences, Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life, Hiroshima University)

In living cells, biochemical reactions form intricate networks that can exhibit multistability, allowing a single system to maintain multiple stable states under identical conditions. However, determining theoretically whether a given reaction system can exhibit multistability is challenging because detailed kinetic parameters are often unknown. In this presentation, we introduce a structural framework that decomposes biochemical networks into subnetworks based solely on network topology. For each subnetwork, we define a scalar quantity, and an index-theoretic argument shows that the sign of this quantity determines whether the subnetwork can contribute to multistability. Our method identifies indicator species whose concentrations distinguish all steady states without detailed kinetic information, thereby enabling efficient measurement design in large networks.

Venue: via Zoom

Event Official Language: English

Scattering amplitude from quantum computing with reduction formula

August 27 (Thu) 15:00 - 16:00, 2026

Wai Kin Lai (Lecturer, The University of Hong Kong, China)

In this talk, I will present a new general framework for computing scattering amplitudes in quantum field theory with quantum computers in a fully nonperturbative way. After giving a motivation for the application of quantum computing to particle physics, I will briefly introduce the basics of quantum computing. After that, I will give the details of the proposed quantum algorithm for calculating scattering amplitudes, which utilizes the Lehmann-Symanzik-Zimmermann (LSZ) reduction formula. In this framework, one only has to construct one-particle states of zero momentum, and no wave packets of incoming particles are needed. The framework is able to incorporate scatterings of bound states, and is ideal for scatterings involving a small number of particles. This framework is expected to have particular advantages when applied to exclusive hadron scatterings. As a proof of concept, by simulations on classical hardware, I demonstrate that in the one-flavor Gross-Neveu model, the fermion propagator, the connected fermion four-point function, and the propagator of a fermion-antifermion bound state obtained from our proposed quantum algorithm have the desired pole structure crucial to the implementation of the LSZ reduction formula. Brief CV: Wai Kin Lai received PhD in physics at the University of Pittsburgh in 2016. He was a postdoctoral reseacher at the Technical University of Munich from 2016 to 2020. From 2020 to 2023, he was a postdoctoral researcher at South China Normal University, and was a visiting assistant researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles from 2022 to 2023. Wai Kin Lai is currently a lecturer at HKU SPACE in Hong Kong. Wai Kin Lai's research interests are applications of effective field theories of QCD to particle phenomenology and studies of nonperturbative physics with quantum computation.

Venue: Seminar Room #359 (Main Venue) / via Zoom

Event Official Language: English

AI for Science Summer School

August 25 (Tue) - 27 (Thu) 2026

Masato Taki (Associate Professor, Graduate School of Artificial Intelligence and Science, Rikkyo University)
Lingxiao Wang (Deputy Team Director, AI as Science Team, Division of Applied Mathematical Science, RIKEN Center for Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS))
Vinicius Massami Mikuni (Associate Professor, Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute for the Origin of Particles and the Universe (KMI), Nagoya University)
Naoya Takeishi (Lecturer, The Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo)
Conglong Li (Senior Research Scientist, Google DeepMind, UK)
Akinori Tanaka (Senior Research Scientist, RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project (AIP))

Summer school for modern AI methods and their applications in scientific discovery. We want to answer the questions in AI for Science, Why do you need AI for your research? Which AI is most suitable for your needs? How can you use AI properly for your task? The school will cover both lectures and hands-on coding sessions, with topics including machine learning basics, generative models, Bayesian and simulation-based inference, foundation models and LLM agents. The problems include, experiment-to-phenomenology (inference and prediction), computation (generation), theory (auto-workflow and Co-Scientist), etc.

Venue: #435-437, 4F, Main Research Building (Main Venue) / via Zoom

Event Official Language: English

Hidden Networks: From Phase Reductions to Effective Network Interactions

August 24 (Mon) 15:30 - 17:00, 2026

Christian Bick (Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands)

From networks of interconnected neurons in the brain to coupled electrochemical reactions: The collective dynamics of interacting dynamical systems shape the function (or dysfunction) of many systems that are critical for our everyday lives. For coupled oscillatory processes, synchronization is a prime example of emergent collective dynamics. But how oscillators interact is not necessarily obvious from (physical) connections between the oscillators. Here we look at phase reductions as a way to uncover the hidden 'effective' network interactions for coupled oscillators dynamics. On the one hand, these give insight into when oscillators do and do not interact (despite a link). On the other hand, they elucidate when and how nonpairwise higher-order interactions shape synchronization phenomena in coupled oscillator networks.

Venue: Okochi Hall (Main Venue) / via Zoom

Event Official Language: English

UK-Japan Workshop on Quantum Gravity 2026

August 24 (Mon) - 28 (Fri) 2026

The universe at extremely early times is expected to be described by some theory of quantum gravity, although we still do not know precisely what quantum gravity actually is. In modern approaches to quantum gravity, the path integral point of view provides a fundamental framework towards answering this pressing question. However, an evaluation or even just a precise definition of the path-integral for a full-fledged quantum gravity is one of the most important open problems in modern theoretical physics. With the "UK-Japan Workshop on Quantum Gravity 2026" we want to bring together experts working on different aspects of the gravitational path-integral, such as Gravitational Scattering Amplitudes; Complex Geometries and Exact WKB; Quantum Cosmology; Exact Methods and Resurgence Analysis; with the long-term goal of providing innovative ways of tackling modern problems in quantum gravity. This workshop is the second event sponsored by the Royal Society International Collaboration Award Grant "Re-PaInt: A Resurgence Path-Integral approach to quantum gravity" shared between Masazumi Honda at Riken iTHEMS and Daniele Dorigoni at Durham University, and aimed at fostering and developing an international partnership between the two institutes, as well as the greater Japan and UK theoretical physics communities working on quantum gravity, broadly intended. The page for the 2025 meeting held at the RIKEN campus in Kobe can be found in the Related Links section below.

Venue: Durham University

Event Official Language: English

RIKEN–IPMU mini-workshop on QCA and K-theory

August 24 (Mon) - 26 (Wed) 2026

Three-day lecture series by Bowen Yang, based on joint work with Mattie Ji (arXiv:2602.16572 and arXiv:2606.19657), in which quantum cellular automata are classified by an algebraic K-theory spectrum.

Venue: via Zoom / Lecture Hall, Kavli IPMU, The University of Tokyo

Event Official Language: English

The 3rd NCTS-iTHEMS Joint Workshop on Theoretical, Mathematical, and Computational Sciences

August 18 (Tue) - 21 (Fri) 2026

The 3rd NCTS-iTHEMS Joint Workshop will be held from August 18 to 21, 2026, at National Taiwan University. Following the previous two editions, which focused mainly on theoretical physics, this year’s workshop marks a new stage in the partnership between RIKEN iTHEMS and NCTS. In particular, the workshop follows the signing of the iTHEMS-NCTS Collaboration Research Agreement in April 2026, which aims to further strengthen researcher exchange, international workshops, and joint research activities. With the participation of both the NCTS Physics and Mathematics Divisions, this year’s workshop broadens its scope from theoretical physics to the wider interface among theoretical, mathematical, and computational sciences. Key topics include high-energy physics and gravity, condensed matter physics, quantum computing and information, geometry and topology, applied mathematics, machine learning, and scientific AI. The program will feature plenary lectures, research talks, and a poster session, providing a platform for interdisciplinary exchange and future collaborations between iTHEMS and NCTS. Registration is open to the public. Feel free to sign up if you're interested! Venue NCTS Physics Lecture Hall, 4th Floor, Cosmology Hall, NTU Speakers Plenary Speakers Tan Bui-Thanh (UT Austin) Etera Livine (ENS Lyon) Tzu-Chieh Wei (SUNY Stony Brook) Invited Speakers Chi-Kang Chang (RIKEN iTHEMS) Chien-Yu Chou (RIKEN iTHEMS) Antoine Diez (RIKEN iTHEMS) Keita Goto (RIKEN iTHEMS) Ryusuke Hamazaki (RIKEN iTHEMS) Masazumi Honda (RIKEN iTHEMS / Saitama U) Muzi Hong (RIKEN iTHEMS) Masaaki Imaizumi (RIKEN AIP / U of Tokyo) Derek Inman (RIKEN iTHEMS) Isao Ishikawa (Kyoto U) Riccardo Muolo (RIKEN iTHEMS) Álvaro Pastor-Gutiérrez (RIKEN iTHEMS) Wei-Hsiang Shao (RIKEN iTHEMS) Chuan-Tsung Chan (Tunghai University) Po-Yao Chang (NTHU) Heng-Yu Chen (NTU) Hao-Chung Cheng (NTU) Hao-Wei Huang (NTHU) Yi-Ping Huang (NTHU) Jer-Lai Kuo (AS) Chia-Hsiang Lin (NCKU) Chin-Hung Lin (NYCU) Yu-Chen Shu (NCKU) Cheng-Fang Su (NYCU) Chiao-Hsuan Wang (NTU) (In alphabetical order of surnames) Organizing Committee Chi-Kang Chang (RIKEN iTHEMS) Che-Yu Chen (RIKEN iTHEMS) Ching-Kai Chiu (RIKEN iTHEMS) (co-chair) Pei-Ming Ho (NTU/NCTS) Masazumi Honda (RIKEN iTHEMS) Chang-Tse Hsieh (NTU/NCTS) (co-chair) Ming-Lun Hsieh (NTU/NCTS) Isao Ishikawa (Kyoto U) Satoshi Iso (RIKEN iTHEMS) Min-Hsiung Lin (NCKU/NCTS) Yuki Yokokura (RIKEN iTHEMS) (In alphabetical order of surnames)

Venue: NCTS Physics Lecture Hall, 4th Floor, Cosmology Hall, NTU

Event Official Language: English

Genome Language Models: From DNA Sequences to Biological Foundation Models

August 13 (Thu) 15:00 - 16:00, 2026

Minrui Chen (Ph.D. Student, Kyushu University)

Recent advances in protein language models have greatly transformed protein structure prediction, functional annotation, and biomolecular design. In contrast, genome language models aim to learn directly from DNA sequences, which represent a more upstream layer of biological information encoding genes, regulatory logic, variant effects, and evolutionary signals. In this talk, I will introduce the basic motivation and recent progress of DNA and genome language models, including DNABERT, DNABERT-2, HyenaDNA, Evo, Evo 2, and AlphaGenome. I will discuss how different model architectures and tokenization strategies address the challenges of genomic sequence modeling, such as long-range dependencies, multi-scale biological structure, and genome-scale context.

Venue: #359, 3F, Main Research Building (Main Venue) / via Zoom

Event Official Language: English