Kenji Doya
Governor-at-Large (2021-2023)
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan

Topics of Research:
computational neuroscience, reinforcement learning, basal ganglia, neuromodulation, mental simulation

Kenji Doya is a Professor of Neural Computation Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University. He aims to understand how we learn motor skills, make decisions, imagine the future, and communicate and collaborate with others. He studies reinforcement learning and probabilistic inference, and how they are realized in the brain. He took his PhD in 1991 at the University of Tokyo and worked as a postdoc at U. C. San Diego and the Salk Institute. In 1994, he joined Advanced Telecommunications Research International (ATR) as a Senior Researcher and then served as a Group Leader of Kawato Dynamic Brain Project. In 2004, he was appointed as a Principal Investigator of the OIST Initial Research Project and started Okinawa Computational Neuroscience Course (OCNC) as the chief organizer. As OIST established itself as a Graduate University in 2011, he became a Professor and served as the Vice Provost for Research. He served as a Co-Editor in Chief of Neural Networks from 2008 to 2021, a board member of International Neural Network Society (INNS), Japanese Neural Network Society (JNNS) and Japan Neuroscience Society (JNSS), and as a Chairperson of Neuro2022 conference in Okinawa. He received INNS Donald O. Hebb Award in 2018, JNNS Academic Award and APNNS Outstanding Achievement Award in 2019, and the age-group 2nd place at Ironman Malaysia in 2022.