Kenji Itao is an Assistant Professor at the Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Tohoku University, where he leads his own laboratory. Born in 1996, he received a Ph.D. in Arts and Sciences from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the University of Tokyo, in 2024. He received the President’s Award of the University of Tokyo in 2021 and the JSPS Ikushi Prize in 2024.
He specializes in statistical physics, complex systems theory, and evolutionary anthropology, and studies the mechanisms through which human social structures evolve. In particular, he asks why similar cultural patterns and social structures repeatedly appear across societies separated by time and region, and approaches phenomena described in anthropology and history from a theoretical perspective.
He argues that recurrent patterns in human history reflect underlying mechanisms that generate culture wherever humans form societies, and he seeks to build "Universal Anthropology" that explains these shared structures through mathematical modeling.
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, NIHU / PI: Dr. Ryosuke Nakadai
Joined the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature as an associated researcher and contributes to interdisciplinary research across religious studies, anthropology, ecology, and cognitive science.
RIKEN Center for Brain Science / PI: Dr. Wataru Toyokawa
At the RIKEN Center for Brain Science, I study human social structure using statistical physics, complex systems theory, and cultural evolution.
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany / PI: Dr. Heidi Colleran
Joined Dr. Heidi Colleran’s group as a visiting researcher and worked on interdisciplinary research spanning anthropology, evolutionary anthropology, and demography.
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Conducted doctoral research as a JSPS Research Fellow (DC1).
World-leading Innovative Graduate Study Program of Advanced Basic Science, The University of Tokyo
Served as a research assistant in the University of Tokyo’s advanced basic science graduate program.
The University of Tokyo / Ph.D. in Arts and Sciences / Supervisor: Prof. Koji Hukushima
In the doctoral program at the University of Tokyo, I studied the emergence of human social structure through statistical physics, complex systems theory, and cultural evolution at Koji Hukushima's laboratory.
The University of Tokyo / M.A. in Arts and Sciences / Supervisor: Prof. Kunihiko Kaneko
In the master’s program at the University of Tokyo, I worked on theoretical studies of social structure using multilevel evolutionary models at Kunihiko Kaneko's laboratory.
The University of Tokyo / B.A. in Arts and Sciences / Supervisor: Prof. Kunihiko Kaneko
Received a B.A. in Arts and Sciences from the University of Tokyo.