Associate Professor, Physical and Health Education & Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo, Japan

Research interests: brain and body mechanisms of learning and emotion, reinforcement learning, action selection, reward motivation, neuromodulation, computational modeling

Bio:

Professor Kenji Morita is a distinguished academic specializing in Physical and Health Education, currently serving as an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo, a position he has held since April 2016. His research primarily focuses on the brain and body mechanisms of learning and emotion, delving into areas such as reinforcement learning, action selection, reward, motivation, neuromodulation, and computational modeling.

Prior to his current role, Professor Morita held various positions within The University of Tokyo. From April 2012 to March 2016, he was a Lecturer in Physical and Health Education at the Graduate School of Education. His journey at the university also included a tenure as a Research Associate in the Department of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Graduate School of Medicine from April 2009 to March 2012. Additionally, his early research career was marked by a significant period at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute, where he was a Special Developing Exploring Social Agents with bounded resources in complex environmentsPostdoctoral Researcher from April 2006 to March 2009.

Professor Morita's academic journey is deeply rooted in The University of Tokyo, where he completed his PhD in the Department of Complexity Science and Engineering (April 2002 - March 2005), his MS in the Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry (April 2000 - March 2002), and his undergraduate studies in the same department (April 1996 - March 2000). During his postdoctoral phase, he was a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Research Fellow, first as a PD (Postdoctoral Researcher) and then as a DC (DDeveloping Exploring Social Agents with bounded resources in complex environmentsoctoral Course) at the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo.

Throughout his career, Professor Morita has established himself as a key figure in the field of physical and health education, contributing valuable insights into the interconnectedness of brain functions, physical health, and emotional well-being.