The National Institute of Genetics (herein ”NIG”) employs young promising researchers as NIG postdoctoral research fellows (herein ”NIG postdocs”) and involve them in research activities at the institute for a limited amount of time, aiming at further development of research at NIG and fostering researchers with excellent research ability.

1．Eligibility

Candidates must meet the following requirements.

(1) Those who have obtained PhD degree (or equivalent) or are expected to obtain it. The degree must be obtained before the date of arrival at the post.
(2) Those who have sufficient research skills to pursue research projects of genetics.
(3) Applications by those who have been enrolled in NIG in the past as of 2023 March 31 are not eligible to apply. (Postdoctoral fellows and technical staffs at NIG, and graduate student at Dept. of Genetics SOKENDAI, will be an history of enrollment. Temporal visits, such as internships are not considered as enrollment.)

2. Period of Employment

(1) Period of employment is up to 3 years from the initial date of hire with reappointment on an annual basis.
(2) Start date (the day start working at NIG) is April 1st, 2024, however, it may be changed to any date between November 1st, 2023 and October 1st, 2024, if particularly requested.
(3) When the fellowship is suspended due to childcare, nursing or sick leave (limited to cases of absence) under the approval of the President of ROIS or the Director-General of NIG, the employment period may be extended corresponding to the duration of the period of absence. If there are special circumstances other than those mentioned above, they will be discussed and determined by the Committee.

3. Position

Successful candidates will be employed as project researchers (Discretionary working hour system is applicable.) They are eligible to apply for competitive funds called the Grants-in -Aids for Scientific Research (KAKENHI).

4. Salary and Treatment

Annual salary approx. 4,100,000JPY including tax will be paid. Commuting allowance (conditional), MEXT mutual society of health insurance, compensation insurance and employment insurance will be covered.

5. Other Requirements

(1) NIG postdocs are expected to positively contribute to the vitalization of the entire NIG research. (For example, they are expected to actively participate in NIG Poster Sessions, NIG Retreats, and in NIG colloquia.). For this reason, research plans requiring long-term stay at an institute/ university outside NIG are generally not accepted.
(2) NIG postdocs are required to make a presentation of their achievement at the NIG colloquium at the end of the employment period.
(3) Publications must include an acknowledgment of the support from NIG postdoc grant.

6. Number of Postdocs

A few positions available.

7. Laboratories recruiting postdoc fellows

Laboratory	Host Researcher (PI)
Biological Networks Laboratory	ARITA, Masanori
Genome Informatics Laboratory	NAKAMURA, Yasukazu
DNA Data Analysis Laboratory	IKEO, Kazuho
Plant Genetics Laboratory	SATO, Yutaka
Evolutionary Genetics Laboratory	AKASHI, Hiroshi
Ecological Genetics Laboratory	KITANO, Jun
Molecular Life History Laboratory	KURAKU, Shigehiro
Symbiosis and Cell Evolution Laboratory	MIYAGISHIMA,Shin-ya
Systems Neuroscience Laboratory	KUBO, Fumi
Plant Cytogenetics Laboratory	NONOMURA, Ken-ichi
Laboratory of Mammalian Neural Circuits	IWASATO, Takuji
Multiscale Sensory Structure Laboratory	YONEHARA, Keisuke
Multicellular Organization Laboratory	SAWA, Hitoshi
Brain Function Laboratory	HIRATA, Tatsumi
Mouse Genomics Resource Laboratory	KOIDE, Tsuyoshi
Genome Dynamics Laboratory	MAESHIMA, Kazuhiro
Cell Architecture Laboratory	KIMURA, Akatsuki
Chromosome Biochemistry Laboratory	MURAYAMA, Yasuto
Physics and Cell Biology Laboratory	SHIMAMOTO, Yuta
Molecular Cell Engineering Laboratory	KANEMAKI, Masato
Invertebrate Genetics Laboratory	SAITO, Kuniaki
Theoretical Ecology and Evolution Laboratory	YAMAMICHI, Masato
Laboratory of Gene Quantity Biology	SASAKI, Mariko

*1 The PI in this laboratory is scheduled to be retired in FY 2024. If you wish to apply for this laboratory, your employment period shall be the end of March, 2025.
*2 The PI in this laboratory is scheduled to be retired in FY 2025. If you wish to apply for this laboratory, your employment period shall be the end of March, 2026.
*3 In case of obtaining a tenure position, the period of employment will be up to 3 years from the initial date.

8. Application Procedure

PDF files of the following documents should be sent via e-mail after consulting with your prospective PI about your research project.
*Please refer to our website for contact details and research outlines of PIs who are recruiting postdoc. NIG Website:
https://www.nig.ac.jp/nig/research/organization-top/organization

Application Deadline : Noon (JST) on Wednesday July 5th, 2023

Submit to: National Institute of Genetics, Research Promotion Team

E-mail Subject: 【Name of Applicant】Applications for NIG Postdoctoral Fellows 2024

Attachment Title: 【Name of Applicant/Referee*】Applications for NIG Postdoctoral Fellows 2024

* If all the necessary documents, (1) to (3) below, are not submitted by the deadline, your application will not be accepted under any circumstances.
* Reference number will be issued when submission is successfully received. Application procedure is complete upon receipt of the number.
* Please note that submitted documents will not be returned to candidates. Application documents of unsuccessful candidate will be destroyed responsibly after the notification of screening result.

【Application Documents to be Submitted】

(1) Documents Prepared and Submitted by Candidates
Please prepare the following documents Form 1 to 4 in the specified forms which can be downloaded from the link below, and submit after merging them into a single PDF file. The following points should be kept in mind when you prepare the documents.
– Applications must be filled out in Japanese or English.
– Do not change the layout, size (A4) and number of pages.
– Figures can be inserted and color can be used in Format 2 and 4.

Application Format

Word

– Form 1: Curriculum Vitae, Name of Prospective Laboratory, Desired Starting Date
– Form 2: Summary of Past Research (1 page)
– Form 3: List of Publications, Presentations and Achievements (no page limit)
– Form 4: Research Plan at NIG (5 pages in total)
　　　4-1: Purpose including its background：1 page
　　　4-2: Research Outline：2 pages
　　　4-3: Features and Creative Ideas：1 page
　　　4-4: Annual Plan for 3 years：1 page

(2) Reference from Supervisor *Forms not specified
【Reference letter should be submitted directly to NIG by the supervisor】
Candidates should ask someone (immediate supervisor, for example) who knows their research and personality well to write a letter of reference. He/she may be contacted and asked for further comments when necessary.

(3) Reference from Host PI *Forms not specified
【Reference letter should be submitted directly to NIG by the host PI】
Candidates are requested to consult with their prospective PI about their research project in advance and to ask him/her to prepare a reference letter written about the compatibility between your research plan and research at his/her laboratory.

9. Selections

(1) Preliminary Screening (Document Review)
Candidates will be shortlisted based on their submitted documents.
The selection result will be e-mailed directly to candidates by the end of July.
(Please contact Research Promotion Team (Refer to 10. Submission & Contact) if you do not receive e-mail by that time.)

(2) Secondary Screening (Interview)
 *The interview method may change depending on the situation of the COVID-19.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview as scheduled below. They are required to give a short (12 min.) presentation about their past research and future plan at our institute. Subsequently, question and answer session (18 min.) will be carried out.

Interview: Friday, August 25th, 2023 Venue: National Institute of Genetics (Mishima city, Shizuoka) or Online interview using zoom

Details about schedule and documents required for the interview will be notified to the shortlisted candidates of the preliminary screening. Travel expense to and from NIG must be borne by the candidate.

Final selection results will be e-mailed to candidates by the end of September. Candidates on the waiting list will be announced at the same time.

10. Submission & Contact

　 National Institute of Genetics
　 Research Promotion Team
　 1111 Yata, Mishima-city, Shizuoka, 411-8540 Japan
　 Phone: 055-981-6711
　 E-mail: