National Institute of Genetics (NIG) welcomes graduate students from abroad. We offer a 5-year PhD program (International Graduate Program: IGP) in life sciences as the Department of Genetics, SOKENDAI. Our program provides an interdisciplinary education with frequent seminars, journal clubs, and courses on scientific writing and presentation. Students admitted to IGP receive competitive financial support (currently, >¥2 million/year). Education and research at NIG are conducted primarily in English, and knowledge of Japanese is not required for PhD studies. NIG consists of about 40 research groups that conduct innovative research programs in a highly interactive atmosphere. The quality of research is evident from frequent citations of papers published from the institute. NIG houses tremendous resources for basic research in life sciences, such as the well-established DNA database (DDBJ), an extensive collection of mutant strains of various model organisms, and state of the art research equipment. United under the term “Genetics”, graduate students at NIG continue to expand the frontiers of life sciences, in molecular and cell biology, development, neurosciences, evolution, structural biology and bioinformatics. IGP includes a laboratory rotation system. During their first six months in the program, IGP students experience independent research in three laboratories of their choice. Students can thus explore several research areas in depth before choosing a thesis advisor. An important feature of graduate education at NIG is “team teaching”. Each student in the NIG graduate program elects four faculty members outside their own research group as members of their “Progress Report Committee”. This committee meets with the student once a year and gives advice on the student’s thesis project. All NIG faculty are committed to providing a friendly and stimulating environment in which students can have frequent discussions with researchers in a wide range of fields. This approach encourages students to broaden their views and helps them find breakthroughs when research is not going smoothly. Application to IGP IGP is open to citizens of all countries. Basic qualification for the 5 year PhD course is “completion of a bachelor’s course (or expected completion of the course by the day of admission)”. (For details on qualifications please see here, or inquire. ) People interested in applying for October 2014 enrollment should send application documents by December 10th, 2013. Please note that IGP applicant must be living outside Japan at the time of application. If you do not satisfy the residency requirement, please apply through the general admissions system. Application to IGP does not require coming to Japan for the selection process. Applicants will be asked to take a written exam via email. This written exam consists of an English exam and a mini report. The mini-report is designed to test analytical ability rather than background or knowledge; no particular preparation should be necessary. Candidates selected for interviews will be notified by January 24th, 2014 and the interviews will be conducted via internet on February 3rd, 2014 (reserve date: February 6th). Successful candidates will be contacted by late-February, and will be offered an opportunity to visit the Institute.

For inquiries please e-mail <nig-igp@nig.ac.jp>. * Notice: E-mail address has been changed.

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Application Instructions (including FAQ) for the International Graduate Program at NIG: 5-year PhD program in Life Sciences. (Revised: November 20, 2013)
Application form: WORD /PDF
Letter of recommendation form: WORD / PDF