Application Guidelines for NIG Postdoctoral Fellows 2025
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
Applicants 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 2024 March 31 are not eligible to apply. (Postdoctoral fellows and technical staffs at NIG, and graduate students of 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) Initial date of hire (the day start working at NIG) is April 1st, 2025, however, it may be changed to any date between November 1st, 2024 and October 1st, 2025, 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 PD Selection 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 the 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 |
| 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 |
| Neurobiology and Pathology Laboratory | ASAKAWA, Kazuhide |
| 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 |
| Plant Evolution Laboratory | FUKUSHIMA, Kenji |
8. Application Procedure
PDF files of the following documents should be sent via e-mail after consulting with your prospective PI about your research plans.
*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 Friday July 5th, 2024
| Submit to: Research Promotion Team, National Institute of Genetics |
| E-mail Subject: 【Name of Applicant】Applications for NIG Postdoctoral Fellows 2025 |
| Attachment Title: 【Name of Applicant/Referee*】Applications for NIG Postdoctoral Fellows 2025 |
＊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 applicants. Application documents of unsuccessful applicant will be destroyed responsibly after the notification of screening result.
【Application Documents to be Submitted】
(1) Documents Prepared and Submitted by Applicnats
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】
Applicants 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.
(4) Representative paper
If applicants have representative papers, please submit them in a PDF file. (Maximum of 3 papers) The presence or absence of representative papers will not affect the evaluation process.
9. Selections
(1) Preliminary Screening (Document Review)
Applicants will be shortlisted based on their submitted documents.
The selection result will be e-mailed directly to applicants by the beginning of August.
(Please contact the Research Promotion Team (Refer to 10. Submission & Contact) if you do not receive e-mail by that time.)
(2) Secondary Screening (Interview)
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview. 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: Thursday, August 22th, 2024 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. In the case of on-site interview, 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
Research Promotion Team,
National Institute of Genetics
1111 Yata, Mishima-city, Shizuoka, 411-8540 Japan
Phone: 055-981-6711
E-mail:
