Application Procedure for Fixed-term Researcher (Nurturing Young Researcher Category)

The Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) is now accepting applications for fixed-term employment of young researchers.

The Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) is now accepting applications for fixed-term employment of young researchers.

In order to facilitate further advancement in research activities that meet global challenges, JIRCAS is offering fixed-term employment aimed at nurturing excellent and highly motivated young researchers in pursuing research in the field of agriculture, forestry and fisheries.

 

Available positions and job description

Recruitment code Research Division,
Position,
No. of positions
Employment 
period
Research description・ Research outputs ・ Key words

J0
(International studies on agriculture, forestry and fisheries)

To be decided after selection, based on the specialization of the candidate, Researcher, a few persons

5 years (from 1 October 2022)

Overview of research activities

JIRCAS has been playing a core role as a center of Japan’s R&D for technological improvement of agriculture, forestry and fisheries in the tropical and sub-tropical regions, and in developing countries since its establishment as the Tropical Agriculture Research Center (TARC) in 1970.

In the 5th Medium to Long-term Plan (FY2021- 2025), JIRCAS intensively and effectively carries out R&D to solve global food and environmental problems as well as to strengthen its function as an information center, such as the collection and dissemination of information related to its R&D activities. In recent years, the environment surrounding agriculture, forestry and fisheries in developing regions has been changing very rapidly. Therefore, it is necessary to pursue innovations based on flexible and novel ideas, such as the transformation of food systems and cross-disciplinary R&D that do not necessarily adhere to conventional frameworks. 

In the past, JIRCAS has recruited staff to carry out specific research themes in specific fields. For the first time, in order to encourage researchers with novel ideas, we are inviting applications in the Nurturing Young Researcher Category (Employment: 5 years, several positions) without limiting the field of specialization or research topics of the applicants.

Applicants who wish to apply for this position must provide a proposal on how they can contribute to the research projects and other activities of JIRCAS in order to achieve the goals in the 5th Medium to Long-term Plan (please visit our website for details of research projects). The proposal should match with the applicant’s academic and research experiences. Although the proposal should principally contribute to the goals of the 5th Medium to Long-term Plan, we also accept proposals which include innovative R&D and methodologies that go beyond the current goals.

Research Topics

  • No specific examples

Keywords

Developing regions, global issues, cross-cutting strategy, disruptive innovation

Other qualifications

  • Must be comfortable working in an international setting with overseas collaborators
  • English language ability for scientific discussion and publication
  • Overseas research experience is desirabl

J1
(Hydrology of agricultural land)

Rural Development Division, Researcher, 1 person

5 years (from 1 October 2022)

Overview of research activities

Securing basic access to water is crucial in agricultural production. Food security has been compromised due to the frequent floods and droughts caused by recent climate change and progressing degradation of agricultural lands. In order to address this global problem, it is important to promote sustainable land management and to develop technologies for preventing land degradation such as desertification.

In developing countries and regions, farming and water management are carried out in accordance to the natural conditions and climate of the region. However, extreme events such as floods and droughts are expected to intensify with climate change that would require changes in farming practices and water utilization. It is therefore necessary to grasp the hydrology and water environment conditions based on local measurements and to evaluate the current farming system in order to make future predictions using models, and to suggest countermeasures to the local government and farmers.

We are recruiting researcher(s) who can predict river water flow fluctuations and irrigable water volume, and monitor rice growth by remote sensing technology such as drones in collaboration with local organizations in target areas. The potential researcher will be involved in research to evaluate the impact of droughts / floods on rice growth and the role of irrigation and drainage facilities in mitigating drought / flood damage.

In order to carry out these basic and fundamental researches and apply the results to the sites in the developing regions, the researcher will be required to coordinate the research onsite and to collaborate with researchers in Japan and overseas. The potential researcher is also expected to challenge new research targets while pursuing research in hydrology and water resource utilization.

Research topics

  • Prediction of river flow fluctuations and irrigable water volume using hydrological models in the Asian monsoon region, etc.
  • Rice growth monitoring using remote sensing technology such as drones
  • Evaluation of the impact of drought / flood on rice growth and the role of irrigation and drainage facilities in mitigating drought / flood damage

Keywords

Hydrology, irrigation and drainage, drones, growth monitoring, impact assessment

Other qualifications

  • English language ability for scientific discussion and publication.
  • Communication skills in Japanese language for non-Japanese applicants.
  • Must be comfortable working in an international setting with overseas collaborators.
  • Experience in overseas research activities desirable but not required.
J2
(Salinization)
Rural Development Division, Researcher, 1 person 5 years (from 1 October 2022)

Overview of research activities

World population still continues to grow, irrigation agriculture with high productivity had play important role for world food security. However, in drylands where irrigation is essential for stable agricultural production, salinization due to improper water management such as excessive irrigation and poor drainage has become a serious problem. Furthermore, in areas where irrigation water depends on groundwater, excessive water intake that is not commensurate with rainfall has caused a drop in groundwater level and deterioration of water quality (salting), as a result water stress becoming more serious. These impacts are significant in developing regions, and countermeasures are urgently needed.

For mitigating salinization, "removing salt by drainage improvement" and "suppressing salt inflow by water-saving" are effective. On the other hand, for effective utilization of precious groundwater resources, "understanding groundwater dynamics" and "appropriate water intake according to groundwater dynamics” are required. However, these measures are inadequate because of many farmers in developing countries lack funds and labor.

Therefore, deal with soil salinization and tight groundwater resources in irrigated agricultural land of drylands, to realize sustainable land management, it is necessary to develop low-cost measures that farmers can work on as part of their farming activities.

In order to carry out these researches, we are recruiting researcher(s) who can work on accurate understanding and visualization of groundwater dynamics, estimation of optimal water intake timing, evaluation of effect to groundwater by introduction of developed technologies.
The researcher is required to engage these researches in developing countries such as India with positive attitude, cooperation with domestic and foreign researchers, and high international sense. In addition, even if having a knowledge / experience of water resources and research activities in foreign countries, without being bound of its, to challenge new research will be expected.

Research Topics

  • Understand and analyze the groundwater dynamics in the groundwater irrigated area of drylands and estimate the optimum water intake timing according to the groundwater dynamics.
  • Evaluate the effect for groundwater by introduction of sub-surface irrigation and shallow sub-surface drainage.

Keywords

Irrigated agriculture, salinization, groundwater, water resources, water management

Other qualifications

  • English language ability for scientific discussion and publication.
  • Communication skills in Japanese language for non-Japanese applicants. 
  • Must be comfortable working in an international setting with overseas collaborators.
  • Experience in overseas research activities desirable but not required.

J3
(Molecular breeding of tropical crops)

 

Tropical Agriculture Research Front (Ishigaki), Researcher 1 person

5 years (from 1 October 2022)

Overview of research activities

The development of crop breeding techniques has been playing a major role in stable food production. Molecular breeding has been developed for these decades with expectations enabling to breed crops more quickly at lower cost. Among them, New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBTs) including genome editing, which can generate the same final products as conventional breeding methods accurately and efficiently, are attracting crop breeders.

Tropical Agriculture Research Front of Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences is the only agricultural research base located in the subtropical zone among the parties belonging to National Research and Development Agency of Japan. Utilizing the climatic conditions and its facilities, we are working on the improvement of tropical crops such as indica rice and sugarcane using molecular breeding methods. Particularly, we are conducting improvement of resistance to abiotic stresses and of nutritional components.

We expect the researcher hired in this theme to conduct (1) establishment of technical bases for molecular breeding applicable to tropical crops such as indica rice and sugarcane, (2) functional analyses of candidate genes conferring useful agronomic traits, and (3) improvement of tropical crops with molecular breeding techniques. These activities will be conducted through collaboration with domestic and overseas research institutions. In the future, we hope that the hired researcher will work on social implementation of NPBTs. We also welcome proposals for research themes related to solution of food and nutrition problems with molecular breeding. Research experience in tropical crops is not a requirement, but we are looking for the ones who are expertized in experiments with genetically modified organisms and who can conduct research works on crops (not model plants).

Research topics

  • Establishment of efficient procedures for genome editing in tropical crops.
  • Survey and functional analysis of genes conferring resistance to stresses and accumulation of functional ingredients.
  • Crop improvement using molecular breeding techniques.
  • Establishment of molecular breeding tools utilizing genome information.

Keywords

Environmental control, plant physiology, protected horticulture, vegetable production

Other qualifications

  • Must be comfortable working in an international setting with overseas collaborators.
  • Experience in overseas research activities desirable but not required.

Application conditions

  1. The applicant must possess a PhD degree or expected to receive the degree by the start of employment.
  2. The applicant must possess sufficient academic background, experience, and skills to pursue research in the intended post. 
  3. The applicant must have sufficient Japanese language ability that would not interfere with daily work.

JIRCAS promotes gender equality in accordance with the Basic Act for Gender Equal Society, and strongly encourages qualified female as well as non-Japanese researchers to apply. Non-Japanese applicants must have resident status granting permission to work.

Employment conditions

  1. Term
    • 5 years (From October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2027)
      ※1 Please contact us for any circumstances regarding the start date of employment.
      ※2 A fixed-term researcher may take maternity leave, childcare leave, or nursing leave during the term, and may apply for extension of the term to cover the period for leave of absence.
      ※3 The employment contract is subject to renewal after an evaluation of the performance and achievements of the researcher to be carried out 11 months before the end of the term. A fixed-term researcher who successfully passes the evaluation will be employed continuously as a regular researcher.
  2. Salary 
    • The monthly salary (basic salary) is JPY331,000 - 394,000 commensurate with qualifications and experience in accordance with the JIRCAS Staff Salary Regulations.
    • Bonuses equivalent to 1.675 months’ basic salary (less for first bonus after recruitment) are paid twice a year in June and December. Allowances include commuting allowance, overtime work allowance, regional allowance (if assigned in Tsukuba), and special area work allowance (if assigned in Ishigaki). However, allowances for dependents and housing are not provided. 
    • The monthly salary and other benefits are subject to change in accordance with revision of regulations.
  3. Day-off and leave
    • Saturdays, Sundays 
    • Public holidays, year-end and new year holidays (Dec 29–Jan 3)
    • Annual paid leave: 5 days to be granted upon recruitment (October 1, 2022)
    • Others : sick leave, summer leave (3 days), nursing care leave (5 days), special leave (marriage, maternity, mourning) 
  4. Working hours
    • Standard working time (8:30 am - 5:15 pm)
    • Flextime system, discretionary working time system (need to apply)
  5. Welfare benefits
    • Health insurance and pension by MAFF mutual aid association
    • Employment insurance, Workers’accident compensation insurance

Documents to submit

The documents have been changed from this year.

  1. JIRCAS Research Staff Application file 
    ※ Please fill in the ‘Application Form’ and ‘List of Publications’ sheets in the file (EXCEL).

    Missing file.

    ※ File name should be indicated as follows:
      Recruitment Code-Name of Applicant-1.xls 
      Ex:J1-KOKUSAI Taro-1.xls
    ※ Submit the file in EXCEL (xls) format. Do not convert to PDF.
    ※ An e-mail address (for contact on administrative matters) must be included.

  2. Letter of recommendation in PDF file (A4 size, one page, free format. The letter must provide the name, affiliation, status, telephone number and e-mail address of the person providing the recommendation.)
    ※ The letter must have a signature of the recommender.
    ※ JIRCAS staff cannot provide a recommendation letter.

  3. PDF files of major peer-reviewed original papers for which the applicant is the first author (up to 5 papers).
    ※ If there is an online version, the URL indicated in the list of publications will be used, so there is no need to submit a PDF file.

Send documents to

     Send all application documents as e-mail attachment. Password is NOT required.
     E-mail: watatake-kikaku at affrc.go.jp

Deadline of application 

    June 29, 2022 (Documents must be received by 5:00 PM.)
※ Incomplete documents with omissions of required information, or flawed documents will not be accepted.

Selection process

  1. Screening of applicants based on submitted documents (Early July 2022)
  2. Interview for selected applicants (Late July to early August 2022)
    ※Place: JIRCAS Headquarters (1-1 Ohwashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki)

For inquiries, please contact 

Dr. Takeshi WATANABE (Email: watatake-kikaku at affrc.go.jp)

Other matters

  1. All expenses incurred in attending an interview will be borne by the applicant.
  2. All submitted documents will not be sent back to the applicant regardless of the result of the application.
  3. All correspondence will be done by email only.

Handling personal data

All submitted documents will be used only for the purpose of screening the applications, and not for any other purpose.

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