Opportunities

For Faculty positions

Currently no recruitment.

For Prospective Postdocs

If you are interested in working with us, do let us know. Keep an eye on the Opportunities section of this website but do also consider applying for your own fellowship. Depending on your nationality, multiple options may be available and here is some information.

(International)

HFSP

(Japanese government)

JSPS

(Japanese foundations)

We can also accept visiting scientists (both from academia and industry).
Click here for the latest advertisement.

For Prospective Research Assistants

Click here for the latest advertisement.

For Prospective Students

We accept graduate students from Department of Chemistry Graduate School of Science, Department of Biological Sciences Graduate School of Science, Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences (FBS), and Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka Univerisity

Here is general information:

If you have a Master’s degree, you can enroll in the 3-year PhD programme (either October or April start). As part of the formal selection procedure, you are supposed to make a presentation in Osaka but I can conduct a web interview and you may skip the visit to Osaka.
If you do not have a Master’s degree, you can enroll in the 5-year PhD programme (April start only). For this, you will have to apply in the June period and take an entrance exam in the summer.
Fee waivers and limited financial support from the School may be available but these are awarded only after you start the course. Therefore, applying for a scholarship to secure your own (even partial) funding will be strongly encouraged.
In parallel to the formal application to Osaka University, you should send me your CV with a short description of your research interest.

Some additional information about studying in Japan:

For overseas students studying in Japan, there are several options:

Self-funded students. These students usually get tuition fee wavers and have many opportunities for scholarships when they get there.
Students with their own government’s scholarships. Again once in Japan, there are additional scholarships they can apply for.
Japanese government scholarship students. The competition can be severe, depending on the country. See the next section (Monbukagakusho scholarship) for more details.

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) scholarship

For details, see the Osaka University admission page.

1) The Japanese embassy recommendation

Examine the Osaka University admission page above carefully. Of the four documents under "Concerning the Letter of Acceptance”, send me 1, 3, and 4. I will then prepare document 2. All this has to be completed sometime in August, because these four documents have to be handed in to an internal selection committee, held typically in mid September.
If necessary, contact the Japanese embassy in your country. Although the competition is severe, this is the only general method of applying and you should try!

2) University recommendation

This option has two types. The first requires a special grant awarded to the host department and unfortunately, the FBS has no such grant at the moment and thus, this channel is unavailable to us. The second type is “general” and you may be able to apply for it. (An announcement is made typically in October each year.) However, there is strong competition within the University; each Department may be able to nominate up to two candidates and there is no guarantee that our Department can make recommendations.

3) Applications within Japan

If someone is already in Japan as a self-funded student, he or she can apply for the scholarship but the competition is, again, extremely severe.

How much does it cost?

Entrance Examination Fee (non-refundable) – JPY 30,000
Matriculation fee (to be paid before you start) – JPY 282,000 (one-off)
Tuition fee – JPY 535,800 per year

See the Osaka University website for more details.
Matriculation fee waivers are available for a very small number of students. Tuition fee waivers are more widely available.
Living expenses for international students in Osaka may be JPY 134,000 per month (including tuition fess of 51,000) at the minimum. Visit Japan Student Services Organization(JASSO).

Inquiry

Kenji Mizuguchi Ph.D.

National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition

Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University

Email: kenji(@)nibiohn.go.jp