Careers

Oct. 14, 2023

Postdoctoral Researcher Position
Social Value Decision Making Collaboration Unit
Center for Brain Science (W23174)

Laboratory

Social Value Decision Making Collaboration Unit, RIKEN CBS-TOYOTA Collaboration Center, Center for Brain Science (Unit Leader：Rei Akaishi)

Research Area

Biology, Medical Science, Interdisciplinary

Keywords

Culture, Decision Science, Wellbeing

Research Field

Societies around the world are now changing rapidly and in accelerating speeds. Research disciplines for studies of human being have not caught up with the rapid changes of the societies. To address these issues, our laboratory combines the research fields of decision science such as neuroeconomics, behavioral economics, psychology. In addition to the research fields of individual decision making, we will extend and connect principles of decision making, which are found in experimental rooms, to decision making at group and society levels with the aid of analysis techniques of big data, which are developed in new fields of collective behavior such as computational social science. Our research will bring about positive impacts to people in society by humanizing practices of work environments and by creating sustainable designs of social systems. We welcome eager and ambitious participants in this exciting research endeavor to create positive values for people in our global society.

Job title and job description

Job title, available positions

Postdoctoral Researcher 1 position
Postdoctoral Researcher is defined as those with a doctoral degree of 5 years or less.

Job description

The Social Value Decision Making Lab at RIKEN Center for Brain Science invites applications for a full-time Postdoctoral Researcher position at RIKEN’s Wako Campus. We will begin reviewing applications as soon as possible and continue until the position is filled. We are looking for an applicant interested in applying computational approaches to the issues of human mind such as individual learning and decision making, collective decision making, and social learning. Our lab uses a range of methods including computational modeling, functional brain imaging, EEG, and behavioral experiments offline/online, experience sampling method, in the lab and the field. A candidate with experience in hyperscanning method with fMRI and/or EEG is highly preferred.

The Postdoctoral Researcher will contribute to all aspects of our lab’s research. Below are details of the job responsibilities:

Core Job Responsibilities
(1) Designing and executing the research projects in the issues of individual and collective decision making and learning.
(2) Document, organize and store data using practices geared toward fully reproducible science (e.g. GitHub, OSF);
(3) Mentoring and training less experienced members of the lab for technical details of experimental methods, and data analyses.
(4) Cooperating with other lab members and helping them in their projects.

**to be considered if core responsibilities are being satisfactorily and efficiently completed

Qualification

Education: PhD with training in human neuroscience

The position is an excellent opportunity to gain multidisciplinary research experience tackling some of society’s most pressing problems. The ideal candidate will be interested in psychology, neuroscience, data science, or a related field.

Work location

Branch and address

RIKEN Wako (2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198)
RIKEN has implemented a work-from-home system. Employees can work from home in accordance with the prescribed procedures.

Salary and benefits

  1. A one-year fixed-term employment contract, renewable based on evaluation, to a maximum of the end of the fiscal year 2025 (March 31, 2026).
  2. RIKEN may adjust the above maximum period of renewability based on a) the employee’s abilities, work load at the time of contract completion, performance and work attitude and b) the continuation of the employee’s center, laboratory or project and RIKEN’s management situation and budget at the time. In principle, employment contracts will not be renewed for individuals older than 65 years.
  3. When RIKEN CBS-TOYOTA Collaboration Center is scheduled to undergo its final review
    When the center to which the Employee is affiliated is scheduled for a final review and it is decided that the Employee's research will not be continued, the provision given above for projects of limited duration applies and the Employee's contract will not be renewed for the2026 year that would extend employment beyond the center's final fiscal year.

In principle, the first two months of employment is considered a trial period.
Salary will be a monthly salary based on experience, ability, and performance, and will consist of a base salary and a variable salary. The variable salary will be determined each fiscal year based on experience, ability, and performance. The monthly base salary is 295,100 JPY as of April 1st 2023. The monthly base salary and variable salary are subject to change due to amendments to RIKEN regulations.

Discretionary work, commuting and housing allowances will be provided. Social insurance will be applied.

The approximate amount of monthly salary at the time of employment:
The monthly salary including discretionary work allowance at the time of employment will be 335,000 JPY or more.

Mandatory membership in the RIKEN Mutual Benefit Society (RIKEN Kyosaikai).
This position falls under the specialized duties discretionary work system; one working day will be calculated as 7 hours and 30 minutes.

Days off include public holidays, New Year's holidays (Dec. 29 - Jan 3), and RIKEN Foundation Day.
Paid leave includes annual paid leave (up to 20 days depending on the month of employment), special paid leave (childcare, family nursing care, etc.), and work life balance holidays (up to 7 days depending on the month of employment).
There are also additional leave systems such as maternity leave, childcare leave, and family nursing care leave.
Smoking is not permitted on site except in designated smoking areas. Smoking will be entirely prohibited on site from April 2024.
These and other provisions are in accordance with RIKEN regulations.

RIKEN is actively undertaking initiatives to promote gender equality and diversity, and moving forward with the establishment of a diverse and vibrant research environment. If multiple candidates are found to have the same aptitude following a fair assessment, active efforts will be made to recruit female candidates.

Also, eligible for an exemption from repayment for category 1 scholarship loans provided by the Japan Student Services Organization before fiscal year 2003, and eligible applying for the MEXT Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Kakenhi).
The Wako Campus has an on-site daycare, RIKEN Kids Wako. For details, please send an email to the HR at kids [at] riken.jp.

Application and required documents

Required documents

  1. Complete CV (Format: WORD(56KB) or EXCEL(159KB) , with photo and email address)
    (RIKEN CV) *Write the RIKEN job ad number “W23174”, indicated in the parentheses next to the job title, in the RIKEN job ad number section in the upper right corner of your CV.
    （Original CV）*Write down in the notes section of your CV the number written next to the title of the job position (e.g. W23174).
  2. List of research achievement
  3. External funding awarded
  4. Summary of research experience to date
  5. Reason for applying for the post (personal strengths, motivation, future research plans, career aspirations, etc.)
  6. A letter of recommendation from the current supervisor (If unavailable, a letter from a substitute reference will be acceptable.）
  7. Consent form for handling personal information based on GDPR
    If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA), you are required to submit the document, “Consent form for handling personal information based on GDPR” with your signature.

    *You will find detailed information about General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on the following website:
    https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection_en

How to apply

The above documents except the recommendation letters combined into a single ZIP file should be uploaded to the following website:
https://riken-share.ent.box.com/f/33a9e3224c6a4305a639fa877c5c8d96
For Postdoctoral Researcher position, Social Value Decision Making Team, RIKEN CBS-Toyota Collaboration Center, RIKEN
The file name of the ZIP should contain your contact email address.
After you uploaded the ZIP file, please let us (rei.akaishi [at] riken.jp) know the file name of the uploaded file.

Recommendation letters must be directly submitted from the referees to the following website with the file name"XXXX Center Postdoctoral Researcher [applicant’s name] (Recommendation letter)". Please specify the applicant's name, referee's name and contact information in the recommendation letter.
For Postdoctoral Researcher position, Social Value Decision Making Team, RIKEN CBS-Toyota Collaboration Center, RIKEN

After the referees uploaded the recommendation letter, please let us (rei.akaishi [at] riken.jp) know the file name of the uploaded file.
If a confirmation email is not received within 7 days after submission, please contact: rei.akaishi [at] riken.jp.

Note: All the submitted documents will not be returned.

Deadline

Open until the position is filled

Handling personal data

Submitted documents are strictly protected under the RIKEN Privacy Policy and will be used only for the purpose of applicant screening. Personal information will not be disclosed, transferred or loaned to a third party under any circumstances without just cause.

Selection process

Application screening and interview for selected applicants

Start of Employment

As early as possible

Contact Information

RIKEN RIKEN CBS-Toyota Collaboration Center
Laboratory/Research Unit for Social Value Decision Making
Email: rei.akaishi [at] riken.jp
For inquiries, please send an email.