Careers

Nov. 1, 2024

Seeking a Postdoctoral Researcher or Research Scientist
Laboratory for Human Cognition and Learning（W24224)

Laboratory

Laboratory for Human Cognition and Learning, Center for Brain Science (Team Leader: Kazuhisa Shibata)

Research Area

Biology, Interdisciplinary

Research Field

We investigate the brain mechanisms of learning and higher cognitive functions in humans with an emphasis on the interactions between conscious and subconscious processing by using various research methods, including psychophysics, neuroimaging, brain stimulation, and machine learning. We seek for motivated scholars who have strong background in the relevant fields and are interested in our research topics. Please visit our website (https://shibatalab.riken.jp/?page_id=239) for more details.

Job Title and Job Description

Job Title, Available Positions

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

Job Description

Successful candidates will use psychophysics, neuroimaging, brain stimulation, and/or computational modelling to investigate the brain mechanisms that give rise to subjective experience in humans with a particular emphasis on vision and the prefrontal cortex.
* This project will end by March 31 2027

The job description may be changed during the contract period or upon contract renewal to the extent described above.

Qualification

  • Candidates should have
    (1) a Ph. D in a relevant field (Psychology, Cognitive Sciences, Neuroscience, Information Science) by a starting date
    (2) strong background in vision research and neuroimaging techniques
    (3) practical experience in generating complex visual stimuli including faces, experiments using functional magnetic resonance imaging, and multivariate analysis of fMRI date
  • Candidates should be comfortable working in an international environment in which researchers communicate primarily in English

Work Location

RIKEN Center for Brain Science (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.

RIKEN may order the employee to change work locations, if necessary.

Salary and Benefits

A one-year fixed-term employment contract, renewable based on evaluation, to a maximum of March 31, 2027.

In principle, the first two months of employment is considered a trial period.
Salary will be an annual 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 will be 313,200 JPY for Postdoctoral Researcher, and 369,500 JPY for Research Scientist, as of April 1, 2025. 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 annual salary at the time of employment:
The monthly salary including discretionary work allowance at the time of employment will be 352,100 JPY or more for Postdoctoral Researcher, and 415,500 JPY or more for Research Scientist.

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 entirely prohibited on site.
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 kids [at] riken.jp.

Application and Required Documents

  1. Complete CV (with photo and email address)
    WORD(56KB) or EXCEL(56KB)
    *Write the RIKEN job ad number “W24224”, indicated in the parentheses next to the job title, in the RIKEN job ad number section in the upper right corner of your CV.
  2. List of research achievement and publications
  3. External funding awarded
  4. Summary of research experience to date
  5. Reason for applying for the post
  6. A letter of recommendation from the current supervisor (If unavailable, a letter from a substitute reference will be acceptable.）
    *Please specify the referee’s contact information (Name, affiliation, job title, phone number, and email address)

  7. Consent form for handling personal information based on GDPR
    If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA)or UK, you are required to submit the document, “Consent form for handling personal information based on GDPR and Regulation of the European Parliament and of the council of on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (UK General Data Protection Regulation)” 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

    You will find detailed information about Regulation of the European Parliament and of the council of on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (UK GDPR) on the following website:
    https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/data-protection-and-the-eu/

How to apply

The above documents except the recommendation letters combined into a single ZIP file should be uploaded to the following website:
For Research Scientist position, Laboratory for Human Cognition and Learning, Center for Brain Science, RIKEN
The file name of the ZIP should contain your contact email address.
After you uploaded the ZIP file, please let us (shibata_lab_recruit [at] ml.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 research scientist [applicant’s name] (Recommendation letter)". Please specify the applicant's name, referee's name and contact information in the recommendation letter.
For Research Scientist position, Laboratory for Human Cognition and Learning, Center for Brain Science, RIKEN
After the referees uploaded the recommendation letter, please let us (shibata_lab_recruit [at] ml.riken.jp) know the file name of the uploaded file.
If a confirmation email is not received within 7 days after submission, please contact: shibata_lab_recruit [at] ml.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 at RIKEN. 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

April 1st, 2025 (Negotiable)

Contact Information

RIKEN Center for Brain Science
Laboratory for Human Cognition and Learning
Email: shibata_lab_recruit [at] ml.riken.jp (Replace [at] with @ )
For inquiries, please send an email.