Seeking a Research Scientist or Senior Research Scientist (26-547) Part-time NEW

Research Scientist or Senior Research Scientist

Ion Beam Breeding Group RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science (Group Director: Yusuke Kazama)

We are developing a tailored plant breeding technology that precisely controls the type, energy, and number of heavy ions to induce mutations specific to target genes or chromosomal regions. Furthermore, we are analyzing the relationship between chromosome rearrangements induced by heavy ions and epigenetic changes, with the aim of understanding genomic functions and phenotypic changes. Building on the track record of plant breeding achievements cultivated in our laboratory, we aim to establish new breeding principles by fostering a dynamic exchange between basic research and applied breeding.

Job Title

Research Scientist or Senior Research Scientist, one position

Research Scientist

In principle, Research Scientist is defined as those with a doctoral degree more than 5 years.

Senior Research Scientist

Senior Researcher must have over 5 years of research or practical experience, and will assist superior officers with their duties while independently conducting research.

* The applicant will be assigned to an appropriate position based on his/her ability, aptitude, etc.

Job Description

Using long-read sequencing technologies, the successful candidate will investigate the relationship between genome structural variation and phenotypic changes through high-resolution detection of structural variants induced by heavy-ion beam irradiation in plant systems and their integrative analysis with epigenomic data. The candidate will lead interdisciplinary research that bridges experimental and computational approaches and will promote collaborative research within and outside the laboratory, including collaborations with researchers in information science.

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

Qualification

• Ph.D. degree in a relevant field.
• Research experience in plant science, genomics, epigenomics, bioinformatics, or related fields.
• Experience in next-generation sequencing (NGS) data analysis, long-read sequencing analysis, structural variation analysis, or epigenomic analysis is desirable.
• Ability and motivation to engage in research involving plant materials and/or genome and epigenome data analysis.
• Ability to work collaboratively with researchers within and outside the laboratory and to proactively and steadily advance research projects.
• We welcome individuals who are eager to pursue their own research projects.

Work Location

RIKEN Wako Campus (2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198)

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, up to 7 years of employment.
• 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 70 years.
• An mid-term evaluation is planned to be conducted around the fifth year.

In principle, the first two months of employment are 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. Discretionary work, commuting and housing allowances will be provided. Social insurance will be applied.

The Approximate Amount of Salary at the Time of Employment

Research Scientist

The total amount of monthly discretionary work allowance and monthly salary at the time of hiring will be 448,990 JPY or more. The monthly salary including discretionary work allowance at the time of employment for a candidate with 10 years of experience, ability, and achievement after completion of the doctoral degree will be approximately 574,000 JPY.

Senior Research Scientist

The total amount of monthly discretionary work allowance and monthly salary at the time of hiring will be 536,065 JPY or more. The monthly salary including discretionary work allowance at the time of employment for a candidate with 10 years of experience, ability, and achievement after completion of the doctoral degree will be approximately 687,000 JPY.

RIKEN has a telecommuting system, but this position requires attendance at the work location. Therefore, the telecommuting system is not available for this position, in principle.

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 (caring for a sick child, 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. Mandatory membership in the RIKEN Mutual Benefit Society (RIKEN Kyosaikai).

* Eligible to apply for the MEXT Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Kakenhi).

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.

The Wako Campus has an on-site daycare, RIKEN Kids Wako. For details, please send an email to kids@riken.jp.

Application and Required Documents

Required Documents

• 1. Complete CV or CV
  • * Write the RIKEN job ad number “26-547”, 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 (including ResearcherID or Google Scholar ID, if available)
• 3. 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)
• 4. Summary of major achievements to date and research proposal in future (two pages A4 sized paper, respectively)
• 5. Agreement on handling of personal information (Handling of personal information based on the Hiring Privacy Policy, the General Data Protection Regulation, and the UK General Data Protection Regulation) Please review the following web page before submitting the consent form.:
  • * Hiring Privacy Policy
  • * The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
  • * Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation)

How to Apply

The above documents, except the letters of recommendation, should be combined into a single ZIP file and uploaded to the following link:

Ion Beam Breeding Group Upload Folder

The file name of the ZIP should contain your contact email address. After you upload the ZIP file, please let us (ykaze@riken.jp) know the file name of the uploaded file.

Recommendation letters must be directly submitted from the referees to the following link with the file name “Ion Beam Breeding Group [applicant's name] (recommendation letters)”.

Ion Beam Breeding Group Upload Folder

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