Careers & StudyPartnerships with Universities
BDR has established partnerships with many universities to accept motivated students in the labs. Interested students are strongly encouraged to contact the labs to ask whether they are open to accepting students and learn about the required procedures.
There are the following ways to join RIKEN BDR as a student:
Affiliated graduate school programs
RIKEN BDR hosts graduate students in its labs as part of its agreements with a number of local graduate and medical schools. Many BDR Team Leaders serve as adjunct faculty at academic programs in the Kansai and Kanto regions, and provide opportunities for Master’s and PhD students enrolled in those programs to do leading-edge research in the wide range of research fields carried out by labs, from cell and developmental biology, to systems biology, computational biology and structural biology.
International Program Associate
An International Program Associate (IPA) is a non-Japanese PhD candidate attending a Japanese or overseas graduate school participating in RIKEN’s joint graduate school program. IPAs conduct research at RIKEN under the supervision of the principal investigator of a RIKEN laboratory as part of work toward obtaining a PhD.
In principle, RIKEN provides IPAs with a daily living allowance and covers the IPA’s housing costs for up to a maximum of three years while they are at RIKEN. Procedures for applicants will differ based on whether they are enrolling or are enrolled in a university in Japan or overseas.
Junior Research Associate Program
The Junior Research Associate (JRA) program provides part-time positions at RIKEN for energetic and open-minded young researchers enrolled in Japanese university PhD programs for the purpose of giving them the opportunity to carry out research alongside RIKEN scientists, enhancing RIKEN’s creative and basic research capabilities, and strengthening ties between RIKEN and universities in Japan.
RIKEN has been making special efforts to foster the development of basic research in medical fields, and research graduates of medical and dental universities who have acquired their medical or dental licenses are welcome to apply.
Applications are generally accepted from late September to late October every year to start the following year on April 1 (or October 1).
Others
We have hosted visiting students at all levels from undergraduates to PhD students from universities worldwide. Students interested in carrying out research for short/long term should contact the lab head directly to inquire whether they are open to accepting students.