Recruit information
※The 5th period (2013) open call for participants has ended.
In 2009, Kyoto University inaugurated the Hakubi Project to Foster and Support Young Researchers, in which the University appoints promising young researchers as program-specific faculty members (associate professor/assistant professor under the annual salary system) and supports their research activities on themes of their own choices, so as to develop visionary researchers who will pioneer new paths in their respective academic fields. Kyoto University calls for applicants in 2013 as described below.
1．Objectives
Research activities at universities are driven by the researcher’s unlimited inspiration, intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm in quest of truth. Therefore it is of paramount importance to develop human resources with extraordinary creativity, originality and a willingness to take on new challenges over a wide variety of academic fields.
Fostering such human resources is also essential for Kyoto University. In response to the progress of globalization, it is particularly important to foster human resources with superb creativity, as well as broad perspectives and a flexible mindset, all of which are important to be able to pioneer new academic frontiers. With this view in mind, during 2009, Kyoto University inaugurated the Hakubi Project to Foster and Support Young Researchers, in addition to augmenting efforts in various existing initiatives taken by individual faculties/schools. In the Hakubi Project to Foster and Support Young Researchers, the university employs promising young researchers as program-specific faculty members (associate professor/assistant professor with an annual salary) and supports their research activities on themes of their own choosing.
2．Target Research Areas
Research programs in every range of basic and applied studies in all academic fields, from the humanities, to social and natural sciences.
【Reference】Research field
3．Eligibility
Researchers with a doctorate degree (or equivalent research abilities).
All nationalities are accepted.
4．Employment
Up to 20 applicants will be appointed as program-specific faculty members (associate professor or assistant professor with an annual salary).
In principle, the term of appointment will begin on April 1, 2014. The term can be adjusted, however, according to the requirements of individual researchers.
5．Employment Conditions
Selected applicants will be appointed as program-specific full-time faculty members (associate professor or assistant professor with an annual salary under limited-term contracts) in compliance with the Rules of Employment for Fixed-Term Program-Specific Faculty Members. Although their period of service will be five years in principle, it may not extend over more than five academic years. These individuals will be referred to by the title of “Kyoto University Hakubi researcher” in recognition of their excellent research abilities to pioneer a new path in their respective academic fields.
6．Affiliation
To implement the Kyoto University Hakubi Project to Foster and Support Young Researchers, the university has established the Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University to which Hakubi researchers are affiliated.
7．Research Funds and Facilities
The university will provide each researcher with an annual research fund of approximately 1 to 4 million yen, depending on a number of factors such as the research plans of each individual. The center itself does not have any research facilities. Accordingly, individual researchers are asked to make their own arrangements where possible, by finding a “host” (researcher/institution/faculty) within Kyoto University that is willing to provide suitable research facilities.
8．Research Reports and Presentations
Researchers on this project shall prepare annual reports on their research activities, and are also required to give presentations on their research results at the end of their fixed term.
9．Screening Method
- Primary screening:
An expert committee at the Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University from their respective academic fields will examine application documents, focusing on academic achievements and research plans. - Secondary screening:
The Hakuraku Council under the Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University will conduct interviews. In addition to applicants’ academic achievements, the Council will evaluate their potential to become leading figures in the future global academic community. An additional interview will be carried by the President of Kyoto University or other individuals of similar standing. - Third screening:
The Steering Committee of the Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University will make the final decision as to who is accepted as Hakubi researcher, considering the results of interviews held by the Hakuraku Council, etc.
10．Results of Screening
Results of the screening will be notified to all applicants by e-mail.
Please note that information on the process of the screening and reasons for pass/fail will not be provided.
11．To Apply
- Register the applicant’s information using the form available on the website below.
- When your online registration is completed successfully, you will receive an automatic acknowledgement (or confirmation ) e-mail.
- Upload your proposal for the Kyoto University Hakubi Project to Foster and Support Young Researchers on the website notified in the acknowledgement e-mail of the online registration.
- Applications will be accepted only after the online registration is completed and the proposal is uploaded. Please note that both conditions must be fulfilled for evaluations to be made.
13:00 (Japan time), Wednesday May 1, 2013 The deadline has passed.
12．Documents to Submit
Proposal
【Reference】Guidelines for Preparing a proposal
13．Deadline
We must receive all necessary documents (online registration and uploaded proposal) by the dates and times as following:
Deadline for online registration:
13:00 (Japan time), Wednesday May1, 2013
Deadline for upload of proposal:
13:00 (Japan time), Wednesday May 8, 2013
14．Hakubi Application Information Meeting
Meetings providing information on the Hakubi Project will be held as detailed below. Send an e-mail to register your participation to the e-mail address below, including your name, affiliation, position and telephone number. We must receive it at the latest, one day before each meeting, respectively.
However, you may participate in the meeting without prior registration.
e-mail address for registration of Information Meeting:
hakubi*mail.adm.kyoto-u.ac.jp（Please replace “*” with “@”.）
[Information Meeting in Kyoto]
- Date and Hour: 18:00~, Monday, March 11, 2013
- Place: Inamori Hall, Shiran-Kaikan, Kyoto University
http://www.med.kyoto-u.ac.jp/siran/
*The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research will hold “The 3rd Annual Meeting of the Hakubi Project” on the same date at the same place from 14:30 prior to Information Meeting.
[Information Meeting in Tokyo]
- Date and Hour: 18:00~, Tuesday, March 19, 2013
- Place: The Kyoto University Tokyo Office Conference Room 2, 3
http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ja/tokyo-office
15．Contact Information
To obtain further information, please contact us either by e-mail or facsimile. Inquiries will not be accepted by phone.
The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University
E-mail：hakubi*mail.adm.kyoto-u.ac.jp (Please replace “*” with “@”.)
FAX：+81-75-753-5310
17．Note
- Personal information contained in the application documents will be used solely for the purpose of screening applicants, and never for any other purpose without applicants’ consent.
- Expenses needed to apply for this project shall be borne by applicants in principle.
- Kyoto University supports a gender-equal society. We hope that many female researchers will apply for the Hakubi Project.
- If you have any further questions regarding this application procedure, please refer to the FAQ pages.
[Data of applicants in 2012]
| Number of applicants | Number of successful applicants | Competition rate |
|---|---|---|
| 655 | 20 | 32.8 times |
| Number of applicants | Percentages(%) | Number of successful applicants | Percentages(%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male : Female | 511:144 | 78.0%:22.0% | 17:3 | 85.0%:15.0% |
| Arts : Sciences | 300:355 | 45.8%:54.2% | 10:10 | 50.0%:50.0% |
| Kyoto U Affiliate : Others | 144:511 | 22.0%78.0% | 9:11 | 45.0%:55.0% |
| Address Japan : Other Countries | 427:228 | 65.2%:34.8% | 15:5 | 75.0%:25.0% |
| Associate Prof. : Assistant Prof. | 248:407 | 37.9%:62.1% | 8:12 | 40.0%:60.0% |
| Average age (Associate Prof.) | － | － | 36.3 years old | － |
| Average age (Assistant Prof.) | － | － | 31.6 years old | － |
* Classifications based on the proposals written by applicants
Recruit schedule
| March 4th | Opening of application period |
| March 11th March 19th | Briefings of open application in Kyoto Briefings of open application in Tokyo |
| May 1th (at 13:00) | Deadline for website registration |
| May 8th (at 13:00) | Deadline for upload proposal |
| May 20th～ | Screening of applications by Expert Committee |
| Late August | Interview by the Hakuraku Council |
| September | Deliberation and determination of appointed researchers by Steering Committee |
Informal appointment for Hakubi researchers
To foster prospective young researchers, Kyoto University established the Kyoto University “Hakubi Project” to Foster and Support Young Researchers in 2009 and has accepted applications. Until now, strict examination has been held such as applicant screening by the expert committee of the Hakubi Center for Advanced Research and interview by the Hakuraku Council. As the results of deliberations by the Steering Committee of the Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University decided informally 18 researchers who will be hired in the Kyoto University Hakubi Center for Advanced Research.
List of prospective Hakubi Researchers in the Kyoto University Hakubi Center for Advanced Research
| Name | Research Topic | Position | Current Affiliation/Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sarah S. Kashani | Zainichi Korean Entrepreneurism and Ethnic Economies in Japan | Assistant Professor | Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University |
| Gruber Stefan | Cultural diversity, heritage protection, and sustainable development law in East Asia | Associate Professor | The University of Sydney, Faculty of Law, Lecturer |
| Jennifer Coates | Re-writing History: Women and War Memory in Japanese Film 1945-1979 | Assistant Professor | School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, PhD Candidate |
| Shigeyuki Koshikawa | Understanding Color Pattern Formation by a Constructive Approach | Assistant Professor | Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Research Specialist |
| Sakie Suzuki | Study on quantum invariants of links and 3-dimensional manifolds | Assistant Professor | Faculty of Mathematics, Kyushu University, JSPS Research fellow (PD) |
| Tamon Suzuki | The end of World War II and the formation of the postwar political order | Associate Professor | Associate Professor, Shumei University |
| Yasunori Takeuchi | Kitanology: a new research paradigm for the language, history and culture of Kitan | Assistant Professor | JSPS Research Fellow (PD), Faculty of Letters, Otani University |
| Menaka De Zoysa | Thermal emission control by manipulating electronic and photonic states | Assistant Professor | Graduate School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Kyoto University, Postdoctoral Fellow (PD) |
| Hiroki Tokinaga | Climate Change caused by synergetic eff ects of global warming and natural variability | Associate Professor | Assistant Researcher, International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii |
| Kohei Nakajima | Physical Reservoir Computing: Pursuing the Nature of Information Processing | Assistant Professor | Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow for Research Abroad |
| Toshihiro Higuchi | The making of a “global environmental crisis”:International politics on radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons testing, 1945-63 | Assistant Professor | ACLS New Faculty Fellow & Associate Lecturer,Department of the History of Science, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison |
| Niels van Steenpaal | The Creation of Man: Collective Biography in Tokugawa and Meiji Japan | Assistant Professor | JSPS Research Fellow (PD), Graduate School for Law and Politics, Tokyo University |
| Hemant Poudyal | Role of gut hormones in type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease | Assistant Professor | Centre for Systems Biology, University of Southern Queensland, Australia |
| Koutaro Ould Maeno | Understanding the mechanism controlling phase polyphenism and developing a pest control technique for desert locusts in Africa | Assistant Professor | The Mauritanian Desert Locust Centre・Japan-CGIAR Fellow |
| Bill M. Mak | Historical transmission of Indian astral science in East and Southeast Asia | Associate Professor | Visiting Assistant Professor, Centre of Buddhist Studies, University of Hong Kong. JSPS Research Fellow (PD), Faculty of Cultural Studies, Kyoto Sangyo University |
| Kei Murakami | Sulfur: A Key Element for Novel Reactions and Molecules | Assistant Professor | Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules, Nagoya University, JSPS Research Fellow (PD) |
| Ikuko Wada | Changing Society along with Developing Port Towns in Early Modern India | Assistant Professor | Lecturer, Faculty of Letters, Kyoto University |
| Masato Yamamichi | Eco-evolutionary feedbacks: theoretical and experimental approaches | Assistant Professor | Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University・日本学術振興会海外特別研究員 |
Status of Application and Informal Appointment
| Number of Applicants | Number of Informal Appointment | Competitive Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| 644 people | 20 people | 32.2 times |
| Number of Applicants | Ratio | Number of Informal Appointment | Ratio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male/Female | 499 ：145 | 77.5%：22.5% | 15 ：5 | 75.0%：25.0% |
| Humanities/Science | 289 ：355 | 44.9%：55.1% | 9 ：11 | 45.0%：55.0% |
| On-campus/Off-campus | 147 ：497 | 22.8%：77.2% | 5 ：15 | 25.0%：75.0% |
| Domestic/Overseas | 435 ：209 | 67.6%：32.5% | 9 ：11 | 45.0%：55.0% |
| Associate Professor/Assistant Professor | 220 ：424 | 34.2%：65.8% | 5 ：15 | 25.0%：75.0% |
| Average age （Associate Professor) （Assistant Professor） | － | － | 37.0 | － |
| － | － | 31.3 | － |
*Reprinted from proposal.