National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

NAOJ Fellow Recruitment

NAOJ Fellowship

The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), National Institutes of Natural Sciences has a staff recruiting system called National Astronomical Observatory of Japan Fellowship (NAOJ fellows) for highly qualified independent young researchers.

Details

We welcome ambitious young researchers who will use their research at NAOJ to open new frontiers in astronomy and become world-leaders in those new fields.

Announcement – NAOJ Fellow 2025

Job Vacancies

Recruitment Overview

Research areas
Astronomy, development of astronomical instruments, or related fields.
Job description
Depends on the successful candidates’ research plans.
Qualification
Doctor’s degree or expected to obtain doctor’s degree by the first day of this appointment.
Workplace
NAOJ Mitaka Campus (Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo), NAOJ Mizusawa Campus (Mizusawa-Hoshigaoka, Oshu, Iwate), NAOJ Nobeyama Campus (Nobeyama, Minamimakimura, Minamisaku, Nagano), NAOJ Okayama Branch (Kamogata, Asaguchi, Okayama), NAOJ Kamioka Branch (Kamioka, Hida, Gifu), NAOJ Ishigaki Branch (Ishigaki, Okinawa, Japan), Subaru Telescope (Hilo, Hawaiʻi, U.S.A.), or NAOJ Chile Observatory (Santiago, Chile).
Term
In principle, the term is five years from the day of arrival.

Special Provision for Deferment of Starting Date of NAOJ Fellow for Encouraging to Gain Research Experience Outside of Japan

To encourage young researchers to gain research experience outside of Japan, in case that the successful candidate of NAOJ Fellow fulfills all of the following conditions and is deemed appropriate, there is possibility for her/him to be applied a special provision to defer the starting date of NAOJ Fellow than original planned date specified in the job advertisement (if she/he defer the starting date, the term of NAOJ Fellow will be adjusted). Please note that the decision for propriety of appropriate this special provision will be made by discussion. Hence, the successful candidate who fulfill all required conditions will not necessarily be applied this scheme.

Required conditions:

  • The successful candidate who does not have research experience outside of Japan
    i.e., who obtained or will expected to obtain Ph.D. degree or equivalent in Japan who has less than two years of total period of research experience outside of Japan
  • The successful candidate who is offered JSPS Overseas Research Fellowship, JSPS Cross-border Postdoctoral Fellowship (CPD), or a researcher position of overseas organization whose term is between equal or more than 2 years and equal or less than 3 years under the following conditions*:
    1. who is offered the above fellowship or position between the date of deadline of NAOJ Fellow she/he applies and the end of the following February
    2. the offered position will be started between the date of deadline of NAOJ Fellow she/he applies and the October of following year
    *EACOA Fellowship and EAO Fellowship are exclude from this scheme.

In case that this scheme is applied, the starting date and term of employment of NAOJ Fellow will be adjusted as follows:
Starting Date: April 1st or October 1st just before the period of the above fellowship or researcher will end Term of Employment: 5 years minus N years plus 1 year (N= the period of the above fellowship or researcher. However, in case that the term is started before following April 1st of the deadline of NAOJ Fellow he/she applies, the period is adjusted so that it is started from April 1st and end until March 31st or September 30th just before the period of the above fellowship or researcher will end)

Recruitment process (scheduled)
Application period: Early July to Early August
Document selection: Early August to Late September
Interview: Mid-October
Hiring decision: November

Working Conditions of Employment

Classification
Employee on Annual Salary System
Position title
Project Assistant Professor (NAOJ Fellow, Employee on Annual Salary System)
Affiliated division
Project, Center, or Division to which the supervisor belongs
Salary
6,600,000 JPY per annum (one-twelfth of it payable each month) plus compensation for commuting expenses.
Daily work schedule
Flex-time system. Basically 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. (60 minutes break)
Holidays
Every Saturday, Sunday, National Holidays, and New Year’s Holiday (Dec. 29 to following Jan. 3)
Vacation
20 days of annual leave, summer vacation, special leave for weddings and funerals, etc (all paid).
Insurance
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Mutual Aid Association (health insurance), welfare annuity insurance, employment insurance, and workmen’s compensation insurance.
Personal transfer allowance
Paid (with conditions)
In case of working overseas
In the case of relocating to work at Subaru Telescope (Hilo, Hawaiʻi) from outside Hawaiʻi, U.S.A. or at NAOJ Chile Observatory (Santiago) from outside Chile, you will be paid an allowance in addition to the annual salary written above.
If you work at Subaru Telescope (Hilo, Hawaiʻi), you will be employed through the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii (RCUH). Salaries and allowances will be paid in US dollars.

New Career after the NAOJ Fellowship

Next Employer after the NAOJ fellowship

Next Employer after the NAOJ fellowship
Next Employer
Classification Number of people
National, public, private universities, colleges, and the attached research institutes 10
Domestic research institutions such as Incorporated Administrative Agencies and Inter-University Research Institute Corporations 11
Private Companies 2
Overseas universities/research institutions etc. 1
Others 1

Examples of Next Employers: The University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Ehime University, Osaka University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Gifu University, NAOJ, ABC, JAXA

Next Position after the NAOJ fellowship

Next Position after the NAOJ fellowship
Next Position
Classification Number of people
Professors/Associate Professors (includes temporary and annual salary employees) 5
Assistant Professors (includes temporary and annual salary employees) 11
Research fellows and postdocs (regular employees and part time employees) 7
Lecturers at university and other institutes (regular employees and part time employees) 0
Other research and education related jobs 0
Others 2

Employment History

Year Hired Name Project
2023 Ohashi Satoshi ALMA Project
Tagawa Hiromichi Division of Science
Kashino Daichi Division of Science
2022 Toba, Yoshiki Subaru Telescope
Chiaki, Gen Division of Science
Kokubo, Mitsuru Division of Science
2021 Taniguchi, Kotomi Division of Science
Nagakura, Hiroki Division of Science
Arzoumanian, Doris Division of Science
2020 Tadaki, Ken’ichi ALMA Project
Sano, Hidetoshi Division of Science
2019 Sugiyama, Naonori Division of Science
Takasao, Shinsuke Division of Science
Benomar, Othman Michel Solar Science Observatory
2018 Shimakawa, Rizumu Subaru Telescope
Suzuki, Akihiro Division of Theoretical Astronomy
2017 Izumi, Takuma Subaru Telescope
Kataoka, Akimasa Division of Theoretical Astronomy
Hull, Charles L H (Chat) NAOJ Chile Observatory
Shirasaki, Masato Division of Theoretical Astronomy
2016 Hayashi, Masao Subaru Telescope
Okamoto, Joten NAOJ Chile Observatory
Ogihara, Masahiro Division of Theoretical Astronomy
Moriya, Takashi Division of Theoretical Astronomy

(Note 1) Only records since 2016 are listed.
(Note 2) Project names are as of the time of employment.