Financial Support Program for the Employment ofResearch Assistants and Lab Assistants
Application Guidelines (2nd Term of AY2024)
Kyoto University provides a financial support program for the employment of research assistants andlab assistants for researchers who are unable to secure sufficient time for research or experiments due
to childcare or family care. (Please note that this program cannot be used for the employment ofteaching assistants or assistants who provide support with general administrative work [accounting,etc.] or secretarial work.) Researchers who wish to apply for the program are requested to submit anapplication form and other required documents by the application deadline detailed below.
Note: Researcher who are involved in childcare or nursing care, regardless of gender, can apply tothis program.
1.

Eligibility
Researchers (faculty members, researchers, clinical fellows, etc.) employed by Kyoto University,
who are engaged in childcare or family care, (or who are pregnant).
Please note:・ Researchers in any academic field are eligible (including all sciences and humanities fields).
・ “Childcare” refers to care for children up to the third grade of elementary school.
・ Part-time faculty members are also eligible to apply for this program. In this case, assistant’sworking hours per week should not be exceeded the part-time faculty member’s working
hours per week. Part-time faculty members who are also employed by other institutions areeligible to apply for this program; however, their weekly working hours at Kyoto University
must exceed those at other institutions.
・ Research fellows of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (excluding theResearch Fellowship for Young Scientists [DC]) are eligible to apply for this program.
・ To be eligible, applicants must have a unique researcher number in the Cross-Ministerial
R&D Management System (e-Rad).
・ Researchers who have already used this program for the past six consecutive terms ormore (or for the past three years or more) are not eligible to apply in this term. As there
are many applicants for the program in every term, we ask for your kind understanding
regarding this stipulation.

2.

Number of Financial Support Recipients
Approximately 20 (TBC)

3.

Types of Assistant that Can be Employed through this Program
Assistant Technical Staff or Assistant Administrative Staff (part-time staff who work a maximumof 20 hours per week)*Office Assistants (Technical) or Office Assistants (Administrative) provided the assistant is anundergraduate or graduate student at Kyoto University*Assistant Administrative Staff or Office Assistants (Administrative) may be employed if they
are engaged in administrative research support work, such as the collection of materials. However,program cannot be used to support the employment of staff engaged in general administration[accounting, etc.] or secretarial work.

4.

Requirements for the AssistantPersons who are able to assist with the applicants’ research and experiments, and who are able tocommute to the place of work.

5.

The Work Undertaken by AssistantResearch assistance or experiment assistance for researchers who are unable to secure sufficient
time for research or experiments due to childcare or family care. (excluding general office work
such as accounting, secretarial work, and education-related work)
Examples:・ Literature search, collection and filing of relevant information.
・ Creating a database of published literature, designing search systems.
・ Assisting preparations for research grant application forms and study reports.
・ Sampling, recording and data analysis, including image analysis, as per protocol.
・ Keeping records of cell culture, tissue culture, etc.
・ Processing, dispensing, and storage of blood samples.
・ Preparing reagents and solutions for Biochemical Experiments.
・ Providing daily care and feeding for the laboratory animals.
・ Maintaining laboratory equipment / Storage of laboratory chemicals and reagents.
・ Data acquisition, editing and proofreading for papers, theses and conference presentation.
・ Preparing for actual field work, and cleanup.
・ Preparing for experiments, progress check, clean up after experiments, etc.

6.

Employment Period of the Assistant
From October 2024 until the end of March 2025.

7.

SelectionApplicants will be selected by the selection committee set up in the Career Continuity Support
Expert Committee of the Gender Equality Promotion Center based on the following criteria:
・ Researchers who are experiencing difficulty undertaking their research due to the demandsof childcare or family care.
・ Researchers for whom it would be difficult to find alternative funding for the employmentof an assistant.
・ Researchers who have not already used this program for a year or more. (If a continuous
application applicant and a new or infrequently applied applicant have the same evaluationin terms of the above points, the latter will be given a higher evaluation.)

8.

Application Method
Please consult with the professor/PI in charge and the other faculty members in the laboratory
regarding the employment of an assistant in advance, and submit the following documents via
email to the section in charge (contact details below) via the departmental director (departmental
administrative office).
・ Application Form for the Financial Support Program for the Employment of ResearchAssistants and Lab Assistants・ CV of the candidate to be employed as an assistant9.

Application Deadline
17:00, June 25, 2024 (Tuesday) (Note: the deadline will be strictly observed.)

10. Implementation Report, Actual Expenses Report, and Copies of Expenses Transfer Slips
After the support period, support recipients are required to submit an implementation report
describing the way in which the program benefited their research activities. Please note that some
information provided in the implementation report will be made publicly available on the websiteof the Gender Equality Promotion Center:
http://www.cwr.kyoto-u.ac.jp/support/research/assistant/(available in Japanese only)

Around March, support recipients may be requested to submit an Actual Expenses Report andcopies of expenses transfer slips*.
* Budget allocation:
A budget is allocated to your department only a year based on actual expenditures. For more
information, please contact the administrative staff in your department.

11. Other Matters
・ The application form and other forms may be obtained from the websites of the Personnel
Department and the Gender Equality Promotion Center. The application materials must be
submitted via the administrative office of the applicant’s department. Please do not change
the format of the application form.
・ The extent to which the applicant is experiencing difficulty undertaking their research dueto the demands of childcare or family care is a key consideration in the selection process.
Applicants are therefore requested to provide specific relevant details in the application form,
such as: The applicant’s spouse or other family members are unable to assist with childcare
or family care due to work commitments or for other reasons (e.g., the spouse’s job
requires them to live away from home).
 The applicant is providing care for their children as well as other relatives, etc.
・ Only one person in a family can submit an application (i.e. a married couple cannot apply
for this program separately).
・ Applicants may be requested to submit additional materials during or after the selection
process. If it is necessary for an applicant to employ more than one assistant due tounavoidable circumstances, they are required to describe the reason in their application.
They may also be requested to submit additional documents if the details provided in theirapplication are not sufficient.
・ Submitted application forms will not be returned. Personal information provided in theapplication form will be used only for the selection process of this program.
・ If there are any changes to the information provided in the application form after submission,
applicants are requested to immediately contact the section in charge (contact details below)
via administrative office of their department. As the amount of financial support provided
cannot be increased after selection, please be sure to complete the application carefully.
・ Please note that the amount of support provided will be calculated based on the available
budget, the number of applications received, and other factors. Applicants are requested tounderstand that the amount of financial support that will be provided cannot be guaranteed
to match the amount requested in an applicant’s employment plan.
・ Regarding the employment of research assistants or lab assistants, please see the attachedfile “Points to Note when Employing a Research Assistant or Lab Assistant.”
・ The selection results will be announced around mid August.

Contact:
Diversity Promotion Section, Staff Development Division,Personnel Department
Email: g-e@mail2.adm.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Attachment

Key Points to Note when Employing a Research Assistant or Lab Assistant1.

Please note that the purpose of the Financial Support Program for the Employment of ResearchAssistants or Lab Assistants is not to provide support to the research organization with which theapplicant is affiliated, but to the applicant themselves. Assistants employed with funding fromthis program must therefore engage in work to assist with the applicant's research andexperiments.

2.

The work undertaken by assistants employed with funding from this program must be limited toassistance with research and experiments. General administrative work [accounting, etc.],secretarial work, and teaching assistance are outside the scope of this support program. Please
note that if an assistant is found to be engaged in works which are outside the scope of this support
program, the applicant may be required to refund the funding received from this program.

3.

Researchers on maternity leave before or after childbirth, childcare leave, or nursing care leave
are not eligible for this support program during the period of leave.

4.

Researchers who are planning to return to work after maternity leave, childcare leave, or nursing
care leave, and who wish to apply for this support program, are requested to confirm when they
will return to work to ensure that there is no overlapping period between the period of leave andthe intended period of use of this program.

5.

The support recipient’s department of affiliation shall be responsible for the management andreporting of working hours, and other personnel-related tasks pertaining to assistants employedthrough this program.

6.

To avoid any problems, assistants employed through this program must receive a full explanationof their hourly wage, work schedule, the possibility of re-appointment, and other employment
details in advance, and they must consent to the terms presented.

7.

Applicants must consult with the relevant administrative office in their department in advance
before deciding the hourly wages to be paid to assistants employed through this program. (Inprinciple, the maximum hourly wage for an assistant is 1,200 yen.) If the hourly wage decidedexceeds the maximum hourly wage, the difference shall not be covered by this program, and mustbe paid by the applicant’s department. In this case, applicants are required to describe the reason
that the hourly wage exceeds the maximum hourly wage of 1,200 yen in their application.

8.

The commuting allowances and labor insurance premiums to be paid by the employer shall bealso covered by this program, in accordance with the university's expenses payment regulations.

9.

Applicants must ensure that their department’s office completes the required section in the “CVof the candidate to be employed as an assistant” portion of the application.

10. As a general rule, if a researcher receiving support from this program is transferred or nolonger needs to engage in childcare or family care, the funding will be discontinued
immediately. In the event of such circumstances, please contact the Diversity Promotion Sectionof the Staff Development Division of the Personnel Department immediately via yourdepartment’s administrative office.
11. Applicants should obtain consent from a candidate research lab assistant before submitting theirapplication. However, applicants who apply the financial support program without candidate
assistants must re-submit the application form within three weeks after they are selected,
adding personal details and CV of the candidate assistants. The selection committee shall thenconfirm that the candidate is suitable.

For Reference:
Percentages of successful applicants and expenses covered by the support programin the past three years
Percentage of successful applicants (out of the total number of applicants)
1st term

2nd term

1st term

2nd term

1st term

2nd term

1st termof 2021of 2021of 2022of 2022of 2023of 2023of 2024

Total number of applicants2425292732

3150

Total

successful

151820272426

33

Ratio of successful applicants (%)

63

72

69

100

75

84

66

numberofapplicants

Percentage of required expenses covered by the support program
1st term

2nd term

1st term

2nd term

1st term

2nd term

1st termof 2021of 2021of 2022of 2022of 2023of 2023of 2024

97

96

98

92

94

95

71

63

71

61

92

6980

45

Ratio of the total amount ofrequired expenses of all successful
applicants covered by the support
program (%)
Ratio of the total amount offunding to all successful applicantsout of the total amount of required
expenses of all applicants. (%)