4th Job Openings for Tenure-Track Consortium Associate/Assistant Professor
Positions through the HIRAKU Consortium, Japan (Pomology, YamaguchiUniversity)
October 2015

Hiroshima University, Yamaguchi University, and Tokushima University have jointly
established a consortium called “Home for Innovative Researchers and Academic
Knowledge Users (HIRAKU).” The consortium focuses on human resource
development and the allocation of young researchers and graduate students incooperation with firms, universities, and institutes in the Chugoku and Shikoku regions.
Supported by Funds for the Development of Human Resources in Science andTechnology through Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology, the consortium aims to improve regional potential in science, technology,and innovation. As a main part of its activities, the consortium will manage some of thejob openings at each university to promote capable young researchers in the regions andencourage them to become distinguished researchers. For these purposes, the ideal
candidate for the position will be able to conduct active independent research in thespecified research fields, collaborate with diverse actors, and develop research careersin an uncertain world.
For this job opening, Yamaguchi University invites applications by women
researchers for one full-time associate or assistant professor position. Under Article 8 of
the Equal Employment Opportunity Law (Special Provisions of Measures Pertaining toWomen Workers), in order to actively improve the present situation of a considerably
low percentage of women researchers, applicants are limited to women researchersonly.
1. Number of Positions Available, Areas of Research and Institution
1 Job classification: Associate Professor (Tenure-track) orAssistant Professor (Tenure-track)
2 Number of positions available: one
3 The affiliated school and its preferred research area:.
-Laboratory of Pomology, Graduate School of Sciences and Technology forInnovation, Yamaguchi University (The school will be established in April 2016.)-Pomology1

(Note) Recruitment standards for this research area in Yamaguchi University
Associate Professor:-Have more than ten books or academic papers (refereed), and more than five as
the first author out of these publications.
-Have more than three books or academic papers (refereed) during the last fiveyears, and more than two as the first author out of these publications
Assistant Professor:-Have more than two books or academic papers (refereed), and more than two as
the first author out of these publications.
2. Application Requirements
Applicants must satisfy all of the following requirements.
1) Applicants of women researchers should hold a PhD that was acquired after April 1,
2005, or have equivalent research experience, and should be under 40 years old (*1)
as of April 1, 2015.
2) Applicants should be able to communicate in English.
3) Applicants should be able to lecture and provide research supervision toundergraduate and graduate students in Japanese or English.
4) Applicants should be able to begin working immediately after April 1, 2016, and nolater than the end of the Japanese fiscal year 2016.
5) Applicants should actively contribute to science, technology, and innovation.
*1: Applicants who participated in the mandatory clinical practice in Japan are eligible
to apply unless they are 43 years old or older as of April 1, 2015. Since this project is
supported by Funds for the Development of Human Resources in Science andTechnology under MEXT, these age restrictions are subject to exceptional treatment by
the Ordinance for Enforcement of the “Koyou taisaku” Act 1-3 (1-(3-2)).
3. Processes for Employment and Career Development, and Directions of theEvaluation for Appointment-Application materials should be submitted to the secretariat of the HIRAKU
consortium. The council of the consortium will determine the successful candidates
after consulting with the organizations that will accept the candidates. The successful
candidates will then be hired by the organizations as a faculty member (hereinafterreferred to as a Consortium Associate/Assistant Professor).
-For the betterment of his or her development as a researcher, a Consortium2

Associate/Assistant Professor might be able to conduct his or her research at otherorganizations within or outside of the consortium. Such arrangements should be madethrough an agreement between the consortium and the Consortium Associate/AssistantProfessor.
-Consortium Associate/Assistant Professors will be expect to not only conduct excellent
research but also be involved in consortium-related teaching, networking, and training
activities to further their development as researchers.
- Consortium Associate/Assistant Professors are expected to help construct the systems
for human resource development and allocation for young researchers. This may beachieved through the activities described above, through evaluation and training
processes with their mentors, and by providing data for the human resource database in
the consortium.
-Thus, applicants will be evaluated based on not only their research results and potential
but also their ability to collaborate with diverse actors and develop their research
careers by utilizing the research and training opportunities described above.
4. Employment Conditions(1) Term of Appointment-The term of appointment is from April 1, 2016, to March 31, 2021.
-A Consortium Associate/Assistant Professor could possibly change his or her
workplace within the consortium organizations through an agreement between theconsortium and the Consortium Associate/Assistant Professor. In such a case, the termof appointment will remain the same, and the Consortium Associate/AssistantProfessor will adhere to the standards of each of organization.
-Consortium Associate/Assistant Professors will receive midterm evaluations by March
2019 and final evaluations by September 2020. Consortium Associate/AssistantProfessors who pass their tenure reviews with Yamaguchi University will receive
tenured positions, which are on a permanent basis with a mandatory retirement age.
-At the end of the term of the appointment, a Consortium Associate/Assistant Professor
without a tenured position could be appointed by an organization that participates in
the consortium through an agreement between the Consortium Associate/AssistantProfessor and the organization.
(2) Annual Salary① Annualsalary,includingallowances,willbeapproximately
4,800,000-6,600,000 yen depending on the successful applicant’s researchexperience (salaries will be calculated according to the annual salary rules of3

Yamaguchi University).
② Various types of insurance (health, mutual aid pension fund, unemployment, andaccident compensation) are available to Consortium Associate/AssistantProfessors.
(3) Work Conditions① The employment conditions and regulations of Yamaguchi University shallapply as deemed appropriate.
② The first place of employment will be located on the Yoshida campus ofYamaguchi University.
③ A discretionary working-hour system is in place for professional work. Thismeans Consortium Associate/Assistant Professors can manage their own
working hours, although formal working hours are considered to be 7 hours, 45
minutes a day.
④ A maternity and childcare leave system will be applied.
5. Work Description① Conducting research activities inside and outside the consortium based on theresearch plan submitted after employment begins (“research effort” should bemore than 60%)
② Actively working to obtain external research funds③ Producing research outputs (e.g., publication in SCI journals and/or patents)④ Disseminating research outputs to society, including presenting results atinternational conferences⑤ Giving lectures and advising undergraduate and graduate students in theirresearch⑥ Participating in activities related to external research funds (even researchactivities related to external funds will be included as part of the research effort)⑦ Planning and operating international meetings, symposiums, and network
activities organized or co-organized by the consortium⑧ Attending training, lectures on faculty development, etc., conducted byorganizations in the consortium⑨ Being involved in other duties as considered necessary by the head of theexecutive committee of the consortium

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6. Research Environment(1) Research Funds
During the first fiscal year, about 4,000,000 yen (*2) will be provided to each
Consortium Associate/Assistant Professor as a start-up fund. During the second
fiscal year, about 2,000,000 yen (*2) will also be provided (the total amount will be
about 6,000,000 yen). In addition, during the term of appointment, about 500,000
yen per year (*2) will be provided for research support, training, and registration
costs for domestic or international conferences as the consortium activities. These
funds must be used in accordance with the regulations of the workplace, the funding
agencies, and the Japanese government.
*2: The amount could change depending on the grant-in-aid situation.
(2) Personnel Support① Research and teaching education will be supported by mentors who are seniorresearchers in the consortium.
② Other research and teaching activities will be supported by university researchadministrators (URAs).
(3) Additional Remarks
Personal research spaces (offices and laboratories) will be preferentiallyallocated for Consortium Associate/Assistant Professors.
7. Application Materials(1) Application Documents① Curriculum vitae (including expected research field and workplace as bellow,
using application form 7)
Laboratory of Pomology, Graduate School of Sciences and Technology for
Innovation, Yamaguchi University
Pomology② List of research activities (e.g., books, reviews, original papers, conferenceproceedings); attach copies of no more than five major papers③ Summary of past research activities (up to four pages on A4 paper includingfigures)④ Research plan at the consortium (up to four pages on A4 paper including figures,a future research plan for five years to come)⑤ Aspirations for contributions to science, technology, and innovation (one pageon A4 paper)5⑥ List of references*All of the above documents must be written in English or Japanese and be filled in
the application form. The application form can be downloaded from the following
URL: http://www.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/wakateyousei/platform/(2) Inquiries about Applications
Please contact us with any questions by e-mail at:
General information and procedure about this job opening:
consortium-koubo@office.hiroshima-u.ac.jp(Secretariat of the HIRAKU consortium)
Specific information for the research environment about this job opening:
shigyo@yamaguchi-u.ac.jp(Masayoshi SHIGYO, Professor of Horticultural Sciences,
Faculty of Agriculture, Yamaguchi University)(3) Protection of Private Information
Private information related to the application is protected by the Personal
Information Protection Law and the consortium’s regulations (for the moment, wewill invoke the regulations of Hiroshima University). Personal information related
to submitted documents may be provided to other organizations in the consortium,
through the council and/or executive committee of the consortium, with strictmeasures to avoid information leakage.
8. Deadline for Submission and the Selection Process(1) Deadline for Submission
The deadline for submitting the application is 10 a.m. on December 10, 2015
(Japan Standard Time).
(2) Submission
All documents should be submitted in PDF format with the file name
Consortium(4)_(lastnameofapplicant_firstinitial)(e.g.,Consortium(4)_(Einstein_A)) to the following e-mail address:
consortium-koubo@office.hiroshima-u.ac.jp(Secretariat of the HIRAKU consortium)
The total file size must not exceed 10 MB. Larger documents may be submitted
in separate files numbered as follows: 1/2, 2/2, etc. File compression must not beused. The secretariat will send a confirmation of receipt to each applicant. It isstrongly advisable to make sure this confirmation message arrives after submitting

6the application.
(3) Selection Schedule① The first screening (by the specific research area)
 The results of the first screening will be announced by e-mail to applicantsaround late January 2016.
 Successful candidates from the first screening will be given information
about the second screening (by interview).
 There is a possibility that an interview will also be conducting during thefirst screening. In this case, the transportation cost for the interview will not
be reimbursed.
② The second screening (by interview) will be conducted around in February
2016.
 The results of the second screening will be announced to the applicants bythe end of February 2016.
(4) Selection Standards
The first and second screening will evaluate in terms of research activities, theoriginality and realization of research plans, and potential research impact (e.g.,contribution to science, technology, and innovation).
9. Additional Remarks(1) We strongly welcome applications from international researchers.
(2) Yamaguchi University enforces support for female researchers.
① Each female Consortium Associate/Assistant Professor will receive guidance
related to job environment preparation and maintenance via the Yamaguchi
University Support Office for Female Researchers in collaborations with Gender
Equality Promotion Office and each Department.
(References)
Yamaguchi University: http://www.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/english.html
Yamaguchi University Gender Equality Promotion Office (Japanese):
http://www.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/institute/_3694.html
Yamaguchi University Support Office for Female Researchers (Japanese)
http://wr-shien.kenkyu.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/<Home pages related to this job opening>
HIRAKU consortium (Japanese): http://home.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/hiraku/
Yamaguchi University

7Graduate School of Sciences and Technology for Innovation (Japanese):
http://www.gsti.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/
Faculty of Agriculture:
http://www.agr.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/en/index.html

Tenure track program related to the consortium (Japanese)
http://kenkyu.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/tenure/faculty/

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