-OPEN RECRUITMENTAGH Fellow (Research Associate) in Frontier Program for Animal Global
Health and Hygiene (Fall 2012)
1. ABOUT GCOE PROGRAM "FRONTIER PROGRAM FOR ANIMAL GLOBAL HEALTH
AND HYGIENE"The GCOE program by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology (MEXT) provides funding support for establishing education and research
centers that perform at the apex of global excellence to elevate the international
competitiveness of the Japanese universities. The program strengthens and enhances theeducation and research functions of graduate schools, to foster highly creative young
researchers who will go on to become world leaders in their respective fields throughexperiencing and practicing research of the highest world standard.
Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine applied to the GCOE program andour proposal entitled "Frontier Program for Animal Global Health and Hygiene" (Program
Director: Prof. Shin-ichiro Kawazu) was successfully accepted in 2008.
In recent years, due to the worldwide spread of infectious animal diseases such as BSE andavian influenza, problems surrounding food products have garnered much attention and ledto the necessity of“food safety assurance”not only in Japan, but worldwide. Many of these
problems are characterized by being directly linked with an infectious disease derived fromanimals and are highly likely to be transmitted to people through agricultural and livestock
products. Due to the advance of globalization in meat production and its associatedproblems there has been rapidly growing interest in food safety in the field of animal andfood hygiene especially in the developing nations of Asia and Africa. As a result of thisgrowing interest a new multidisciplinary foundation is being created in the field of animalhusbandry and veterinary medicine that will allow for the training internationallydistinguished experts who are involved not just in infectious diseases, but also in all aspectsof animal and food hygiene on a global basis. This foundation will address the need for theinternational development of cutting edge research in the field of animal and food hygiene
and the rapid increase in demand for training of young experts. Consequently, thegeneration of a new study field termed “Animal Global Health/Hygiene” (AGH), thatpromotes spatial-temporal development of animal and food hygiene globally has been
established as a cornerstone of our university’s identity. The objective of creating thepresent GCOE program is solely for this point and we strive to create a GCOE that is
integrated with the long-term goals of our school as a university and with an emphasis on
graduate studies.
2. OUTLINE OF THE RESEARCH ASSOCIATEThe RA’s purpose is to provide opportunities for graduate students to conduct cooperative
research and education with leading research groups (Cell-Unit) in our university. The RA
allows such grad students to advance their own research/education while contributing to theprogress of research in the GCOE program. Our GCOE program has been developed withthe “Cell-Unit” (mobile and small research group). This Cell-Unit is a mobile, highly flexible
unit composed of approximately 5 people including faculty, a senior professor, a research
associate, and a graduate student. All RAs should join one of these Cell-Units for enhancing
their research and education activities. All fields related to animal and food hygiene
sciences are included under this program.
3. NUMBER OF RAs RECRUITED(a) AGH Top Fellow (A monthly maintenance allowance of ¥200,000): few(b) AGH Fellow (A monthly maintenance allowance of ¥80,000): 10
4. CONDITIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT(a) job title :AGH Fellow (Research Associate)(b) duty hours: 20 hours per week(c) salary: described above(d) duration: November 1st, 2012-March 31st, 2013
※In addition, 2012 will be the final year of the GCOE program. Therefore, the AGH
fellowship of this program will be ending the same time (March 31, 2013).

5. APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY
Each candidate for the RA must:(a) be a graduate student in Ph.D. course (NOT Master course) of Obihiro University ofAgriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Gifu University, Iwate University, or anotheruniversities who has research/education activities in Obihiro University of Agriculture andVeterinary Medicine.
(b) join one of Cell-Unit in this GCOE program(c) NOT work as any other RA/TA or JSPS fellows supported by the universities describedabove.
(d) NOT be any government-sponsored foreign students(e) NOT join any other 21st COE or GCOE programs of the universities described above.
(f) quit the RA when he/she graduates or leaves the graduate school.
Note: Those who receive another scholarship or fellowship can apply to the RA, including
Scholarship of the Doctoral Program, Animal and Food Hygiene, Major Graduate School ofAgriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro University.
6. OBLIGATION OF THE RAs
Each RA must:(a) do the smooth progress of the RA's research in the GCOE program.
(b) attend all the events related to the GCOE program (seminar, workshop, symposia, andretreat etc).
(c) submit the reports and applications requested from the GCOE program.

Note: If the RA should fail to do so, the his/her RA position may be resigned, allowances(including airfares) stopped, and renewal of RA reconsidered after evaluation by the GCOEcommittee.
7. HOW TO FIND YOUR FAVORITE CELL-UNIT?
Please check the Cell-Unit list on this site (http://tech.obihiro.ac.jp/~gcoeagh/cellunit.html).
Strongly recommended to select the Cell-Unit in which your supervisor already joined.
If you'd like to join another Cell-Unit (not your supervisor's Cell-Unit), it would be much better
to discuss about the application with your supervisor and the Cell-Unit leader.
8. APPLICATION PROCEDURE(a) Materials to be submitted:
1. Application form to be filled in by the each candidate (attached form): 1 originaland 5 copies
2. Personal resume (with facial portrait): 1 original(b) Application deadline:
1. October 18 (Thu), 2012
2. Submit to the AGH Office (Kaori Kato, Administration Office in Building I)(c) Selection process:
GCOE selection committee will inform the result until end of October and RA will
start November 1st, 2012.
9. CONTACTAGH Office
Administration Office [Gakumu-ka] in Building I
Secretary: Kaori Katoe-mail:kaorik@obihiro.ac.jp
ext. 5330