JOB VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT-Associate Professor, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) NAOJ invites applications for an associate professor position as follows:
1. Job Title: Associate Professor, one position
2. Division and Location: Mizusawa VLBI Observatory, Mizusawa, Iwate
3. Area of Expertise: Radio astronomy based on VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry)
4. Job Description:
Mizusawa VLBI Observatory of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) has been playinga key role in promoting radio astronomy using VLBI arrays such as VERA (VLBI Exploration of Radio
Astrometry), KaVA (KVN and VERA Array), EAVN (East Asian VLBI Network) and EHT (EventHorizon Telescope). During the next mid-term period between 2022 and 2028, Mizusawa VLBI observatory
will promote operations of EAVN and related VLBI facilities and conduct cutting-edge science researchusing VLBI in collaboration with domestic and international astronomy community, with a vision toaccelerate the global collaboration in VLBI. The science topics to be conducted include (but not limited to)black holes and AGNs, early/late phases of stellar evolutions, the structure of the Milky Way Galaxy, andinstrumental developments to enhance the capabilities of the VLBI array, with possible extension toward
new fields so far unexplored with VLBI.
We invite applications for an associate professor position to lead the science operation of VLBI facilities at
Mizusawa VLBI Observatory as well as promotion of science using VLBI in collaboration with domestic
and international researchers. The successful candidate must have the ability to manage international
collaborations and to conduct cutting-edge research using VLBI. The responsibilities of the successfulcandidate include management of EAVN operation through contributions to the TAC (Time AllocationCommittee) and User Support Team (UST), promotion of science activities with VLBI by serving as “apoint of contact” for the science community, acceleration of global collaborations and support for VLBI
activities in newly emerging countries planning to join the EAVN, and so on. Fostering young scientists,including supervising Ph. D. students, is also required as part of the responsibility. The successful candidate isalso expected to contribute governance of Mizusawa VLBI Observatory as a member of the observatory’smanagement team, as well as to promote science collaborations across NAOJ in collaboration with those atDivision of Science and in other groups such as Subaru, ALMA and other current/future projects.

5. Terms of Appointment:
The successful candidate should be able to start as soon as reasonably possible after the job offer has been accepted.
The term of the contract will continue up to the end of the Japanese academic year, in which the faculty
reaches NAOJ's mandatory retirement age of 65.
Probation period: 6 months
6. Qualifications:(1) Minimum Educational Requirement: Ph.D. or equivalent; and(2) Other Requirement: To have achieved internationally recognized research or engineering results in thefield of expertise, and also have experience as a lead or key member of a large-scale astronomical project.

7. Required Application Materials: (*To be prepared in English. Any other languages will not be accepted.)(1) A cover letter(2) A curriculum vitae(3) Publications list (Separate refereed and non-refereed papers)(4) A summary of your past research activities, including international collaborations(5) Your commitment and plan to fulfill the duties (including your research plan as needed)(6) Your address (e-mail and phone) for prompt contact and the e-mail address of your current supervisor
or line manager, and(7) Three reference letters. All reference letters should be written by faculty/staff with tenured positions.
Reference letters from multiple countries are preferred. Please ask your references to upload their letters
directly using the URL indicated in 9 by the application deadline. Applicants are responsible for
ensuring that the letters arrive before the application deadline.
8. Application Deadline: 2022-03-25, 12:00 (noon) (Japan Standard Time)
9. Submission:
Applicants are required to apply via the NAOJ Nextcloud on the web. Please access the application form at
the following URL:
https://forms.office.com/r/a5ZDHkhRCP
After you submit the initial form, you will receive an e-mail showing the URLs for (a) uploading yourapplication documents and (b) for your reference letters.
Once you get the URL(a) for your application documents, please upload the files corresponding to thedocuments (1) through (6) stated in 7. These files must be in PDF format (max 50MB each, 100MB in total, at
most 10 files).
Please ask your references to upload their letters via the URL(b) you receive for this purpose.
If you have any questions related to the job description, contact
E-mail: mareki.honma_AT_nao.ac.jp (replace _AT_ with @),Prof. Mareki Honma
Point of Contact for Mizusawa VLBI Observatory, NAOJ
Subject of e-mail: “Question on JD of Associate Professor of NAOJ Mizusawa VLBI Observatory”
If you have any questions related to other items, contact,
E-mail address: apply-MIZ-assocprof20220325_AT_nao.ac.jp (replace _AT_ with @)Subject of e-mail: “Question on Associate Professor of NAOJ Mizusawa VLBI Observatory”
10.Labor Conditions:(1) Work Type and Work Hours:
The Discretionary Labor System for Professional Work shall be applied.
(Standard work hours: 38.75 hrs/week, from 8:30 to 17:15 with an hour intermission)(2) Holidays:
Saturdays and Sundays, National Holidays, New Year holidays (December 29th - January 3rd),
Annual paid leave (20days: to be prorated for the first year), Summer holidays (3 days)(3) Social Insurances:

MEXT Mutual Aid Association (health insurance), Employees' Pension Insurance, Employment Insurance,
Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance(4) Remuneration:
Salary: The amount of an annual salary shall be determined based on the school career and job experiences inaccordance with the NINS regulations (NINS, or the National Institutes of Natural Sciences, is an
executive institute that manages NAOJ). The payment will be made monthly in 12 equivalents.
Allowances: Dependent allowance, residential allowance, commutation allowance, and the otherallowances will be paid when the requirements based on the NINS regulations are all filled. The
equivalent of the term-end allowance and the diligence allowance shall be included in the annual salary.
Salary Increase: Once a year in accordance with the performance evaluation
Retirement Allowance: Shall be paid
11. Remarks:•Candidates selected in the final shortlist may be interviewed by the selection committee either via theinternet or face-to-face. The expense for the interview will not be covered by NAOJ.
• NINS Employee Regulations shall be applied to this position.
• Smoking is prohibited on the premises, excluding designated outdoor smoking areas.
• Policy for Equal Employment Opportunity: Abiding by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act for Menand Women, NAOJ is committed to the realization of a society with gender equality.
- If two candidates are deemed equal in their performance evaluation, NAOJ will take positive action toemploy women.
- If you have taken a leave(s) such as for maternity, child care, and/or family care, please indicate it in yourcurriculum vitae. We will consider it when assessing your performance.
For further information about NAOJ's efforts to achieve a gender-equal society, see
https://www2.nao.ac.jp/~open-info/gender-equality/en/• Information submitted in your application documents will not be used for any purpose other than theselection process and for contacting you with necessary notices in connection with the selection. Once theselection process is complete, we will securely dispose of all application documents and personal
information, except for those submitted by the successful candidate.
12. Name of recruiterInter-University Research Institute Corporation, National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS),
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ)