Grant

PI of a selected research project will be supported for three consecutive years with the following grant:

One Project Researcher (postdoc) + Research Grant 1,000,000 yen / year

NAOJ plans to accept one research project.

Successful PI is required to release the job advertisement for a researcher (a Project Researcher) to the Japanese and the international communities during the recruitment process. The Project Researcher (a postdoc) hired on an annual contract basis will be paid a monthly salary of 350,000 yen, which is equivalent to the salary paid to NAOJ Project Research Fellows. The project will start at the date of employment of the first researcher hired with the project. Starting from that date, the period will be three consecutive years.

• Note 1: In principle, a researcher must start his/her appointment before the end of March 2025. (in this application, the date of the employment will be negotiable depending situations).
• Note 2: If the selected researcher resigns before entering the last year of the project, the PI may select to hire a replacement by issuing a job advertisement. Notice that in any case, there will not be any extension of the total length of the project, since the total length is defined by the start of employment of the first selected person and extends in principle until the end of the period prescribed above.
• Note 3: An interim performance report must be submitted within 18 months from the start of the project. A review will be made based on the report. If the requirements are not fully satisfied, the funding may be suspended even before the scheduled end of the project.

Terms and Conditions of Employment

The Project Researcher will be employed and directly paid by the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS). After the employment, a "secondment agreement" will be made between the NAOJ and the university where the PI belongs. The result of this is that the Project Researcher will have employment relation not only with NINS but also with the university.

If the PI is transferred to any other university or institute, the Project Researcher will be transferred together with the PI. However,

• If the new university or institute cannot accept the Research Grant or does not meet the requirements of the program (e.g. institutions abroad), the Project Researcher will continue his/her research at the NAOJ JASMINE Project (Mitaka, Tokyo). At that time, the project will be terminated and the remaining Research Grant funds will be used by the JASMINE Project to support the researcher's work.
• If the new university or institute cannot accept the already hired Project Researcher, or in the case the PI joins NAOJ, the researcher will continue his/her research at the NAOJ JASMINE Project (Mitaka, Tokyo). At that time, the project may continue but new hirings will not be possible. The PI will be required to continue work with the already hired researcher in order to fulfill the project requirements and to financially support the work of the researcher by the Grant. The project will be terminated if the researcher resigns before the end of the period of employment.
• In both cases above, the researcher's supervisor in NAOJ will be the director of JASMINE Project and performance will be evaluated considering the original program goals (the Project researcher should publish one or more papers per year, giving presentations at research meetings, and contribute to JASMINE by serving as SOC at JASMINE Consortium meetings, etc.).

Qualification

Proposers must be researchers working at universities in Japan. Applicants of any nationality are welcome to apply.

How to Apply (Application Documents and Others)

Fill in the following information on the Application Form: (1) Research theme; (2) Purpose of research; (3) Research plan and methods; (4) Research papers and other past achievements; (5) Confirmation of disclosure of your name (and other information) with seal or electronic signature; (6) Confirmation of prior approval to accept staff members assigned to the JASMINE Joint Scientific Research Program with signature of the dean of the faculty or someone in a higher position (in the field A) and of the administrative manager (in the field B); and (7) Confirmation of the terms and conditions on the secondment of staff member(s) assigned for the project, which should be described by the person in charge of administration at the university where the proposer belongs. The Application Form should be sent by e-mail and its original copy should be sent by post to the submission address below.

JASMINE Joint Scientific Research Program Application Form (Japanese or English )
JASMINE Joint Scientific Research Program Confirmation Form (Japanese)

Submission Address

2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, JAPAN

National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS)

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ)

JASMINE Project

To the persons in charge of the JASMINE Joint Scientific Research Program

E-mail address: JASMINE-grant-application_atmark_ml.nao.ac.jp (Replace_atmark_by @)

Deadline

March 18, 2024, 17:00 (JST)

* Application documents should be submitted either by e-mail or by post to the address above by the deadline.

Notification of Selection Result

Selection result will be notified by the late April 2024

Performance Reviews

The term of the project is three consecutive years, but it may be changed as a result of the review based on the interim performance report.

• An interim performance report must be submitted within 18 months from the start of the program. A review will be made based on the report. If the requirements are not fully satisfied, the funding may be suspended even before the scheduled end of the program.
• The result of the review will be notified within 3 months of the submission of the interim performance reports.

The PI is required to submit a final report upon completion of the project.

Requirements in the Announcement of Call for Applications for Researcher

The NAOJ JASMINE Project invites applications for a Project Researcher position to carry out the research theme entitled "□□□□" which is related to preparatory research to produce scientific results on the Galactic center region using JASMINE's astrometric data. Under the supervision of Professor ○○○○, the proposer of the research theme adopted for this project, the successful candidate for a Project Researcher position will carry out the research of □□□□ and work for activities to produce scientific results related to JASMINE devoting his/her working hours fully to this task. As deliverables of the research activities, it is required to publish one or more papers per year in journals and presentations, to contribute the JASMINE Consortium meeting as a member of SOC, plus it is also required to supervise and support students' research who are dealing with this research theme.

Also, the announcement of the call for applications should include the following requirements:

• In □□□□, fill in a research theme, and if necessary, provide a link to a website.
• In ○○○○, fill in the name of the proposer of the JASMINE Joint Scientific Research Program.
• Employment contracts will be renewed annually except the first one that will remain in effect for 2 years. Depending on the review result, there will be possible extension of one more year.
• It should be explicitly stated that if a candidate has an employment record by NINS six months prior to the appointment, the total period of employment may not exceed 10 years. In this case, the period of employment for the new position will be limited to the remaining years up to 10 years.
• It should be explicitly stated that employees will be entitled to commuting allowance (within limit) and have obligations to pay the health insurance (by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Mutual Aid Association), pension insurance (employees' pension), employment insurance, and workers' compensation insurance.
• It should be explicitly stated that the approval of the NAOJ Fixed-Term Employee Selection Committee will be required prior to the appointment of a Project Researcher for this JASMINE Joint Scientific Research Project.
• It should be explicitly stated that if the proposer of the adopted research theme is transferred to other universities or institutes that are not able to accept a Project Researcher for this project, the Project researcher will continue the research at the NAOJ (Mitaka, Tokyo). Also it should be explicitly stated that if the proposer is transferred to the NAOJ or other institutions where the researcher cannot follow the PI, the employment is terminated at the end of the employment contract at that time without extension.
• It should be explicitly stated that a Project Researcher employed for this JASMINE Joint Scientific Research Project is allowed to seek for external funds such as Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) at the discretion of the NAOJ JASMINE Project as long as such external funds are in accordance with the research theme being implemented within the framework of the JASMINE Joint Scientific Research Project.

Selection of Project Researcher

The Selection Committee consists of up to 5 members. The PI of the accepted proposal will serve as a chair of the committee, which should include some members appointed by the NAOJ JASMINE Project. A selection report will be prepared by the chair and submitted to the NAOJ JASMINE Project. The final decision for the selection will be made after the review by the NAOJ Fixed-Term Employee Selection Committee for the selection of a Project Researcher.

Allocation and Use of Research Grant

The amount of the research grant for the first and final fiscal years will be determined on a pro-rata basis. Research grant for the first fiscal year will be allocated approximately a month after the commencement of the project. Research grant funds thereafter will be provided annually around the end of June.

• Note 1: Late-night/holiday shifts should only be carried out on request. Such work should be done in consultation with the NAOJ JASMINE Project to see if that work is considered as late-night/holiday shifts. Any costs related to late-night/holiday work must be paid from the operating budget of the university or within the research grant for this project. No additional payment will be made by the NAOJ in any case.
• Note 2: Since the purpose of this program is purely to promote academic research, no extra funding to cover overhead costs will be allocated to the research grant.

Publication of Research Results

The Project Researcher employed by NINS for this JASMINE Joint Scientific Research Program will be assigned to: 1) the university where the proposer belongs, and 2) NAOJ. Therefore, it is required to explicitly mention "NAOJ" as an affiliation in published papers.

Also, the following phrase must be included in the Acknowledgments of any and all papers and reports on the research results produced by this JASMINE Joint Scientific Research Program:
"This work was supported by NAOJ JASMINE Scientific Research Grant Code YYYY-NNN."

If this phrase is missing, such papers and reports will not be deemed as a result of this program. Please follow every specified rule so as not to cause any negative impact on the continued operation of this program by any malicious conduct in implementing the program.

Contact

In charge of JASMINE joint scientific research project (Naoteru Gouda, Ryouhei Kano, Takehiko Wada)

Email: JASMINE-grant-inquiry_atmark_ml.nao.ac.jp (Replace "_atmark_" by @)