I (32M) am finishing my PhD in biomedical sciences in the US and have been considering applying for post doctoral positions in Japan, I was just curious to hear the perspectives of anyone who has moved for similar reasons.
In all likelihood I would be interested in applying for positions at Kyoto University, as they have a highly relevant department for my field, current supervisor has colleagues there, there are labs that operate in English, and my understanding is they have a strong community of international researchers. I plan to apply for a JSPS postdoc though it may not be necessary given there are numerous postings for positions on their department website.
My biggest apprehensions are the following:
* Japanese work culture – Frankly I am worried a 70-80+ hour work week would lead to burn out and I understand this can be pretty common across Japan.
* Career progression – I don’t necessarily see myself living in Japan long term. From my colleagues who have studied in Japan/Asia, some have made strong cases to deter me from pursuing training there. The primary reason being that they feel American trainees (PhD student/Post docs) have a lot more autonomy and independence as scientists in the US, where as in Japan academic research can be more rigid, hierarchical, and I may be less able to conceive and design my research as independently as I would in the US.
A few personal details – I studied Japanese from ages 12-17 in primary school (obviously need to work on improving this). I also did my PhD in NYC on a small, taxed stipend, so the cost of living and small personal space may not be that radically different from my current standard of living.
Anyway sorry for the rant, I was just curious if any one had moved from abroad for similar work opportunities and could provide me with any valuable insight or factors I should consider before applying. Thank you in advanced.
3 comments
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**Moving to Japan for International Postdoc?**
I (32M) am finishing my PhD in biomedical sciences in the US and have been considering applying for post doctoral positions in Japan, I was just curious to hear the perspectives of anyone who has moved for similar reasons.
In all likelihood I would be interested in applying for positions at Kyoto University, as they have a highly relevant department for my field, current supervisor has colleagues there, there are labs that operate in English, and my understanding is they have a strong community of international researchers. I plan to apply for a JSPS postdoc though it may not be necessary given there are numerous postings for positions on their department website.
My biggest apprehensions are the following:
Japanese work culture – Frankly I am worried a 70-80+ hour work week would lead to burn out and I understand this can be pretty common across Japan.
Career progression – I don’t necessarily see myself living in Japan long term. From my colleagues who have studied in Japan/Asia, some have made strong cases to deter me from pursuing training there. The primary reason being that they feel American trainees (PhD student/Post docs) have a lot more autonomy and independence as scientists in the US, where as in Japan academic research can be more rigid, hierarchical, and I may be less able to conceive and design my research as independently as I would in the US.
A few personal details – I studied Japanese from ages 12-17 in primary school (obviously need to work on improving this). I also did my PhD in NYC on a small, taxed stipend, so the cost of living and small personal space may not be that radically different from my current standard of living.
Anyway sorry for the rant, I was just curious if any one had moved from abroad for similar work opportunities and could provide me with any valuable insight or factors I should consider before applying. Thank you in advanced.
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Both of your points are valid, but not necessarily generalisable to every research group in the country. My advice would be go visit them, give a talk, chat with the students and the PI and see what the atmosphere is like.
I’m in a similar position to you. I’m finishing up a PhD in physics and looking at applying for the JSPS. I just had a call with my potential host professor.
On the JSPS topic, it might give you more autonomy than other positions. It’s a well regarded and somewhat prestigious fellowship in Japan.
I think that if you want to go to Japan you should pursue it. Warnings about career prestige are overblown. What matters is the research you do and the papers you publish. The way I look at it is you’ve worked really hard in your PhD so you deserve to go to cool places for your Postdoc if you want.
On the work culture, try to have a call with one of your potential advisors. I asked what a typical work day looked like and was relieved to hear it was 9-5pm.