Our PhD Program (SOKENDAI system) has multiple options for financially supporting graduate students, aiming to create a fruitful research environment where students are not expected to take loans to fund their PhD education. For details, please check the institutional website on "PhD Course Scholarship". Most importantly, international applicants are highly encouraged to apply for the Japanese governmental scholarship for international students (MEXT scholarship). If you are interested in applying for Takemura Lab, please discuss your application with Professor Takemura sufficiently in advance of the deadline for the MEXT scholarship. In addition to the aforementioned support, PhD students in SOKENDAI are eligible to apply for the SOKENDAI Special Researcher Program, which provides scholarships and research grants.
How much existing knowledge is required to join Takemura Lab as a graduate student?
Modern neuroscience research requires knowledge of not only neuroscience but also computer science, magnetic resonance in medicine, neuroanatomy, physiology, psychology, developmental science, and other related field. It is not possible to gain detailed knowledge of all fields during undergraduate education and students are expected to learn about these fields after joining the lab. Therefore, I encourage applications from students with a diverse set of educational backgrounds. Prior research experience in a related field is advantageous but not necessary. Undergraduate degrees in social/humanity sciences are not particularly disadvantageous, since I majored in experimental psychology until graduate school and switched to advanced neuroimaging during the postdoctoral work. However, the analysis of brain data requires an intensive amount of work in coding and performing signal processing. While advanced programming skills at the time of application are not expected for graduate student applicants, Takemura Lab may not be the right choice for students who do not like to learn coding skills.
What type of language skills are expected?
English communication skills are necessary. We regularly use English for discussion during lab meetings as well as presenting research outcomes in the form of conference talks and research articles. To apply to the five-year Ph.D. program of SOKENDAI, you must submit English test scores and there is a minimum standard score for successful applications (see the bottom of the institutional page). However, students are not expected to have perfectly fluent English conversation skills since it is more important to have skills for logically organized discussions and writing rather than having an extremely high level of proficiency. Professor Takemura is also not a native English speaker and strongly supports students whose native language is not English. Therefore, there is a minimum standard for English skills but please do not hesitate to apply just because you are not a native English speaker.
Since we use English for scientific communications in the lab, Japanese communication skills are not necessary. Applicants for the Ph.D. program are not expected to have Japanese skills. However, Japanese communication skills may improve your daily life experience since it will become easier to make friends outside the lab and to learn the historical and cultural background of Japan. Therefore, learning Japanese after joining the lab is not necessary, but encouraged.
Do I need to send an email to Professor Takemura prior to the application?
Please contact Professor Takemura sufficiently in advance of your application by email. This can be an efficient and informative way to determine whether your research interests align with the Takemura Lab and/or other labs in the institute. However, please note that such emails do not determine admissions outcomes. When you write an email to Professor Takemura, please include your name, undergraduate institution, and your major. Preferably, please also write (1) why you are interested in research in Takemura Lab, (2) prior research experience, and (3) what type of research topic you would like to be involved in during the Ph.D. program.
Could you explain a ballpark figure of daily life in the lab?
Takemura Lab has a lab meeting once per week. Except for that, there are no lab rules for the schedule of each lab member. Professor Takemura usually comes to the lab in the relatively early morning and goes home at around 5 PM, to support his young children. While time schedules are flexible per lab member, students are encouraged to follow a relatively flexible 9-5 pm schedule at work. Experiments for human participants will be usually held from 9 AM to 4 PM. Takemura Lab discourages members from working until late at night and strongly supports work-life balance.
Are there any chance to go to other countries as Takemura Lab activities?
Takemura Lab regularly attends international conferences, such as the annual meetings of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) and the Society for Neuroscience (SfN). If you had a lab research outcome, you will be encouraged to attend and present your work during the meeting (while the availability of travel budget support depends upon the budget status of the lab). Depending on the progress of your research and your skills, Takemura Lab will consider asking graduate students to join international collaborative projects. Past examples of international collaborations can be found on the Publication page.
What are examples of career paths of alumni?
Since Takemura Lab is a new lab and does not have alumni, it is hard to raise specific examples. A certain number of alumni may continue the research as a postdoc. Professor Takemura is happy to support your applications to the postdoctoral position, not only in Japan but also in other countries, by taking advantage of experiences in international collaborations. However, it is important to emphasize that you should not feel obligated to continue your research after graduation. The career path of a Ph.D. should be variable and there are many interesting job opportunities for Ph.D. both in Japan and other countries. I believe that skills you learned during lab activity as a Ph.D. student, such as logical/academic writing, presentation skills in international conferences, and data science skills, become more important in modern industry jobs. A fundamental goal of our lab activity is to understand humans and the aim of basic science is to better understand principles and theories. While orientations should differ, a need to understand humans can be quite common in other jobs. For example, clinicians need to understand how to overcome human diseases and the industry needs to understand how to implement businesses that meet customer's demands. In both cases, we need to understand humans. Many of my friends in my generation finished their Ph.D. in this field and work actively in industry jobs now. Takemura Lab supports alumni who wish to continue their academic careers but also supports graduate students who wish to take an industrial career path after obtaining a Ph.D.
