Join Us
Opportunities for doctoral students, interns, and postdoctoral researchers
We are always happy to hear from motivated students and researchers who would like to work with us on the theory and computational design of magnetic, spintronic, and energy-conversion materials.
Doctoral students
Through the NIMS Joint Graduate School Program with Institute of Science Tokyo, our group can host and supervise doctoral students from the April 2027 entry onward.
In the Institute of Science Tokyo – NIMS Joint Graduate School Program:
- Your degree is awarded by Institute of Science Tokyo, while your research is carried out at NIMS (Tsukuba, Japan), where you work as a member of our group from day one.
- You are jointly supervised by a NIMS researcher and an Institute of Science Tokyo professor, from enrollment through completion of the degree.
Tadano’s entry in the list of NIMS supervisors is here.
What you would work on
Possible thesis topics follow the group’s ongoing research directions:
- First-principles theory of magnetism, spin transport, and thermal transport in magnetic and spintronic materials
- Finite-temperature material properties arising from lattice vibrations and magnetic excitations, including anharmonic and magnon–phonon effects
- Computational design of energy-conversion materials, including thermoelectric and photovoltaic compounds
- Development of machine-learning interatomic potentials and data-driven methods for materials modeling
- High-throughput screening and design of magnetic materials, building on our DXMag Computational HeuslerDB
See our Research page for a more detailed picture, and please feel free to propose a topic of your own.
Financial support
Doctoral students in the program can apply for the NIMS Graduate Research Assistantship (NIMS Junior, JRA), which provides a monthly stipend to students pursuing a research career in materials science. Admission to NIMS Junior involves document screening and an interview. Please see the NIMS Junior page for the eligibility criteria and the application procedure, and talk to us about your situation before you apply — support is arranged together with your admission.
How to apply
- Contact us first. Send Tadano a CV and a short statement of your research interests, so that we can discuss whether your interests and our research directions match.
- NIMS Junior pre-screening. Submit the application form, academic transcripts, an English proficiency score (TOEIC L&R, TOEFL iBT, or IELTS Academic), and a CV, together with two referees whom NIMS will contact directly. Screening includes an interview.
- Apply to Institute of Science Tokyo for the doctoral program and take the entrance examination.
Application periods and examination dates follow the official schedule announced by NIMS and Institute of Science Tokyo, so please check the admission page for the authoritative dates and start the conversation with us well before the deadline.
Useful links
Interns and visiting researchers
Short-term stays through the NIMS internship program or the NIMS International Collaborative Graduate Program (ICGP) may also be possible, provided that you are strongly motivated and well qualified — acceptance is not automatic, and we cannot take everyone who asks. Our recent visitors have come through ICGP and JST LOTUS.
Supervision is intensive and places are very limited, so we can only consider applicants whose background genuinely overlaps with our ongoing work.
Postdoctoral researchers
Postdoctoral openings are announced on the NIMS employment page and in our News. No position is open at the moment, but we are glad to hear from prospective postdocs about upcoming opportunities, including fellowships such as the JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship and NIMS ICYS Fellow.
Contact
A first email is most useful when it includes your CV, a brief description of your research interests and background, and the position and starting date you have in mind.