NIMS provides research assistantship to students who aspire to a career as researchers in materials science.
NIMS Junior
NIMS offers the NIMS Graduate Research Assistantship to doctoral students who aspire to a career as researchers in materials science. The assistantship carries a monthly stipend to assist academically deserving students in fulfilling their academic goals. Those students appointed as NIMS Junior Researcher will enable to gain insight into their research career by "hands on" experience of working on latest research projects, without financial hardship.
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Outline
| Duties | NIMS offers NIMS Graduate Research Assistantship to excellent students in the doctoral course of Materials Science and Engineering. The assistantship carries a monthly stipend to assist academically deserving students in fulfilling their academic goals. Those students appointed as NIMS Junior researcher will enable to gain insight into their research career by "hands on" experience of working on latest research projects. |
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| Eligibility |
Admission to the Doctoral programs of the Institute of Science Tokyo - NIMS Joint Graduate School Program is a prerequisite for this assistantship. NIMS Junior Researchers are expected to have sufficient research capability to be involved in the research activities. * Employment is contingent upon the student’s active enrollment in a graduate program, without a leave of absence or withdrawal. * If you receive a Japanese government-funded scholarship—such as MEXT, JSPS, or JST fellowships, please check with your scholarship provider to confirm your eligibility. * No part-time jobs are permitted during the Graduate Research Assistantship. |
| Contract | The contract is one year, and is renewable every year up to three years. The contract will be terminated if the student fails to demonstrate his/her excellence in research or leaves the program. |
| Probation Period | 3 months |
| Monthly Stipend |
It will be determined by the assessment of the candidate and the actual working days.
・Doctoral student :
approx. 160,000 JPY for 11 days work per months |
| Start-up Support System | The Start-up Support Grant of 300,000 JPY will be provided to newly hired NIMS Junior in addition to the salary at the first salary payday. The amount is almost equivalent of the entrance fees to the university. |
| Insurance Coverage | by Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance |
| Name of Recruiter | National Institute for Materials Science |
How to Apply
Send the following documents to NIMS Graduate Program Group nims-graduate@nims.go.jp by email, with a subject line of [SciTokyo -NIMS GRA] Application.
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- Please refer to the sample application form.
- Please include the contact details of at least two references. We may directly contact the references regarding the application.
- Curriculum Vitae (No specific format required. You may use this format if necessary.)
- Academic transcripts of both undergraduate and graduate
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PDF copy of the English test score certificate.
・TOEIC L&R
The English proficiency tests should have been taken within 2 years from the end of the university application deadline. If you do not have a valid test score, please submit a previous one as our reference and plan to take a new English tests as soon as possible.
Only the following test are acceptable:
・TOEFL iBT
・IELTS Academic
*A scanned copy or downloadable version of the score certificate is acceptable for the NIMS Junior (NIMS Graduate Research Assistantship). However, the original score certificate must be submitted to the university during the application period.
*Valid result scores for university admission: For example, if you apply for 2024 August NIMS junior application, we accept English test scores from the tests taken after 2023 mid-January.
Schedule
August 2025 Application
Applications Now Open for April 2026 Enrollment.
Application Deadline: 9 October, 2025
| 1 August – 9 October, 2025 | Application period of the NIMS Graduate Research Assistantship |
|---|---|
| late October - early November | Document screening result announcement of the NIMS Graduate Research Assistantship |
| late November – early December | - Interview at NIMS (may be conducted online) - Distribution of the university admission guidelines |
| early December | Reseult announcement of the NIMS Junior ( NIMS Graduate Research Assistantship ) |
| November | Application period of the Individual Assessment of Admission Eligibility by the university (If applicable. Please see the details on the university guidelines.) |
| early January | University application period |
| late January – mid February | University entrance exam at university (may be conducted online) |
| early March | Result announcement of the university exam |
| April 2026 | University enrollment and Start of the employment as NIMS Junior Researcher |
If you are current students in master’s course of Graduate School, Institute of Science Tokyo, please check the “ Schedule for Internal Students Applying for a Doctoral Degree Program” for application procedure.