If you are interested in working with us in an excellent environment at RIKEN CBS, please check Careers page at RIKEN CBS website for possible open call for research scientists, technical staff, and research assistants.
We also welcome those who are interested in obtaining fellowships to join us. RIKEN has Special Postdoctoral Research Program (3 years; open call starts Feb in each year). The Japanese Government offers fellowships for young foreign researchers (2 years). Your country may also provide you opportunities for fellowships to work at RIKEN CBS (e.g., Marie Curie, Fulbright, HFSP).
For foreign students, RIKEN CBS has a summer internship program. In addition, RIKEN has a joint graduate school program called International Program Associate (IPA) which allows doctoral candidates to conduct research at RIKEN. IPA is concluded with various universities and institutes all over the world.
In the following sections, we summarize the overview of our research plan and research environment at CBS. Please read them first if you have an interest in working with us. Then, please send an email to Kazuhisa Shibata with your latest CV. We can exchange relevant information by email or Zoom.
Research overview
We plan to conduct research on brain bases of higher cognitive functions and learning, with a particular emphasis on the interactions between subconscious and conscious processing. Our previous studies (see Publications) mainly focused on brain bases of subconscious processing and learning of basic perceptual functions. At RIKEN CBS, we extend our research interest to the interactions between subconscious and conscious processing and higher cognitive functions. While we have cultivated plenty of research ideas, proposals of new ideas are also welcome.
Our main research methods are shown below.
- Psychophysics in vision, cognition, and motor domains
- Eye movement tracking (Eyelink 1000+)
- MRI (3T Siemens Prisma is working, and 7T GE machine will be in operation in 2022 summer)
- Neurofeedback based on real-time fMRI systems
- EEG (BrainAmp & 64 ch antiCap by Bain Products)
- Multi-variate analysis of fMRI and EEG data
- TMS (DuoMag and Brainsight by Brainbox)
- Computer simulations and modelling
- Matlab, Python, R etc are mainly used for implementation of experiments and data analysis
- Exoskeleton for hands (used in motor experiments)
Research environments
- RIKEN CBS is one of the biggest international research hubs for neuroscience in Japan. English is used as a primary language. RIKEN administrative staffs are familiar with welcoming and accepting international scholars. There are excellent supporting systems for international scholars such as housing service and postdoc association.
- RIKEN CBS is located close to the central Tokyo area. It takes about 15 mins by foot from CBS to the nearest train station (Wako city, Saitama). Moving from Wako-shi station to the central Tokyo areas typically takes 15 – 45 min, depending on which area you visit. The living environment around Wako-shi station is great; three major supermarkets, large park, plenty of rental properties, shuttle bus from/to Narita and Haneda international airport.
- 10 experimental rooms are available for our team: 2 for large scale experiments with TMS, eye-tracking, and motor control, other 8 for simple perceptual and cognitive experiments.
- We have technical staff who is fluent both in English and Japanese. The staff will help foreign researchers conduct experiments with Japanese participants
- A 3T MRI magnet (Siemens Prisma) is located in the basement of our building (just a 1-min walk). The MRI facility has sophisticated monitoring systems for physiological signals (e.g., heartbeat) and a real-time data transfer system for neurofeedback experiments. We can ask support from researchers, engineers and technical staff in CBS MRI unit. Our team will have high-performance computing system to analyze large datasets obtained from MRI experiments.
- A 7T MRI magnet (GE) will be in operation in 2022 summer