Opening for Principal Investigator (Professor or Associate Professor)
Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology

The Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI), a permanent research institute based at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan, is seeking a pioneering, enthusiastic, collaborative, and open-minded scientist to establish a research program in origin of life (OOL) studies as a tenured faculty member of the university (Associate or Full Professor level). We are particularly interested in the broad areas of chemistry and/or biology to further strengthen our in-house collaboration between theorists and experimentalists.
ELSI was originally launched in December 2012 as part of the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI) of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). The WPI grant was awarded to institutes with a research and administrative vision to become globally competitive centers that can attract the best scientists from around the world to come to work in Japan. We have succeeded in establishing a unique and attractive international environment along with organizational innovations that accommodate and encourage scientists from all countries to carry out novel, ambitious, cutting-edge research yielding a global impact in our respective fields. For further information regarding the WPI program, please follow the link below:
http://www.jsps.go.jp/english/e-toplevel/index.html
ELSI aims to answer the fundamental questions of how the Earth was formed, how life originated in the environment of early Earth, and how this life evolved into complexity. ELSI pursues these questions by studying the "origin and evolution of life" and the "origin and evolution of the Earth" through an interdisciplinary collaboration between the fields of Earth, Life, and Planetary Sciences. By understanding the early Earth context that allowed for the rise of initial life, we also work to establish a greater understanding of the likelihood of extraterrestrial life elsewhere in the universe.
We are now seeking exceptional candidates for the role of Principal Investigator (Professor or Associate Professor) to lead world-class interdisciplinary research relevant to the origin and evolution of life. ELSI works positively to eliminate biases against gender or national origin. We welcome all qualified candidates, regardless of nationality or gender. We encourage and support our candidates' close collaborations with overseas research institutes. Our institutional language is English; Japanese language skills are not required. An unprecedented level of support for researchers to live and thrive in Japan is provided by our talented staff. Position details are provided below.

Title:
Principal Investigator of ELSI (Professor or Associate Professor)

Number of Openings: 1

Subject Area:
Study of the early Earth and study of the origin of life. Areas of particular interest are atmospheric chemistry, organic/inorganic/analytical chemistry, combinatorial/computational chemistry and chemical informatics, polymer or catalysis chemistry and biochemistry; synthetic biology, bioinformatics/genome biology, microbial ecology, bioenergetics, and virology; theoretical or modeling work related to emergence of complexity, evolution or innovation. This is not an exclusive list; suitable candidates in disciplines allied to OOL research within these broad themes are encouraged to apply.

Qualifications:
1) Candidates should hold a doctoral degree (Ph.D. or equivalent).
2) Candidates should have their own original research plans in the subject specified above and demonstrated abilities to acquire external or competitive funds to promote their own research.
3) Candidates should be qualified to offer graduate-level instruction and classroom teaching in English with demonstrated capacity to supervise and teach graduate students.
4) Candidates should have an international research network in a relevant subject and a strong commitment to the development and the strategic and operational management of the institute.

Form of Employment:
Full-time (tenured or tenure-track)

Term:
1) Tenured position: retirement age system.
2) Non-tenured (Tenure track) position: term of five years. During the term, a tenure assessment will be conducted, and the successful candidate's employment will not have a fixed term.
In either case, appointment does not extend beyond the end of the academic year in which he or she attains the retirement age (65).

Starting Date: February 1st, 2020, or earliest possible date thereafter

Place of Work:
Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology
2-12-1-IE-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan

Salary:
Annual salary system. The salary will be determined in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations of the National University Corporation Tokyo Institute of Technology.

Application closing date: September 30th, 2019

Application materials:
Please prepare the following materials in PDF format. There is no set format. All documents must be provided in English.
1. 1-to-2-page cover letter including a statement of interests. Please indicate the desired position (Professor or Associate Professor).
2. Curriculum vitae including educational background, professional experience, honors and awards, mailing address, and e-mail address.
3. List of research achievements classified into the following categories (peer-reviewed journal papers, refereed international conference proceedings, books authored, reviews, and intellectual property). Please indicate publications in which you are the first author with an asterisk (*).
4. List of acquired external research grants, fellowships, or competitive funds. The type, project title, period of research, and budget should be provided for each item. Please specify applicant's contribution as a principal or cooperative investigator. In case where you act as co-investigator, please specify the total and allocated budgets.
5. Abridged list of major honors and awards, academic society activities, editorial activities, grant proposal review panels, other service-related activities, committee activities, and social contribution or outreach activities.
6. List of up to five most important publications.
7. Outline of research achievements and current research objectives. Please limit the length to 3 pages of A4 or letter size.
8. Statement of research plans at ELSI that specifically address the origin and early evolution of life. Please limit the length to 3 pages of A4 or letter size.
9. Outline of past and current teaching activities and list of classes taught. Please specify the language used in classes. Please limit the length to 2 pages of A4 or letter size.
10. Statement of teaching and public outreach plans. Please limit the length to 1 page of A4 or letter size.
11. List of names and contact information of four references. Two or more references should be from researchers based in institutions outside of Japan. The name, affiliation, postal address, telephone number, e-mail address, and their relationship to the applicant should be provided.

Application Procedure:
Please submit your application as specified above by registered mail/courier or electronically by September 30th, 2019. The application materials will not be returned. We will notify you via e-mail upon receipt of your application within 5 business days.
A. Submission by registered mail or courier service.
Please send your application as a single PDF file recorded on a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or USB flash drive to the following address:
Administrative Vice Director
Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology
2-12-1-IE-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 152-8550, Japan
* Please write "Application for the ELSI faculty position" in red on the front of the envelope.
B. Submission through ELSI's public position offering page.
The link for submission of application is posted at the end of this page.
Please generate and submit a single PDF file that includes all the documents specified above. The file size should not exceed 5 MB.

Selection process:
The selection committee will start reviewing the submitted materials on October 1, 2019. Selected candidates will be interviewed and will be requested to give a public seminar on their research in English.

Notes:
1. During the selection process, candidates may be requested to provide additional information.
2. Tenure assessment will be conducted in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations of the National University Corporation Tokyo Institute of Technology.
3. Tokyo Institute of Technology provides equal opportunities to all qualified applicants in all scientific research fields regardless of nationality, gender, religion, or any other characteristic protected by law.
4. Submitted materials are strictly protected under the Privacy Policy of Tokyo Institute of Technology and will be used only for the purpose of applicant screening. Please note that the materials will not be returned.
5. Please visit http://old.elsi.jp/en/ for further information about the institute.
6. For inquiries, please contact Director Kei Hirose, via e-mail (faculty-recruitment[at]elsi.jp; replace [at] by @).

Announcement on the web of Tokyo Tech. : Here

Submission of Application