Early-Career Principal Investigators (PIs), Postdoctoral Researchers, and Research Scientists

At the RIKEN Center for Advanced Photonics (RAP), early-career principal investigators (PIs), postdoctoral researchers, research scientists, and technical staff work at various stages of their careers. Through advanced research activities within RAP’s research teams, they can enhance their expertise and technical skills, gaining valuable experience that contributes to their future career development.

RIKEN Early Career Leaders Program (ECL Program)

The RIKEN Early Career Leaders Program (ECL Program) supports talented early-career researchers with limited or no experience as Principal Investigators (PIs).
The program offers researchers the opportunity to become independent PIs, lead their own research teams, and pursue ambitious research with high scientific and social impact.

Special Postdoctoral Researchers Program (SPDR)

The Special Postdoctoral Researchers Program (SPDR) provides talented and creative early-career researchers with an environment where they can pursue independent research based on their own original ideas.
The program supports researchers in pursuing research projects of their own design within RIKEN’s research fields, with the aim of fostering the next generation of internationally active scientists.
Special Postdoctoral Researchers are provided with research funding that they can use at their own discretion. They also receive support from the head of their host laboratory to pursue their research projects independently and have access to RIKEN’s research facilities, equipment, and instruments to the fullest extent possible.

Research Scientist・Postdoctoral Researcher

Research Scientists and Postdoctoral Researchers are research professionals who work as members of RIKEN research teams, applying their specialized knowledge and research experience to advance research projects and generate new scientific findings.
Research Scientists draw on their postdoctoral research experience to independently pursue specialized research as members of research teams. Postdoctoral Researchers are early-career researchers who have recently obtained their doctoral degrees and aim to develop their expertise and advance their research careers through hands-on research experience.

JSPS Research Fellows (Employed by RIKEN)

The Research Fellowship Program of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) provides outstanding early-career researchers with opportunities to pursue research projects of their own choosing, based on their original ideas, and to devote themselves fully to research.
RIKEN directly employs eligible JSPS Research Fellows (PD, RPD, and CPD) under the JSPS employment support program for early-career researchers. These fellows are employed by RIKEN and conduct their research at RIKEN.
Through this program, RIKEN contributes to the development of early-career researchers and the diversification of research career opportunities.

Technical Staff

Technical Staff work closely with Research Scientists, Postdoctoral Researchers, and other researchers, applying their specialized knowledge and technical skills to support research activities within RIKEN research teams.
Depending on their research experience and expertise, Technical Staff can carry out technical tasks with varying degrees of independence while developing new knowledge and skills through hands-on research activities.

Research Part-time Workers

Research Part-time Workers support a wide range of research activities within RIKEN research teams, working closely with researchers on tasks such as experiments, measurements, sample preparation, and data organization and analysis.
Depending on the research field and the nature of their work, Research Part-time Workers can contribute to research activities on a part-time basis while applying their existing knowledge and technical skills.