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Seeking Research Associates (26-192)

Laboratory

RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project

Outline of Laboratory

The RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project (AIP) is a leading international hub for state-of-the-art AI research. Centered around three core research groups, - the Mathematical Intelligence Group, the Domain Intelligence Group, and the Physical Intelligence Group - AIP is dedicated to establishing the mathematical foundations of trustworthy AI, advancing AI technologies integrated with diverse scientific domains and developing embodied intelligence for the real world.

AIP has established a new recruitment category for those who have completed (or are expected to complete) a master’s degree, with the aim of fostering talented young researchers.
Research associates hired through this recruitment will be engaged in research projects for each team, and are expected to pursue a doctorate at Japanese university during their non-working hours at AIP.

The research overview of the laboratory is shown below.
RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project website

Job title and Job description

Job title

Research Associates Up to 3 positions

Research associate: Work on research projects under the guidance of senior staff.

Job description

Applicant will be engaged in one of the following research projects (1) to (15).
Please select the team and research project you wish to be assigned when applying.

Research projects

*The following numbers (1) to (15) is correspond to the numbers (1) to (15) in the [Laboratory] section.

  • (1)Research on imperfect information machine learning from weakly supervised, noisy, and biased data
  • (2)Research on tensor representation for machine learning, trustworthy machine learning or quantum machine learning.
  • (3)Developing Theoretical Framework for Understanding the Mechanism of Foundation Models and Improving Their Learning Efficiency
  • (4)Research on Theory, Methods, and Applications of Statistical Causal Discovery
  • (5)Research on Adaptive Intelligence and Continual Learning
  • (6)Theoretical and numerical research on mathematical optimization algorithms
  • (7)Mathematics Supporting Theoretical Development of Machine Learning and AI
  • (8)Algorithm Research or Research Studies on AI Safety and Reliability
  • (9)Research on high-dimensional statistics and deep learning theory
  • (10)Research on Conversation Assistive AI Nurturing Cognitive Health and its Evaluation
  • (11)AI and Machine Learning for Science and Technology
  • (12)Visual Information Processing for Geospatial Information Extraction Using Remote Sensing Data
  • (13)Research on multimodal deep learning in time series media such as music
  • (14)Research on security and privacy in deep discriminative models and deep generative models
  • (15)Research on imitation learning and reinforcement learning for training Vision-Language-Action models

Applicants will be considered for their chosen project whenever possible, but might be offered a position in a different laboratory as part of the screening process.

If there are changes to your duties during the contract period or at the time of contract renewal, such changes will be limited to the scope of the job responsibilities (1) through (15) determined at the time of hire. During the contract period or at the time of contract renewal, there will be no changes such as switching the duties of an employee working on research project (1) to those of (2) (i.e., changing the number of the research project).

Qualification

  • The applicant who has completed or are expected to complete (by April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027) a master’s degree in a field related to the team which you selected to apply or six-year curriculum in science (medical, veterinary, or pharmaceutical).
  • The candidate must also have good communication skills and be able to cooperate with the relevant personnel within/outside of the laboratory to fulfill the tasks.

Work location

*The following numbers (1) to (15) is correspond to the numbers (1) to (15) in the [Laboratory] and [Job description] sections

  • (1)Tokyo Campus, RIKEN (1-4-1 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo)
    OR Hongo Campus, The University of Tokyo (7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo)
  • (2)Tokyo Campus, RIKEN (1-4-1 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo)
  • (3)Hongo Campus, The University of Tokyo (7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo)
  • (4)Suita Campus, Osaka University (8-1 Mihogaoka, Ibaraki, Osaka)
  • (5)Tokyo Campus, RIKEN (1-4-1 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo)
  • (6)Hongo Campus, The University of Tokyo (7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo)
  • (7)Yagami Campus, Keio University (3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama city, Kanagawa)
  • (8)Tokyo Campus, RIKEN (1-4-1 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo)
  • (9)Komaba Campus, The University of Tokyo (3-8-1 Komaba Meguro-ku, Tokyo)
  • (10)Tokyo Campus, RIKEN (1-4-1 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo)
  • (11)Higashiyama Campus, Nagoya University (Furocho Chikusaku Nagoya city, Aichi)
  • (12)Kashiwa Campus, The University of Tokyo (5-1-5 Kashiwanoha Kashiwa city, Chiba)
    OR Tokyo Campus, RIKEN (1-4-1 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo)
  • (13)Tokyo Campus, RIKEN (1-4-1 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo)
  • (14)Ookayama Campus, Institute of Science Tokyo (2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo)
  • (15)Tokyo Campus, RIKEN (1-4-1 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo)

RIKEN may order the employee to change work locations, if necessary.

Salary and benefits

  • 1.A one-year fixed-term employment contract, renewable based on evaluation, up to the end of the fiscal year (March 31) in which the employee completes 3 years of employment.
  • 2.RIKEN may adjust the above maximum period of renewability based on a) the employee’s abilities, workload at the time of contract completion, performance and work attitude and b) the continuation of the employee’s center, laboratory or project and RIKEN’s management situation and budget at the time. In principle, employment contracts will not be renewed for individuals older than 70 years.
  • 3.The contract will end at the end of the fiscal year that marks three years from the date of employment, but if a candidate reapplies and passes the screening, the candidate will be able to sign a new contract.
  • 4.After obtaining Ph.D., and passing the screening, it is possible to be promoted internally to Postdoctoral Researcher.

In principle, the first two months of employment are considered a trial period.

Salary will be an annual salary based on experience, ability, and performance, and will consist of a base salary and a variable salary. The variable salary will be determined each fiscal year based on experience, ability, and performance. Discretionary work, commuting and housing allowances will be provided. Social insurance will be applied.

The approximate amount of salary at the time of employment:
The total amount of monthly discretionary work allowance and monthly salary at the time of hiring will be 378,215 JPY or more

RIKEN has implemented a telecommuting system that allows employees to work from home or other locations permitted by RIKEN.

This position falls under the specialized duties discretionary work system; one working day will be calculated as 7 hours and 30 minutes.
Days off include public holidays, New Year's holidays (Dec. 29 - Jan. 3), and RIKEN Foundation Day.
Paid leave includes annual paid leave (up to 20 days depending on the month of employment), special paid leave (caring for a sick child, family nursing care, etc.), and work-life balance holidays (up to 7 days depending on the month of employment).
There are also additional leave systems such as maternity leave, childcare leave, and family nursing care leave.
Smoking is entirely prohibited on site.
These and other provisions are in accordance with RIKEN regulations.

Mandatory membership in the RIKEN Mutual Benefit Society (RIKEN Kyosaikai).

  • *Eligible to apply for the MEXT Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Kakenhi)
  • *RIKEN is actively undertaking initiatives to promote gender equality and diversity, and moving forward with the establishment of a diverse and vibrant research environment. If multiple candidates are found to have the same aptitude following a fair assessment, active efforts will be made to recruit female candidates.
  • *The Wako Campus has an on-site daycare, RIKEN Kids Wako. For details, please send an email to kids@riken.jp.

Application and required documents

Required documents

How to apply

  • A)Please access "[HR] Inquiry for public recruitment" and enter your contact information, the Open call ID (26-192) and so on.
  • B)Our HR staff will send you an email with instructions on how to submit your application.

Note:
Application documents will not be returned.

Deadline

May 31, 2026 (application to reach RIKEN by this date)

Handling Personal Data

Submitted documents are strictly protected under the RIKEN Privacy Policy and will be used only for the purpose of applicant screening at RIKEN. Personal information will not be disclosed, transferred, or loaned to a third party under any circumstances without just cause.

Selection process

Application screening and interview for selected applicants.

Notification of hiring decision

The notification of hiring decision (conditional offer of employment) regarding this selection shall be carried out through the presentation of an Employment Contract or a Conditional Offer of Employment issued by RIKEN.

Start of Employment

October 1st, 2026 – April 1st, 2027

Contact Information

RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project
Email: aip-hr@ml.riken.jp
For inquiries, please send an email.

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