We study symbioses and deep evolutionary questions. If you’re interested in evolutionary cell biology, marine microbiology, genomics, experimental evolution, or fieldwork in Asia-Pacific, please contact me. We cultivate a friendly environment and support curiosity-driven interdisciplinary research, deep thinking, and the overall career success of team members. Okinawa is an amazing place to live if you like great food, rich history and culture, coral reefs, and subtropical forests.
Prospective postdoctoral fellows
In case you love the kind of research we do and would like to apply for a postdoctoral fellowship to work with us, please let me know at least 2-3 months before its deadline. Deadlines for such applications are mostly in spring or late summer and include JSPS, EMBO, HFSP, MSCA, Canon, and numerous other country-specific foundations.
Prospective Ph.D. students
2024: My unit is currently full and I won't be accepting more Ph.D. students in the next 2 years.
https://groups.oist.jp/grad/unit-availability-phd-students
Please apply to the fully-funded Ph.D. program in Science at OIST. Both BSc. and MSc. graduates are eligible to apply and the curriculum is tailored to individual students. Deadlines for submission are usually Nov 15 and Apr 1. OIST is a Western-style graduate university with all education and research conducted entirely in English. If you prefer to first visit for a short research internship before committing to a Ph.D. at OIST, I highly recommend the OIST research internship program (see below) which allows transitioning to the Ph.D.
OIST rotation students
My unit will have the capacity to host 1-2 rotation students every term. We especially welcome out-of-field rotation students. Please email me at least 2 months in advance to discuss potential projects. Before scheduling a meeting, check out our papers, research projects of our members, and think about potential projects.
BSc. or MSc. research interns
I will have 1-2 fully-funded internship positions for BSc. or MSc. students (or recent graduates) available every year in my unit (internship duration 3-12 months). Longer internships (~6 months) are preferred to be able to carry out an experimental project in my group. Please apply here (deadlines Apr 15 and Oct 15).
Our RI alumni were very successful in finding MSc. or Ph.D. positions at prestigious universities, including OIST, Weizmann Institute of Science, Cambridge University, Imperial College London, LMU Munich, University College London, and MPI for Marine Microbiology, etc.
If you're highly interested in joining my group in particular, you can email me with specific questions before submitting your application. However, please be aware that I usually get dozens of such inquiries 1-2 weeks before the application deadlines. I reply to all prospective students who show very serious and specific interest in my group, but it is not in my power (nor interest) to reply to generic (copy & paste) emails. To ensure that you get a response (within ~2 weeks), please include your CV and a document describing your motivation for joining our unit and potential project ideas (1-page maximum, not generated by chatGPT). I also require this document from every applicant who lists my units as their top choice (3 units are required by the application).
Short-term visitors
Even if you don't fall into one of the categories above, but are really interested in a short research stay in my group, please contact me as well. I am open to hosting visiting researchers if I see that it's a great fit. There are also several sources of independent funding available for short-term visits from the JSPS and a few other funding bodies, including for visiting professors! Please get in touch if you're interested to come to Okinawa for a couple of months!