Guest Researchers in Japan
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Guest Researchers in Japan Thomas W. Ebbesen The opportunities for foreigners to do research in Japan are better than ever before. However, that does not mean that these opportunities cannot be further improved nor that it is any less challenging than in the past. A stay in Japan can be an enriching experience or a frustration, depending on the ability of the visitors and their hosts to understand the expectations of one another from the visit. Here I discuss some of the opportunities, then explain some difficulties arising from language barriers and cultural differences in trying to meet these expectations. Needless to say, the cultural gap is very big between the West and Japan. This gap often leads to misunderstandings and sometimes to serious problems. It is also the breeding ground for sensationalist views on the Japanese experience. Opportunities
The situation for foreign scientists in Japan has significantly changed over the last 10 years.1-3 The number of foreign scientists is ever increasing, with many of the larger institutes, whether private or public, hosting a hundred or more within a given year.3 The number of foreign graduate students has also increased considerably and now stands at about 15,000. Working in Japan for either a month or 1-2 years is now common. For U.S. scientists, funding may be provided from the Japanese host institutions or from organizations such as the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF-Japan program offers a variety of options ranging from a summer initiation-to-japan program for graduate students to a sabbatical year for a professor. The NSF support is available for scientists going to either academic or industrial laboratories, offering considerable flexibility. Host institutions in Japan can be loosely categorized into four types: universities, national laboratories, national projects, and industrial laboratories. The big national universities have opened up to foreign students in the last 10 years and the number of visiting professor positions has increased. Permanent positions are still very rare in national universities, but
not in private universities.1-2 Unfortunately universities are typically not as well equipped as other private or public institutions. There are exceptions such as the special institutes attached to the universities or certain privileged laboratories. National laboratories of various Ministries, other than the Ministry of Education, were relatively late in offering positions for foreigners but now offer real opportunities: postdoctoral positions, visiting, and permanent positions. The national laboratories are typically well equipped. Also, various national projects (ERATO, Frontier, etc.) provide good funding limited to a 5 or 10 year period. While many of the projects are supposed to be at the frontier of science, they are often very technology oriented. In any case, they offer the chance for foreign postdoctorates to be involved at the cutting edge of a certain domain.
Since position openings are rarely announced publicly, one has to writ
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