We are always happy to collaborate with or welcome new members! If you’re a newbie, you will be trained in all aspects of the research activities to achieve your stated goals. We will provide mentorship in experiments, data handling and analysis, designing figures, scientific writing, and opportunities for student engagement including attendance at conferences. Postdoctoral fellows are expected to be more independent, and generally, you should present your own idea of research that aligns with the group’s research direction. Still, we will provide full support to develop your academic career.

Graduate students

Graduate students (Master’s and PhD) can be admitted through MA and PhD programs of the Graduate School of Agricultural Science. Application guidelines can be found here.
There are a number of governmental and private scholarships available. Here, you can search for scholarships for international students (incl. master and Ph.D.). You may also want to see this summary of scholarships by Kobe University. Please note, however, that most of the scholarships are available only after coming to Japan. MEXT Scholarship is one of few exceptions, but is very competitive (annually only 3 students in the entire university) and requires lots of document preparation. In addition, to issue a visa, you’re required to prove that you secured enough monthly income for the entire duration of your stay. This corresponds to at least 120k yen per month including housing. Ph.D. students from Europe or North America can apply to Summer Program or Short-term Program of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) to conduct joint research activities at our laboratory.

Recruitment alert!

Graduate School of Agricultural Science (GSAS) obtained a 3-year MEXT funding that supports students from Southeast or Southwest Asian countries to pursue their master’s and doctoral studies in our department. With this grant, up to 3 students per year can obtain the MEXT scholarship from GSAS alone. Southeast Asian countries will be given the highest priority in the application selection. Prospective students should contact me well in advance, at the latest before October. Application this year (enrollment October 2025) is the last opportunity to apply for this scholarship. GSAS is going to apply the continuation of this funding for the coming years, but it’s unclear if the application will be accepted. See the last year’s call for application (pdf) for now.

Postdoctoral fellows

Our team is always welcoming talented, young researchers from around the world!

Prospective Postdoctoral fellows are highly encouraged to apply to funding programs. The most common and popular Japanese governmental fellowship is JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowships for Research in Japan.
Among several programs within this fellowship, Standard Program is the best for postdoctoral researchers (duration: 12 to 24 months), while other shorter-term programs are also available to those from the US, Canada, and European countries. The application deadline is usually the first week of April or August every year depending on when you wish to start your position (anytime between September to November of the same year or April to September of the next year, respectively) and you’d get the result in about four months. Please note that, candidates must have obtained their doctoral degree within six years of the date the fellowship goes into effect.

Senior researchers

If you obtained your Ph.D. degree more than six years ago, there is still a program that enables you to visit our lab with funding. Invitational Fellowships for Research in Japan is just that. This JSPS program provides overseas researchers with an opportunity to conduct collaborative research for 2-10 months (for long-term) or 14-60 days (for short-term). The application deadline is usually the first week of August for the long-term stay and August or April for the short-term stay, and you’d get the result in about four months.

Interested applicants should contact Dr. Morimaru Kida for more information (click the icons below).
Please note that, if you want to work on any of the topics below, my group is probably not your choice:
general agricultural studies/crop production/nutrient management/heavy metals/pollution
Soil microbial studies are welcome only if you can link them with soil organic matter.