National Institute of Genetics (NIG) Internship Program 2025

The NIG Internship Program is a research internship offered by the National Institute of Genetics (NIG) in collaboration with SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Japan). This program provides undergraduate and postgraduate students with an opportunity to gain hands-on research experience in genetics and related life  sciences fields. Interns will conduct independent research under the guidance of a host investigator, participate in lab visits, and receive training in  scientific communication and research methodologies. At the end of the program, interns will present their findings at the “NIG-INTERN Reports Symposium”, and successful participants will receive a certificate of completion. The program also includes access to graduate lectures, journal clubs, and seminars by distinguished researchers.

• Table of Content
• About National Institute of Genetics (NIG)
• NIG Internship Program
• Aim and Benefits of NIG Internship Program
• Requirements for NIG Internship Program Qualification
• Interview date, Process and Venue for NIG Internship Program
• Documents Required for Application
• Application Deadline
• How to Apply

About National Institute of Genetics (NIG)

National Institute of Genetics (NIG)/ Genetics Program, SOKENDAI offers a research internship program for undergraduate and postgraduate students who wish to gain research experience in genetics and related fields in life sciences. Interns will conduct independent research under the mentorship of a host investigator at NIG. Our program includes training on scientific research, scientific communication, and lab visits to discuss with individual principal investigators. At the end of the program, interns will give a presentation on their experience at the “NIG-INTERN... continue reading

NIG Internship Program

Aim and Benefits of NIG Internship Program

• NIG will cover a round-trip airfare between the intern’s place of residence (location of school) and Japan, a round-trip transportation fare between the airport in Japan and NIG, accommodation fees at the institute's guesthouse, and travel insurance during the program.
• Living and miscellaneous expenses other than the above will not be provided by NIG and the interns must pay these costs by themselves.

Requirements for NIG Internship Program Qualification

Applicants must be interested in life sciences and be in the prefinal-year at the time of application, i.e. in the 3rd year of a 4-year bachelor’s program, in the 2nd year of a 3-year bachelor’s program, in the 4th year of a 5-year program, in the 1st year of a 2-year master’s program, or in the 5th year of a 6-year program. Students who are interested in enrolling in our PhD program at NIG are encouraged to apply.

• Because of a highly competitive selection process, applications from non-prefinal students and students in a PhD course are not considered.
• The selection is highly competitive. 8 highly-qualified students out of over 1,080 applications were selected for 2024. The number of successful applicants varies from year to year.

Interns must agree to fulfil the following requirements.

• Conform to the regulations of NIG.
• Maintain confidentiality of unpublished information obtained at NIG.
• Dedicate full efforts to the NIG-INTERN program. Complete assignments, tasks, and projects associated with the internship program.
• Participate in the project for the full term of the internship (on a full-time basis, five days a week until the end of the designated term). Work on the days and times agreed with the supervisor.
• Give an oral presentation on the scheduled day to report the research results.
• Submit an essay and a questionnaire at the end of the internship term.
• Submit all the boarding pass stubs of flights arranged by NIG to and from Japan.

Interview date, Process and Venue for NIG Internship Program

Timeline:

• December 6, 2024 to noon on January 6, 2025 (Japan Standard Time): Application Period
• All the application process must be completed through our online system. Recommendation letters from your teachers also must be submitted through the online system by noon January 6, 2025.
• By the end of February, 2025 : Result Announcement
• March to May: Arrangement for Travel
• Soon after the result announcement, we will start arranging flights for successful applicants. Please note that the selected students will be asked to submit a copy of a valid passport by early March. Make sure to obtain a passport by this stage.
• June 13 to July 24: Internship
• Invited interns will stay at the NIG Guest House, carry out a research project under the mentorship of a host investigator, and participate in various activities. All interns will give an oral presentation on the scheduled day at the end of internship.
• By the end of July: Submission of Assignments
• Submit an essay, a questionnaire and a stub of boarding pass of return flight or its (scanned or photo) copy by July 31, 2025.

Application numbers of successfully selected students will be posted on our website by the end of February 2025. The selected students will also receive a notification from us.

• Due to the overwhelming number of internship applications, we cannot reply to individual queries regarding the selection status and the results.

Documents Required for Application

Applicants are requested to enter “Letter of Motivation/Self advertisement” and upload the following materials through the online application form.

• Letter of Motivation / Self advertisement
• Within 500 English words
• Curriculum Vitae
• In English. Includes education records starting from high school. Be sure to indicate your current academic year.
• Scanned Academic Transcript

Submit a latest undergraduate or postgraduate transcript that you can obtain. Please scan it and then upload. In case your Academic Transcript is prepared in languages other than English, attach an English or a Japanese translation to each document. Please combine them into a single file when you upload multiple documents on the online application system.

• Two recommendation letters of your teachers

Must be entered by your recommenders through the recommender page of the online application system.

• All the required materials including recommendation letters must be submitted through the online system. Materials submitted by e-mail will not be accepted.
• The online application system will open on December 6, 2024 and will close at noon on January 6, 2025 (Japan Standard Time).
• Only applications completed before the deadline will be considered.
• During the screening process, applicants may be contacted by the prospective host lab PI.

Application Deadline

How to Apply

Before you start registration, make sure that you have general information such as your current postal address, field of interests and preferred host laboratory where you wish to study. After the registration, a confirmation e-mail with your application number and password will be sent to your e-mail address promptly. (In case you don’t receive it, please check if it is in the spam folder. It is advisable to allow e-mail from the domain of “@nig.ac.jp” to safely come into your inbox without it being placed in your spam folder beforehand.)

In the initial registration, you are requested to enter the name of two recommenders and their e-mail addresses as well. Talk to your recommenders before you register and ask them to write a recommendation letter for you. As soon as you register, the recommenders will receive an e-mail asking to enter the recommendation for you.

We kindly request that you use your institutional email account for the registration. Free email accounts, such as Gmail, may not reliably receive our correspondence.

For inquiries please e-mail to [email protected]