RIISE and R4D, the research and development organization of Mercari Inc., launched a joint research project “Value Exchange Engineering” to conduct extensive research on novel value exchange through rapid technological development.
At this time, we are looking to recruit research assistants (RAs) to work on themes consistent with the concept of value exchange engineering but still at the seedling stages, and to foster these themes in the main research of value exchange engineering in the future.
If you are interested in applying, please read the application guidelines below and submit your application.
Forms: Deadline: 17:00, Wednesday, November 30
Application form (ECCS Cloud Email required)
Research Proposal form (ECCS Cloud Email required)
*There is an additional application form for those who apply for the Excellence RA, depending on their affiliation. Those will be distributed after receiving the application.
【Online Briefing by zoom; Participation is optional】Date: October 24, 2022 (Monday) 19:00~20：00（”u-tokyo.ac.jp” account log-in）
– Recorded video (ECCS account log-in)
– Presentation document (ECCS account log-in)
Application instructions
◆Eligibility
Graduate students in the Graduate School of Engineering, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, GSII, Institute of Industrial Science, and Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, Graduate School of Economics at the University of Tokyo.
About Research Assistants
– Excellent RA: Doctoral and master’s students of the Graduate School of Engineering and the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology. Additionally, Master’s students must have a GPA of 2.5 or higher or be recognized as having high research ability by research outcomes that have been published externally.
– Research Assistant: Doctoral students
– Technical Assistant: Master’s students
◆What you are applying for
We are looking for RAs to work on sprouting research themes consistent with the concept of value exchange engineering. The research field is not limited to informatics or engineering. Please provide a clear explanation of how the research that the proposer is working on can contribute to value exchange engineering activities in your own words. The research outcomes sought are not limited to papers or conference presentations. You may decide on the output of value exchange engineering that you want to produce (e.g., application development, service development, social implementation in collaboration with local governments, etc.). You may also work on your theme as the theme of your master’s or doctoral thesis with the consensus of your supervisor.
Reference: Reference Value Exchange Engineering Symposium 2021
Examples of adopted themes
– Class-Balanced Contrastive Pre-Training for Improving Imbalanced Learning [Interview]
– Theoretical Analysis of Regularization in Deep Learning and its Application to Efficient Network Compression [Interview]
– Proposal and Measurement of an Interface for Correcting Unintentional Impoliteness in Transactional Communication [Interview]
– Study on designing the matching mechanism of peer-to-peer platforms aiming for the sustainability of well-being, society, and environment
– Improving the Generalization for Product Image Retrieval
– Neural Global Shutter: Learn to Restore Video from a Rolling Shutter Camera with Global Reset Feature
– Inclusive Computing and Interaction
◆Features of the Program
Accepted research proposals will be part of the value exchange engineering research collaboration.
You will be asked to participate in the weekly (Thursday am) dialogues with the Value Exchange Engineering members, where you will regularly report on your progress. Those who wish to do so may conduct research while interacting with R4D members. You will also receive advice from the multidisciplinary faculty members involved in the RIISE project. (Monthly progress report)
Those in advanced stages of their research will be given the opportunity to discuss with researchers and board members of Mercari.
◆Research period
In principle, the period from adoption to 31 December 2024. (*1)
(*1) The actual research period will be determined by careful review and approval of the submitted research plan.
◆Total budget
In principle, the budget for each research project is approximately 2 million yen (direct costs). The budget details are subject to review and approval of the research plan to be submitted.
The adopted research funds will be used as part of the joint research funds for value exchange engineering between RIISE and R4D. Please note that the use of the funds is subject to the financial accounting rules of the University of Tokyo.
Research expenses (direct costs) are expenses that are directly necessary for conducting research and can be used for the following purposes
a. Supplies: Research equipment, expenses for the purchase of new equipment, fixtures, supplies, etc.
b. Travel expenses: For research, such as conference travel
c. Gratuities: Expenses for part-time work such as data analysis.
d. Others: research results presentation costs (e.g., article submission fees), equipment leasing costs, transportation costs, etc.
The research plan should state the direct costs.
For your RA or Excellent RA preference, please review the RA treatment in the reference section and select your preference on the application form.
◆Number of research themes to be adopted
About 5 themes. The number of accepted applications is subject to change depending on budget and other circumstances.
◆How to apply, schedule, and selection
Application form deadline: 17:00, Wednesday, November 30
Notes on filling in the form
– Please include your affiliation, name, email address, research title, and research summary in the application form.
– You must obtain consent from your affiliated laboratory before applying.
– Please indicate if you wish to receive advice from RIISE participating faculty members, persons in charge at R4D, or a department of Mercari. (optional)
– Please note that applicants for the Excellence RA have two submissions to make.
– Also, you may be selected as RA if you have applied for the Excellent RA but have been unsuccessful. In this case, the secretariat will contact you during the selection process.
Selection
After reviewing the applications, the successful applicants will be selected through online interviews in Early to mid-December.
Selection criteria and method
After fulfilling the application requirements, online briefings (optional) and other information will help the students understand value exchange engineering and its objectives. The feasibility and expectations of the research results will be reviewed by the RIISE participating faculty members.
◆ Notes
Please be aware of the following requirements for application.
– If it is determined that a research proposal does not meet the requirements for application (e.g., the subject of the application) by the time it is adopted, the proposal will be rejected or not accepted, as a rule.
– If you are unable to meet the application requirements before your proposal is approved, your proposal will be rejected or not accepted, in principle. If the requirements are not met during the research period, the research theme will be terminated in whole or in part (early termination), as a rule.
– The adopted research theme will be treated as a part of the collaboration between RIISE and R4D. Therefore, the grantee is required to comply with the rules and guidelines of the University of Tokyo’s Office of Cooperative Research and Development.
Division of University Corporate Relations, The University of Tokyo,
https://www.ducr.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/
◆Reference: Labor cost treatment of RAs
RA and Technical Assistant
Compensation: Master’s program: ¥150,000/month (standard), Doctoral program: ¥200,000/month (standard)
There is a limit to the number of overlaps with JSPS Fellowship DCs and other fellowships. Please check with your graduate school for the overlap rules.
Excellent RA – 1 person
Compensation: ¥200,000 per month for a master’s course (standard), ¥280,000 per month for a doctoral course (standard)
There is a limit to the number of overlaps with JSPS Fellowship DCs and other fellowships. Please check your graduate school’s rules regarding overlap with other fellowships.
◆Overlap with other research funds
If you have been selected for JSPS DC, JST ACT-X, or other research funds from UTokyo, please check the overlap limitation by yourself.
If your research is funded by JSPS DC or JST ACT-X, please check the overlap restrictions yourself, clarify the purpose of your activities with those of the Value Exchange Engineering RA to avoid raising suspicion from society, and limit the personnel expenses of the Value Exchange Engineering RA to 80,000 yen/month.
Limitation on overlapping research expenses (information as of the time of this announcement)
・IST-RA： The total amount of the RA and IST-RA may not exceed 200,000 yen per month.
・SpringGX： Students who are receiving more than 160,000 yen per month in financial support from other University of Tokyo programs are not eligible to apply.
・JSPS DC: Maximum overlap is 80 hours per month.
・ACT-X ACT-X activities are limited to a maximum of 1,000 hours per year.
◆Contacts
secretariat: riise-callfor-group@g.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp