Open Positions
Project Academic Specialist — Nanovial-Based Functional Screening of Avatar Cells
- 1 Job title and number of positions available
- Project Academic Specialist – one person
- 2 Date of Commencement of Employment
- As early as possible after completion of hiring procedures.
- 3 Term of Employment
- As early as possible until March 31st 2027. The appointment may be renewed following an annual review for a period up to March 31st 2029, subject to budget availability, operational needs, and adequate performance.
- 4 Probation Period
- 14 days from the date of employment
- 5 Place of Work
- The University of Tokyo, Hongo Campus (7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan). Scope of change: In principle, within the same department/bureau.
- 6 Position Summary
- The Di Carlo Lab @ University of Tokyo is seeking a motivated Project Academic Specialist to support a Moonshot research program focused on developing lab-on-a-particle technologies for high-throughput functional analysis and sorting of engineered “Avatar cells.” The project aims to establish flow cytometry–compatible workflows that measure single-cell secretion, remote-control-induced responses, and cell–cell interaction–dependent functions, enabling phenotype-based recovery of high-performing cells for downstream analysis and culture.
- The Project Academic Specialist will work closely with other team members and collaborators to perform cell culture, Nanovial assays, secretion capture/detection experiments, microscopy, flow cytometry, and cell sorting workflows. The role is ideal for a detail-oriented scientist with strong hands-on laboratory skills and an interest in cell engineering, single-cell analysis, microfluidics, and functional screening technologies.
- Scope of change: In principle, the University could change or reassign work duties.
- Key Responsibilities
- Culture and maintain mammalian cells, including engineered cell systems, using sterile technique.
- Perform Nanovial-based cell loading, washing, incubation, retention, and viability assays.
- Carry out single-cell secretion capture and detection assays using fluorescent antibody or related labeling workflows.
- Prepare samples for flow cytometry and fluorescence-activated cell sorting, including staining, live/dead analysis, compensation controls, and assay controls.
- Assist with microscopy-based quality control of Nanovial loading, single-cell occupancy, cell retention, and cell viability.
- Support flow cytometry analysis of secretion signal, false-positive rates, signal-to-noise ratio, purity, recovery, and post-sort viability.
- Help establish sort-compatible protocols for recovering high-performing Avatar cells and transferring them into downstream assays such as time-resolved secretion analysis or transcriptomic profiling.
- Maintain accurate records of experiments, protocols, reagent lots, cell passage numbers, instrument settings, and analysis results.
- Prepare buffers, reagents, antibody panels, Nanovial functionalization reagents, and cell culture media.
- Coordinate with lab members to schedule instrument use, sample preparation, and sorting runs.
- Contribute to data organization, basic analysis, figure preparation, and progress reports.
- Follow all biosafety, chemical safety, and institutional research compliance procedures.
- 7 Working Hours
- 5 days per week (Monday to Friday)
- 7 hours and 45 minutes per day, 9:00–17:45 (break 12:00–13:00)* Overtime work may be required.
- 8 Days off and Leave
- Saturdays, Sundays, national holidays and end-of-year holidays (December 29 to January 3) Annual leave, summer leave, bereavement leave etc.
- 9 Salary and Allowance
- Monthly salary inclusive of applicable performance/result-based allowances starting at JPY 300,000 and commensurate with qualifications and previous experience. Commuting allowance (Up to 55,000 yen/month if requirements are met)
- 10 Insurance
- The successful candidate will be automatically enrolled in the insurance scheme provided by the Mutual Aid Association of MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) and employment insurance.
- 11 Required Qualifications
-
- Bachelor’s degree in bioengineering, biology, biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, molecular biology, immunology, or a related field.
- Hands-on experience with mammalian cell culture.
- Ability to follow detailed protocols and maintain careful experimental records.
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
- Ability to work both independently and as part of a collaborative research team.
- Willingness to learn Nanovial workflows, flow cytometry, and cell sorting assay preparation.
- 12 Preferred Qualifications
-
- Experience with flow cytometry, fluorescence staining, antibody-based assays, ELISA, cytokine detection, or secretion assays.
- Experience with fluorescence microscopy or image-based assay QC.
- Experience with engineered cells, immune cells, stem cells, synthetic biology systems, or cell therapy models.
- Experience with FACS sample preparation and post-sort cell recovery.
- Familiarity with data analysis tools such as FlowJo, GraphPad Prism, Excel, R, or Python.
- Prior experience in microfluidics, hydrogel particles, single-cell assays, or high-throughput screening.
- 13 Application materials required
-
- 14 Document submission
- All documents should be submitted as email attachments in pdf format to: dicarlo@g.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp . Please title the email: Application for Project Academic Specialist — Nanovial-Based Functional Screening and Sorting of Avatar Cells
- 15 Application Deadline
- All documents must arrive on or before July 15th 2026
- 16 Enquiries
- Prof. Dino Di Carlo
- Molecular & Life Innovation Bldg.
- 7 Chome-3 Hongo, Bunkyo City, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
- The University of Tokyo
- E-mail: dicarlo@g.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp
- 17 Name of Recruiter
- The University of Tokyo
- 18 State of working measures to avoid passive smoking
- Smoking is prohibited inside the buildings of our university. We have smoking areas outdoors.
- 19 Others
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- Interviews may be conducted after screening of documents.
- Personal information received through this application process will not be used for any other purposes.
- The University of Tokyo is committed to gender equality in hiring. More details of School of Science Master Plan for Gender Equality are available on the website https://www.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/overview/gender/
- During the period of employment, sharing controlled technology to you may be prohibited by FEFTA and it may become difficult to execute your job as a faculty or a staff member of the University if you are under the control of a foreign government, corporation or university by contract, or under the control of a foreign government by economic interests. In such a case, you need to keep the contract or interests within the range that does not incur such restrictions.
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