Misasa International Student Internship Program 2023

About the Institute

The Institute for Planetary Materials (IPM), located in Misasa, Japan, a well-known hot-spring resort, is a leading joint-use/research institute in the field of Earth and planetary material science, with a diverse range of forefront experimental and analytical facilities and expertise. Active researches are being conducted, by IPM members alone or in collaboration with researchers from around the world, in the areas of isotope and trace element geochemistry, high-resolution geochronology, and high-pressure and -temperature material science, aimed at understanding the origin, evolution and dynamics of the Earth and other planets.

For more information, please visit the IPM website: https://www.misasa.okayama-u.ac.jp/eng/

About the program

The annual Misasa International Student Internship Program (MISIP) for advanced undergraduate (3^rd to 4^th year) and graduate students, first initiated in 2005, is designed to promote international collaborative research and education. This program will be held as part of joint-use research program of this institute. During the internship program, each student will work on an active IPM research project under the supervision of IPM faculty members and their research groups.

Successful applicants will participate in one of the following internship projects described below. The goal of the program is for participants to become acquainted with research activities and the state-of-the-art research facilities at the IPM, and to gain first-hand scientific research experience. At the conclusion of the program, an internship symposium will be held for each participant to give an oral presentation of his/her internship research in English.

List of projects

1. Comprehensive analysis of extraterrestrial materials: A mineral-organic matter perspective
   (Supervisors: C. Potiszil*, K. Kobayashi, R. Tanaka, T. Kunihiro, H. Kitagawa, T. Ota and C. Sakaguchi / Students: 3~4)
2. Thermal conductivity measurement of majoritic garnet (Supervisors: T. Yoshino*, D. Yamazaki / Students: 1~2)
3. Water solubility of CaSiO₃-CaTiO₃ perovskite (Supervisors: T. Ishii*, T. Yoshino / Students: 1)
4. Water in nominally anhydrous mantle minerals: High-pressure synthesis and spectroscopic characterization (Supervisors: X. Xue* and M. Kanzaki / Students: 1~2)
5. Electrical conductivity measurement of siderite under the lower-mantle pressure conditions (Supervisors: I. Mashino*, S. Yamashita / Students: 1)

For details of above projects, see this pdf.

Eligibility

The program is open to advanced undergraduate (3^rd to 4^th year) or graduate (1^st to 2^nd year, including master course) students majoring in earth sciences, physics, chemistry, materials sciences, or related fields, who have a strong interest in a career pursuing scientific research. Students from either within or outside Japan, regardless of nationality, are eligible to apply. Communication skill in English is required.

Date and period

From July 3^rd (Mon.) to August 8^th (Tue.), 2023.

Financial support

Travel expenses and daily living expenses will be covered, and accommodation in the Misasa Guesthouse will be provided.

Number of total participants

Maximum 8

Application procedure

All application materials except reference letter must be submitted by 24^th March (24:00, JST) to be considered. Notification of acceptance will be made by the end of April. The application should be prepared in English and applicants should do the following:

1. Arrange to have one reference letter, preferably from your current supervisor or departmental head, and ask him/her before the application. During the registration process (see next), his/her academic institution's official e-mail address is necessary.
2. Arrange to have an official transcript of your academic record, from the institution you currently attend, and make it ready for upload (image file; pdf, jpg, png,). Successful applicants may be asked to send the original official transcript later.
3. Then go to the MISIP2023 site (https://www.misasa.okayama-u.ac.jp/MISIP/). Please follow the instructions in the Submission page. Your supervisor will also receive the e-mail about instruction for submission of the reference letter (deadline: 31^th March).

Contact information

For inquiries about the program, contact Prof. Takashi Yoshino (Chair of the MISIP2023 organizing committee)

Institute for Planetary Materials, Okayama University
Misasa, Tottori 682-0193, Japan
eee0502¤adm.okayama-u.ac.jp
*Please change ¤ to @ when you send an email.