The nature is beautiful full of wonders. Come and see us in action.
What you need here is the passion for knowing unknowns and discovering the logic of nature.
The nature is beautiful full of wonders. Come and see us in action.
What you need here is the passion for knowing unknowns and discovering the logic of nature.
Anybody interested in ecology or applied mathematics are welcome. We can offer opportunities of
- Learning ecology or applied mathematics more deeply
- Support of career development (e.g., guide to graduate schools and writing recommendation letters)
- Communication in English and Japanese
You can freely knock the door or send an email for appointment. We can start with chatting.
Anyway, contact us right now
If you may want to join us, you must visit us and discuss possible directions of your master projects before application. This is to make sure for both of you and us that you are really interested in our lab and theoretical ecology. You should not hesite to contact us even if you finally do not choose our lab. Without prior communication, you are not welcome to join us even if you get admitted. You can talk not only with PI (Take) but also other members to know everything here. Also, lab meeting is always open to anybody. Please read below for more details.
What you need to prepare before application
Ecology
Please review what you learned at undegraduate courses.
Mathematics and logical thinking
It's nice if you are good at high school mathematics and if you can read mathematical formulations in ecology textbooks without fear.
- A Primer of Ecology (Gotelli 2008)
Programming
You can learn it after you join us.
English
Minimum communication skills (i.e., listening, speaking, reading, and writing) are necessary because you need to talk with PI (Take) and write thesis in English.
Curiosity
This is the most important for doing research. I quote the words of 孔子: "知之者不如好之者，好之者不如樂之者".
How you study here
You need to to propose your own curiosity even if it is initially immature. Based on your curiosity, we repeat discussion to decide the direction of your projects. Through these processes, you need to read many papers and learn many things (e.g., English, modeling techniques, and research trends).
For the 1st semester, you need to practice programming of ecological models very hard while reading many papers and discussing projects frequently. An important event is Congress of Animal Behavior and Ecology in January, where you are expected to present your research ideas and preliminary results.
You need to almost complete research during the next one year, during which you should actively proceed research and frequently discuss results with us.
For graduation, you need to write a master thesis (i.e., something like research paper) in two years. During the last semester, you may focus mainly on writing thesis.
If you have good progresses, you have chance to go abroad and join international conferences (e.g., until October for Ecological Society of Japan).
- Thompson JN (2015) On being a successful graduate student in the sciences
Any rules in lab?
You are free. But, "free" does not mean that you do not need to do anything. Here, we have a couple of general principles.
1. Graduate as scheduled
To do research and to write thesis, you need to read many papers, present your ideas, and repeat discussion. Set short-term and long-term goals. As far as you can make and show progesses to us, when and where you work is up to you.
2. Behave as professional
You are not considered as students or research assistants. You need to pursuit your own curiosity as a project leader. Don't be passive or hesitate discussion. Unless you make action, nothing will happen. Active communication is important here.
3. Help eac others
You are not guests. Keep space clean, share information, join discussion, etc.
4. Enjoy research
Doing curiosity-based research is exciting like treasure hunting. If you get interesting results, share them with others. If you are stuck, ask for discussion, which should also be fun. You are expected to make others excited with your research. Join conferences, communicate with others, and present your ideas for feedback.
Please email CV to PI.