ALESS & ALESA Programs
College of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo
Recruitment Information for Fixed-Term Positions in English
Project Assistant Professor
One or more
1 September 2023 or later to 31 March 2024
Following the initial term of employment, the employment agreement may be renewed annually in 12-month contracts. Renewal of the employment agreement will be determined by all relevant factors, including budget status, job performance, and conduct.
Six (6) months from the date of employment
Six junior division classes: The University of Tokyo (Komaba Campus) 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan
One senior division class: your preference of the Hongo campus,
Komaba, or online
The University of Tokyo (Hongo campus)
7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo Japan
Center for Global Education (tentative name)
The applicant will teach six 105-minute English classes and one senior division class (Global Liberal Arts) each week from the 2023 A semester.
There are 13 to 14 weeks per semester and two semesters per year. The courses taught include academic writing for first-year undergraduates (science students in the case of ALESS, humanities students in the case of ALESA), workshops designed to improve fluency in academic discussion, and Global Liberal Arts. The appointee will also participate in curriculum development and regular program meetings.
A discretionary work system for professional work applies. Working hours will be deemed as 7 hours and 45 minutes per day.
Saturdays, Sundays, most national holidays, and the year-end and New Year holidays (December 29 – January 3)
Annual paid leave and special leaves as specified by University regulations
The gross salary is 6,600,000 Japanese yen (JPY) per year including performance / achievement allowance.（550,000 Japanese yen (JPY) per month） Commuting Allowance (basically up to JPY 55,000 /month, If you meet the requirements for the payment.)
Employees are enrolled in the Mutual Aid Association of MEXT (the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) and Employment insurance.
1a) Ph.D. (or ABD with strong record of publication) in the natural or social sciences, medicine, or engineering [ALESS];
1b) Ph.D. (or ABD with strong record of publication) in a subject field within the humanities or social sciences [ALESA];
2) Native or near-native level of English proficiency.
Preferred Qualifications: Prior experience teaching English at the university level. >
- 1) Cover letter;
- 2) CV;
- 3) List of publications by category (books, articles, etc.);
- 4) Two major publications (as either PDFs or URLs);
- 5) Contact details for two academic referees;
- 6) A 500-word essay in English describing applicant's teaching philosophy and experience teaching either English academic writing or English spoken fluency to university students. (Applicants lacking such experience should describe how they would plan and teach one of these courses.)
Submit the requested documents as one or more PDF files, either via e-mail attachment(s) or, in the case of attachments larger than 20 MB, as a link to a file hosting service (e.g., Dropbox). Name each PDF file as follows:
202309ALE_Lastname_Givenname_XXXXX*.pdf
*Replace XXXXX with "application," "cover letter," "CV," etc., as appropriate.
Send the file(s) or link to:
search[at]*cgcs.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp
*Replace [at] with @.
If any documents cannot be converted to PDF, please mail them to the address below so that they are delivered by 5 p.m. (JST) on 14 April 2023.* The University is not responsible for delays in mail service.
c/o Center for Global Communication Strategies
Komaba Intl. Building for Education and Research (KIBER)
College of Arts and Sciences
The University of Tokyo
3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8902
Applications must arrive by 5 p.m. (JST) on 14 April 2023. After screening of application materials, interviews will be conducted with selected applicants.
ALESS/ALESA Personnel Committee
c/o Center for Global Communication Strategies
Komaba Intl. Building for Education and Research (KIBER)
College of Arts and Sciences
The University of Tokyo
3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8902
Informal inquiries may be addressed to Joshua Petitto at
petitto[at]*g.ecc.utokyo.ac.jp.
*Replace [at] with @.
The University of Tokyo
Status of measures to prevent secondhand smoke
No smoking on site in principle (Designated outdoor smoking areas are available)
Short-listed applicants will be interviewed on the weekend of 13-14 May.
Applicants residing abroad will be interviewed by video conference. Conditions permitting, those residing in the Tokyo metropolitan area may be asked to visit the University of Tokyo for an in-person interview. (We regret that we are not able to reimburse travel expenses.)
Applicants may expect to be notified of the results by late June.
Applications will not be returned. Personal information obtained for recruitment will not be used for any other purposes.
The University of Tokyo is committed to gender equality in hiring.
If you are personally in contract with foreign governmental bodies, corporations or universities, or you are in receipt of a large benefit (financial or any other form) from foreign governmental bodies during the period of your employment, the provisions of the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act (FEFTA) may prohibit or restrict the sharing of technology that are designated as controlled technology possibly making it difficult for you to fulfill your duties as an academic or administrative staff of the university as a result. Therefore, in such cases it is necessary to keep such contracts/benefits within the scope where it does not hinder the sharing of technologies necessary for your duties by the university.
Outline of the program
The ALESS and ALESA Programs teach compulsory English courses at the University of Tokyo for science and humanities students, respectively. The programs include a semester-length academic writing course as well as a half-semester course, called FLOW, designed to enhance fluency in academic discussion. In ALESS writing classes, students design and conduct a simple controlled experiment, which provides the basis for a scientific essay in the IMRaD style. In ALESA writing classes, students conduct research on an academic topic and write an analytical or argumentative essay using proper scholarly apparatus. The average class size is 15 students. The curriculum of the ALESS and ALESA Programs is under constant refinement through collaboration among all faculty.
