Welcome to Myco lab

We are just enjoying "exploding biology" (for details). The laboratory uses robotics, active internal and external communications, the use of English as the official language, and active publication to ensure that each member's efforts lead to the most efficient results. This is reflected in the contents of the five pages of the "Achievements" section of our website, we have received 67 awards by March 2021, 52 students graduated so far, and 10 of whom are now active in academia. It is also worth noting that 8 of the 52 graduates are foreign nationals.
There are many important outcomes of our laboratory. Some of them are publication in important journals, and some of them are obtaining research grants. However, I, Miyata, believe that it is more important to make discoveries that will leave a lasting mark on the history of biology and science. Of course, publishing a paper in a difficult journal or obtaining a big grant budget is often useful, but these are means, not aims. Another important thing is to nurture the younger generation. Even if a paper is excellent, it will not be read for 20 years, but an excellent person will contribute to science, humanity, and the earth in many fields for decades. If we are lucky, they may increase the number of excellent people exponentially.

Laboratory life

After entering the laboratory as a student or a doctoral researcher, etc., you study well, discuss well, think carefully and decide the research theme and the contents. Next, you do experiments, discuss with everyone, practice and present at scientific meetings. After presenting many times, results and discussion become enough, you submit your paper in an English journal. The paper you submitted will be judged anonymously by a few researchers in the neighbor fields (peer review) and will be published if it is judged to be worth publishing in that journal. There are ranks in journals, and the evaluation of research contents is often judged by the rank of journal. In other words, if the paper is published in Nature or Science, it will be a great honor, and you can obtain scholarships and employment, and the laboratory will have a large amount of research funds.
As mentioned above, the evaluation of papers by reviewers has a very heavy meaning to us, but this method was invented about 100 years ago and contains many drawbacks. For example, if three reviewers just happen to like the research, it will be published easily, and vice versa. In other words, it depends on luck and researchers often encounter absurdity. Therefore, in order to counter this absurdity, we devise a secret dance (accept dance) for accept of the paper and dance all together just before the paper submission. This dance is strictly confidential as a dedication to the god of science, but now I will show it to you secretly who is reading this message because you are a member candidate.
In the 20th century, learning methods were only reading books and papers. However, since there is Internet now, there are many ways to learn, like Wikipedia, YouTube, PubMed, iBiology, Twitter, facebook, etc. Even English expensive textbooks can be viewed for free at PubMed. Let's actively use new media not only for the actual warfare part of the research such as paper search, experiment, presentation, discussion, but also for the physical strength of research.

To be a laboratory member

Please send an email to Miyata (miyata@osaka-cu.ac.jp). You can talk on the phone or Skype, or you can come and visit us. The condition to become a member is to be interested in our research contents and plans, and to make a decision to work hard in science. "Work hard in science" requires not only biological experiments but also various efforts. For example, learning for experiments and interpretation, conversation (English only in daytime), academic presentation, and good human relationships.

① If you belong to Department of Biology in Osaka Metropolitan University

If you wish our laboratory at “laboratory assignment” of graduation research, you can become a member. In rare cases, there may be more applicants than the capacity. At that time it is judged by the results of bioscience provided by Miyata and molecular cell biology provided by Dr. Taro Nakamura.

② If you belong to another university in Japan

It is necessary to receive a graduate entrance examination, but it is not difficult to pass if you are a fourth grader in biology department. Also, if you do not belong to the biology department, there is a recommended entrance examination system.

③ If you belong to a foreign university

It is okay if you can read, write and have conversation in English or Japanese and you have studied biology or related subjects at your university. There are entrance examinations in August and February, but it is not difficult.

Economic conditions

All expenses necessary for research, such as joint research and participation to scientific meetings, will be covered as research expenses. Tuition fee at graduate school is 535,800 yen per year, but it is exempted depending on circumstances.
In the case of Japanese master course students, the Interest-free scholarship of 88,000 yen per month is available, and 122,000 yen per month is available for Japanese doctor course students. This debt will be waived if the research results are excellent at graduation.
In the case of Japanese doctor course students, if excellent research results are taken out and you write an excellent research plan, you will be paid a salary of 200,000 yen per month by being elected as a special researcher of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.
There are various scholarships besides that and tuition fee exemption may be received.
In the case of foreign doctor course students, it is most desirable that you win the examination in your home country and be nominated as a government-sponsored international student from the Japanese embassy. If you are in your home country, Osaka Metropolitan University may be able to recommend you as a government-sponsored international student. There are several scholarship systems for international students.
There are various scholarships besides that and tuition fee exemption may be received.
In the case of doctor course, a scholarship of 500,000 yen per year will be awarded from the Graduate School of Science.
What is noteworthy is that the living environment of Sugimoto-cho where the campus is located is at the top level of universities in the world. It is within walking distance from Sugimoto-cho station (JR line) and Abiko station (Subway Midosuji line). In particular, it is a 30-seconds walk from Sugimoto-cho station to the campus.
Many shops and restaurants around the campus are open until late, so you will not have trouble eating. The particularly dangerous area does not exist because it is a residential area where there is some pedestrian traffic basically.
It is easy to find a reasonable apartment (from around 25,000 yen) because the area tends to be a little depopulated. If you join the laboratory as a doctor student or PhD researcher, in many cases, university guesthouse (2000 yen a day) can be used in a short term.

Career

Academia is the work of research at a position where you can choose your research theme yourself (university scholar, etc.). The work in the laboratory is based on training to live in academia, and if all the members become a prominent researchers, there is nothing more wonderful than this. However, in order to proceed to academia, it is necessary to prepare accordingly and to sacrifice in some cases. In addition, there may be cases in which you find challenges for applied research and works other than the research itself. Please consider well by yourself, decide on it based on what you have learned in the laboratory, and become a respectable person.
I also encourage people who are planning to compete outside academia to go to a doctor course. The reasons are as follows: (1) It is possible to apply the research ability obtained in doctor course to many things, not only become profit of the individual but also effective for improving the structure of society. (2) The system called "PhD by thesis only" is unique to Japan, and it will disappear in the near future, so if you start research at a company without having a degree, there is a possibility that the absence of a degree may become a future barrier.
At company interviews and so on, please be evaluated the skills cultivated through research activities. Human resources will be appreciated by people in other fields if they have obtained research capability from a daily effort.