Professional and Career Development Program
Lasst updated: September 1, 2023
OIST’s PCD: Professional and Career Development program supports students in gaining important skills in areas that employers – both academic and corporate – seek in new hires. Students have opportunities to develop the skills through seminars, workshops, online and mini courses, and a group project. PCD consists of two phases, PCD1 (year 1 - year 2) and PCD2 (Year 3~5).
Completion of PCD 1 and PCD 2 requires attendance at various events (workshops, seminars, etc.). See below for detailed requirements. PCD events are scheduled throughout the academic year (days and time vary) and are announced periodically. A PCD time slot in the Term Schedule is reserved for occasional mandatory sessions, group project meetings and activities, cohort events, etc. There is no regular PCD meeting.
PCD 1 is a two-year course with a value of 2 credits. It is a mandatory course which means that students must pass it to graduate or proceed. For PCD1 - All the PCD1 requirements need to be completed by the end of your second year.
The below is the PCD1 requirements list for Class 2018 and up to Class2022.
(for Classes 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017, please see below for previous requirements)
Requirements for PCD 1(from Class 2018~ Class 2022)
PCD 1 is a two-year course with a value of 2 credit. It is a mandatory course which means that students must pass it to graduate. Please click left tab to see more course details.
Student’s requirements include:
- Group Project
- Research Ethics
- Responsible Conduct in Research: e-front & The Lab
- Responsible Conduct in Research: Workshop
- Okinawa 101
- Well-being workshop
- Career exploration (5 PCD elective units)
- CV submission
- Individual career consulting session
The credits will be awarded in Year 2 upon completion of all the requirements and submission of the PCD requirement record.
For Class2021 and Class2022: PCD1 Requirement Record Form (Class2021, Class2022) | OIST Groups
Group Project
Description: PCD Group Project is one of the requirements of PCD1 course. It will be conducted in the Year 1-2, and the project starts in February and runs for about 10 months. The project presentation will be given by each team at the end of the project and three awards will be given; Best Project Award, Best Community Award, People’s Choice Award.
Outcome: Demonstrate science communication skills and team building skills.
Web site: To see more details please go to Group Project page
Research Ethics
Description: Fundamental information on research ethics will be provided through online course and online tutorial. Followed by an interactive workshop for deeper understanding of the topic, then participate in Open Forum where students can discuss the topic with the Dean of Graduate School, Dean of Faculty Affairs, and Provost.
Outcome: Articulate responsibilities of their research activities.
Okinawa 101
Description: Introduction to Okinawa community through topics by various speakers.
Outcome: Identify and discuss a topic introduced in Okinawa 101.
Well-Being
Description: Learning importance of maintaining one’s well-being, gaining tips and resource on the topic. Well-being workshop is a mandatory session for the first year students.
Outcome: Describe and apply coping methods to maintain their well-being during their PhD programs.
Career Exploration
Description: Various seminars and workshops will be offered for students to explore career options in academia or beyond-academia. Participating in seminars and workshops will be counted towards PCD elective units, please see below for guideline.
Outcome: Describe career path choices, be able to define skills needed for chosen career paths and build the skills during the PhD program. The skills include but not limited to communication skills, interpersonal skills, teaching skills, etc.
Career consultation
Description: Individual career consulting sessions with the Professional and Career Development Coordinator: one session before your thesis proposal submission for PCD1, and one session before your thesis submission for PCD2.
Outcome: Discuss options on career path and create plans for your job search, and developing technical skills, interpersonal skills, teaching skills, etc.
Make an appointment:To make an appointment for career counseling session, Click here!
CV submission
Description: For PCD1 - CV submission is due by the end of 5th term.
- Any format is acceptable
- Updated CV with all your publications
- Please send CV to gscareer@oist.jp
PCD 2 is a three-year course, 1 credit up to Class2019; 2 credits from Class2020. It is a mandatory course which means that students must pass it to graduate. For PCD2 - All the PCD2 requirements need to be completed by the end of the second term of your 5th year.
Below is PCD2 requirements list for "from Class 2018 and onwards"
(for Class 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017, please see below for previous requirements)
Requirements for PCD 2 (from Class 2018~Class 2022)
- 1 credit up to Class2019
- 2 credits from Class2020
Student’s requirements include:
- Career exploration (15 PCD elective units)
- CV submission
- Individual career consulting session
The credits will be awarded in Year 5 upon completion of all the requirements and submission of the PCD requirement record.
Please fill out below webform and submit by PCD2 deadline.
Class2018, Class2019, Class2020: PCD2 Requirement Record Form (Class2018, Class2019, Class2020) | OIST Groups
Class2021, 2022: PCD2 Requirement Record Form (Class 2021, Class 2022) | OIST Groups
Career Exploration
Description: Various seminars and workshops will be offered for students to explore career options in academia or beyond-academia. Participating in seminars and workshops will be counted towards PCD elective units, please see below for guideline.
Outcome: Describe career path choices, be able to define skills needed for chosen career paths and build the skills during the PhD program. The skills include not limited to communication skills, interpersonal skills, teaching skills, etc.
Career consultation
Description: Individual career consulting session with Professional and Career Coordinator; one session before thesis proposal submission for PCD1, one session before thesis submission for PCD2.
Outcome: Discuss options on career path and create plans on job search. skills, interpersonal skills, teaching skills, etc.
Make an appointment:To make an appointment for career counseling session, Click here!
CV submission
Description: For PCD2 - CV submission is due by the end of 14th term.
- Any format is acceptable
- Updated CV with all your publications
- Please send CV to gscareer@oist.jp
- 5 hours of teaching*
- 2 presentations
- CV submission
- Individual career consulting session
*Students who are interested in pursuing postdoc/faculty track should consider postsecondary-level teaching beyond 5 hours
1 unit = approx. 60min. to 120min., professional development or career development related activities.
The following activities will be counted towards PCD elective units:
- Seminars/Workshops organized by PCD team (will be announced monthly)
- Seminars/workshops offered by other OIST divisions or external organizations (events announced ONLY through PCD team)
| Multi-session events (Each provides different # of PCD units) | unit |
| Mini course (each mini course ) | up to 5 units |
| Online courses (e.g. Nature Online Masterclasses, LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, EdX, Udemy, etc.) | up to 5 units |
| Language courses (Japanese course, Academic English sessions) | up to 5 units |
| DataCamp courses | up to 5 units |
| Teaching certificate program (by C-Hub) | 8 units |
| Entrepreneurship training program (by OIST Innovation) | 8 units |
| Single-session events | |
| PCD team hosted events (Alumni talk, Company info. session, JSPS info. session,Intellectual Proporty seminar, Grant writing workshop, visual communication workshop, etc.) | 1 - 3 units |
| Events shared through PCD team (e.g. Consortium for Career Development of PhD (CCDP) hosted events, career events shared by Graduate Career Consortium (GCC), etc.) | 1 |
| OIST talks and lectures – Provost lecture series, TSVP Talks or any lecture or seminar that is related to your professional development | 1 |
| Others | |
| Outreach activities - participating in Science Challenge, OIST Cafe, etc. | 1 - 3 units |
| Teaching Assistant (TA) at OIST (log your TA hours HERE) | up to 5 units |
| Peer Mentoring Training (offered by Ganjuu) | TBD |
| Academic Service - serving on Student Council or other advisory panels | please describe role and time investment). PCD: Service Activity Report Form | OIST Groups |
Other professional development or career exploration activities you might have done – contact GS-Careers for more information or to discuss whether something can be counted and the number of units.
[Past events]
