Stage 3 · Lesson 3 of 9
Finding research groups
For a research degree, the matters more than the university. A research group, or lab, is a professor plus the students and researchers working with them. Start from papers.
Search your topic on or in recent , note who publishes repeatedly, and open their group pages. Check whether they published recently and whether current students list them as . See whether they mention open positions or funding, and where their graduates went.
You are judging : how well their work matches yours. A mid-ranked university with an active group in your topic can beat a famous one where nobody works on it. Keep a list of 10 to 20 researchers, with two recent papers each that you have actually read.
Common trapbuilding the list from staff directories and job titles without reading any of their work.
A question to check yourself, an AI practice session and 2 cheat sheet entries come when you add the roadmap to your account. Add it
Resources for this stage
Start with
- ScholarshipFreeStudy in Japan
Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO)
Search Japanese graduate schools and English-taught programmes
Practise
Keep handy
Also worth your time
- EURAXESSGo deeper
The EU portal for research jobs, including many paid PhD positions