I (20F, American) plan on getting a PhD in microbiology in the US, and then possibly going for a postdoc and I’m considering doing one in Japan. Unfortunately I haven’t had the chance to visit yet, but I’m thinking about going to a summer REU program to see what it’s like to do work there. I’m still getting my B.S. in microbio, but in the long run I might want to do industry work. A big concern of mine is the matter of learning the language so I’d like to learn asap if going somewhere seems promising. Here are my main questions:
- Would going there for education or research be better? (As in, go there to research, or attend a university there)
- Would you recommend visiting for a vacation, or would a research internship give you a better perspective of life there as a scientist?
- How fluent would I have to be to work in industry in Japan?
- How early should I consider starting to learn Japanese if I want to do research there?
Some other factors to consider is that I’m mixed (half black), so there may also be a bit of social isolation based on that, but I’m not sure of the current social situation. I do have a fair amount of research experience, I’ve been in 3 labs, one organic chemistry, one where I studied archaea, and I’m currently doing CRISPR work. I’ll get my BS in 2027, and my PhD might take 5 years so it’s definitely a far in the future thing to consider.
I’d appreciate any insight!
by Pure-Sea-9691