Assistant Professor - Environmental Economics

Our university, while located in Japan, has established a multicultural campus where faculty and students from over 100 countries learn together. It is an internationally unique institution, offering instruction in both Japanese and English, with a 50-50 balance between Japanese and international faculty and students.

The College of Sustainability and Tourism (ST), newly established in AY2023, aims to cultivate scholar-practitioners who, guided by our university's core principles of "Freedom, Peace and Humanity", " International Mutual Understanding" and "the Future Shape of the Asia Pacific Region" engage in both academic knowledge and innovative research to address contemporary and global issues related to sustainable society and tourism. 

Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University actively promotes diversity and inclusion, and especially welcomes applicants from female scholars.

Area of Specialization 
Environmental Economics

Research field
Humanities and Social Sciences - Economic policy
Environmental Science - Environmental policy and social systems
- Sound material-cycle social systems
- Social-ecological systems

Position/s Available
Type of Employment: Fixed-term faculty member
Position: Assistant Professor

Type of Employment: Fixed-term faculty member (Tenure Track)
Position: Associate Professor

*Assistant professors will be on non-tenure-track employment at the time of appointment but this may be converted to tenure track. Please see below for more details.

Job Description / Teaching Responsibilities
・ Can teach "Environmental Economics," "Environmental Policy and Governance," "Introduction to Sustainable Development," "Climate Change".
・Can teach major seminars and instruct graduation thesis.
・Candidate is required to be able to teach in both Japanese and English.
・Other subjects to teach will be decided upon consultation with the successful candidate and in consideration to their professional experience, research fields, interests, and educational needs of the university.
・Duties include generating research publications, teaching, and providing service to the school.
At APU, undergraduate subjects are offered in both English and Japanese, and graduate subjects are offered entirely in English. Official business on campus is conducted in either English or Japanese.

Number of Positions: 1
Starting Date: October 1, 2026 or April 1, 2027

Qualification Requirements
To apply, you must meet all of the following criteria and be able to work from the mentioned date.
1) Must hold a doctoral degree in the field in question; however, individuals who do not possess a doctoral degree can apply if they have equivalent research achievements and/or practical experience. Or who are scheduled to obtain one by the date of appointment or soon after can also apply.
2) Must have a number of articles published in peer-reviewed journals.
However, those with rich practical experience or those who expect to have a doctoral degree with good research potential also can apply.
3) Must agree with the basic principles, key objectives, and unique features of Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University and have enthusiasm for teaching, research, and administration at APU.

Contract period
Fixed-term faculty member: Five years * The upper age limit for employment
is 65.

The Tenure Track System
Fixed-term faculty members hired under the APU tenure-track system as an Associate Professor are subject to an internal review of their performance in education, research, and university administration around the third year after their appointment. As a result of the review, if the faculty member meets the review criteria in accordance with university regulations, their position type will be changed to a tenured position until retirement under a new contract.

Assistant Professors
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University offers an Assistant Professor position to individuals who have recently obtained or are about to obtain their Doctoral degree with the aim of nurturing new faculty members. Following their term as Assistant Professor, an internal review will be conducted on the faculty member's achievements in education and research. As a result of the review, if the faculty member meets the review criteria in accordance with university regulations, they will be promoted to the position of a fixed-term Associate Professor. The tenure-track system applies to such fixed-term Associate Professors, so they will be able to change their position type to a tenure position in accordance with the “The Tenure Track System” above.

Affiliation/ Workplace The College of Sustainability and Tourism
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University 1-1 Jumonjibaru, Beppu, Oita, Japan

Teaching Load
Associate Professor: 5 class hours (1 class hour is 100 minutes) per week on average throughout the year
Assistant Professor: 4 class hours (1 class hour is 100 minutes) per week on average throughout the year

Salary, Allowances / Social Insurance
Please refer to the Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University Terms of Employment (Benefits).

Application Deadline 
All application materials must be submitted online at JREC-IN no later than Tuesday, 3 March, 2026 (JST).

Application Materials
(1) Curriculum Vitae ・Education, Employment, and Research Experience
(2) List of Major Education/Research Projects and Other Achievements
(3) Language Proficiency Report 
(4) Potential Courses of Instruction 
(5) Statement of Intent for Application (Reason for applying to work at APU,
etc.) 
(6) Copies of three major publications (books or articles) in PDF format
Applicants without 3 major publications may submit 2 or less.
ABD applicants may also submit their thesis statement as a major
publication.
(7) Summary of Major Publications in (6) 
For each publication, please provide approximately one side of A4 for
English.
(8) Two Letters of Recommendation 
Recommendation letters must clearly state the relationship between the referee and the applicant. Please ask your referees to send their recommendation letters directly to the email address below. Only letters of recommendation sent directly from referees will be accepted.

Email: st-ap@apu.ac.jp
Please send emails with the subject “ST (Environmental Economics)”.
Submitted letters after the Application Deadline will not be acceptable.

(9) Proof of Final Education in PDF format (Copy of Diploma)
For ABD applicants, please submit proof of ABD.
(10)Document Submission Checklist 

Important Notes:
*Please download the prescribed forms from APU public call page on JREC-IN.
*(1), (2) and (5) above should be created and submitted in English; submission in Japanese is encouraged, if possible, but not required.
*All submitted files should have the file number and applicant’s [Full Name] included at the beginning of the file name.
*You may be requested to provide additional documents relating to research achievements during the screening process if necessary.
*Please note that we do not return any submitted documents. Any personal information provided as part of the application process will be handled appropriately in accordance with university regulations. The information will not be used for any purpose other than screening candidates for employment.

How to submit
Please submit documents by online application through JREC-IN.
① Please begin the file name of each application document with the document number followed by your [Full Name].
(Ex.) 1. [SATO HANAKO] Form1-EN.docx
② Please add all application documents other than (8) above to a single compressed folder. [Compression: Zip format / data capacity: 30 MB max]
③ Please make the compressed folder title your name in roman characters (half-width alphanumeric characters).
(Ex.) SATO-Hanako.zip
④ Please apply online through the JREC-IN Portal.
▼JREC-IN Portal URL
https://jrecin.jst.go.jp/seek/SeekJorDetail?id= D125120598&ln=1
* If applications cannot be made from the JREC-IN Portal, the data capacity has possibly been exceeded (maximum of 30 MB) or characters not permitted for use are possibly being used in the compressed folder title. Please submit the documents upon confirming that the data capacity is below 30 MB and half-width alphanumeric symbols are being used in the compressed folder title.

Screening Process
(1) Document Screening
(2) Interview (*The candidate will conduct a presentation about their research as well as a mock lecture with the interviewers acting as students in both Japanese and English.)
*Notification of acceptance or rejection will be sent by email in late July 2026.

Contact
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University Academic Office
Email: frecruit@apu.ac.jp
Please send emails with the subject “ST (Environmental Economics)”.

Other Information
・We value faculty diversity and look forward to receiving applications from individuals with various backgrounds and work experience.
・If you are appointed to APU, you will be required to complete a health check using a form prescribed by the university.

More Information