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Outline of NIBB
Research
The National Institute for Basic Biology (NIBB) was founded in 1977 as one of the Inter-University Research Institutes to promote and stimulate studies in the field of biology. As a center of excellence (COE), NIBB promotes not only basic biology but also the modern biological sciences by conducting first-rate research on site as well as in cooperation with national, public and private universities and research organizations. Research at NIBB covers a wide variety of biological fields, such as cell biology, developmental biology, neurobiology, evolutionary biology, environmental biology, and theoretical biology, and is conducted to elucidate general and fundamental mechanisms underlying various biological phenomena.
Education
Besides being a research institute, NIBB also functions as an institution of higher education.
1. Graduate University for Advanced Studies
NIBB constitutes the Department of Basic Biology in the School of Life Science of the Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI). The Department offers a five-year Doctoral course for university graduates and a three-year senior Doctoral course for those students who have completed a Master's course.
2. Graduate Student Training Program
Graduate students enrolled in other universities and institutions are eligible to conduct research for fixed periods of time under the supervision of NIBB professors.
International Cooperation
NIBB annually hosts two international conferences, the NIBB Conference and the Okazaki Biology Conference (OBC). The NIBB Conference has been held every year since the opening of the Institute in 1977. The purpose of the NIBB Conference is to provide a limited number of active researchers with the opportunity to freely discuss current issues in various areas of biological research. The OBC, initiated in 2003, has as its long-term objective the establishment of interdisciplinary networks in pursuit of the solution of major biological problems.
NIBB performs academic exchange programs with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) in an effort to promote intellectual, educational and technological exchange in the fields of biology and molecular biology. Academic cooperation between NIBB and ENBL includes (1) Promotion of joint research activities; (2) Invitation for faculty members and researchers to lectures, workshops, conferences, symposia, and other academic activities; (3) Exchange of graduate students for conferences and training courses; and (4) Exchange of information and academic publications.
NINS
In 2004, NIBB, in alliance with four other national institutes - the National Astronomical Observatory, the National Institute for Fusion Science, the National Institute for Physiological Sciences, and the Institute for Molecular Science - established the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS), one of the four Inter-University Research Institute Corporations. At this time NINS began to promote collaboration among researchers of the five constituting institutes and to sponsor many projects.