NIBB has signed an academic exchange agreement with the Centre for Organismal Studies (COS) Heidelberg, Germany. NIBB and COS Heidelberg have conducted collaborative research in several research fields using small fish, cnidarians, plants and microscopies. In addition to this, researchers and graduate students from both institutes have previously visited the other for the purposes of this collaboration.
 
NIBB Director General, Dr. Kiyokazu Agata, and Vice-Director General, Dr. Naoto Ueno, visited COS Heidelberg from 1^st to through 2^nd of July, 2019 to sign an agreement facilitating academic exchange between the institutes. They also used this opportunity to present their research projects during seminars for COS researchers and students, as well as to exchange ideas concerning future collaboration and cooperation programs with COS PIs including the COS Managing Director, Prof. Dr. Jan Lohmann.
 
Upon the formalization of this agreement, it is hoped that collaborative research projects, the sharing of techniques and information, and reciprocal visits from researchers and students will be actively conducted between both institutes. Moreover, an NIBB-COS Heidelberg joint workshop aimed at understanding adaptive strategies of organisms to environments will be held in Okazaki during the spring of 2020.