ORGANIZATION OF THE INSTITUTE

The National Institute for Basic Biology (NIBB) is an institute in the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) that are composed of five independent institutes. Among them, the NIBB, the Institute for Molecular Science (IMS) and the National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS) located on a hill overlooking the old town of Okazaki. NIBB was established in 1977 and its activities are supported by Monbukagaku-sho (the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology: Mext) of Japan. The Center for Integrative Bioscience (CIB) was established as a common facility of the three Okazaki Institutes in 2000 and began in 2001. The CIB was changed its name to Okazaki Institute for Integrative Bioscience on April 1^st, 2004, at the beginning of the new organization.

Policy and Decision Making

The Director-General oversees the operation of the NIBB assisted by an advisory body, the Advisory Committee for Programming and Management. The Advisory Committee, comprised of professors within the NIBB and an equal number of leading biologists outside NIBB, advises the Director-General upon his request on planning joint research programs and other important matters in NIBB as well as on the scientific activities of the NIBB. The Director-General selection committee makes a nomination of Director-General to the President after hearing the recommendation from the Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee makes recommendations on the Director-General and on faculty appointments, the NIBB's annual budget and future prospects.

Administration

Administration of the NIBB is undertaken by the Administration Bureau of the Okazaki Administration Center under the direct auspices of the Administration Office of NINS.

Research

The NIBB conducts its research programs through 30 research units, 4 research support facilities including Technical Division, and the Research Center for Integrative and Computational Biology.

Each research unit has its own research project and is staffed by a professor, an associate professor and two research associates in principle. A research unit forms an independent project team. Three of the research units are adjunct and headed by professors who hold joint appointments with other universities. Adjunct divisions have a resident research associate. This arrangement facilitates exchange in research activities in Japan. The Technical Division manages the activities of research technicians and helps to promote research activities of each research unit and facility and to maintain the common research resources of the NIBB. The Division also undertakes the technical education of staffs.

Several members of the Okazaki Institute for Integrative Bioscience jointly work with the NIBB.

Research Support Facilities

The Research Support Facility of the NIBB consists of six sub facilities, the Large Spectrograph Laboratory, the Tissue and Cell Culture Laboratory, the Computer Laboratory, the Plant Culture Laboratory, the Plant Cell Laboratory and the Experimental Farm. The Research Center for Integrative and Computational Biology, the Center for Transgenic Animals and Plants and Technical Division are also research support system of the NIBB.

In addition, five facilities are operated jointly with NIPS; they consist of the Electron Microscope Center, the Center for Analytical Instruments, the Machine Shop, the Laboratory Glassware Facilities and the Low-Temperature Facilities. The Radioisotope Facilities, the Computer Center and the Animal Care Facilities are common facilities of the three Okazaki Institutes.

Campus

The three Okazaki Institutes covers an area of 164,783m² with four principal buildings. The NIBB's main research building has a floor space of 16,789m². Two-thirds of the space was completed in 1982 and the remaining one-third in June, 1983. The buildings that have the research support facilities were also completed in 1983. A building for the Laboratory of Gene Expression and Regulation (2,577m²) was built in 1996. A building for Center for Transgenic Animals and Plants (2,500m²) was built in the new campus at November, 2003.