Collaboration

Public Offerings / Collaborative research

Joint Usage/Research Center

Since April 2010, the Okayama University Institute of Plant Science and Resources (IPSR) serves as nationwide “Joint Usage/Research Center” for plant genetic resources and stress science (as single university-affiliated bio-resources-oriented institute in Japan). It has state-of-art instruments and facilities to conduct research focusing on plant responses and adaptation to variable stress conditions (abiotic, biotic, problematic soils), while utilizing variety of genetic resources concurrently developed in the institute.

Domestic programs

About 50  joint research projects are conducted each year on the basis of public offerings opened to Japanese research community. For more detailed information about the next application period and domestic type of collaboration projects, please click here (only available in Japanese).

International support

In addition to regular domestic projects, several international collaborations are also supported by the “Joint Usage/Research Center” program each year. Every year, we seek applications for international joint research projects in two categories:

1. Invitation for conducting joint research at IPSR (see recruitment)

2. Support of young IPSR staff to visit and work at overseas institutions (see recruitment)

Application Deadline for fiscal year 2023 is June-21, 2023 (download application file).

As part of international support, we also encourage establishment of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate future research exchange and collaboration between partner institutions.

General conditions

We accept collaborations in wide areas of plant biology, biochemistry and molecular biology, and support them with state-of-art equipment and research facilities in the institute. Research equipment is operated by experienced technical staff that supports both institute staff and outside collaborators. In addition, we supply our long-term knowledge and expertise in research of plant stress and development of bio-resources. We value our collaborators and believe that for further growth of the institute, jointly developed ideas are necessary to promote plant science at both national and international levels.

Any Japanese or overseas researchers interested in development of outstanding collaborative research and joint use of IPSR common institute facilities or advanced research instruments should contact institute staff at any time for more detailed information. All requests will be conveyed to closest available specialist(s) as soon as possible.