NIPS is an internationally recognized research institution, and active international exchanges are carried out. NIPS has positions for foreign visiting researchers, and world-class researchers have engaged in research collaboration using this framework. In addition to research collaboration, visiting professors contribute to the education and mentoring of young researchers. In FY2014, NIPS started the Section of International Collaborative Research Project, which is run for three years by an adjunct foreign professor as a Principal Investigator (P.I.). From FY2023, Dr. Andrew Moorhouse of the University of New South Wales Sydney (from Feb 2025, University of Sydney) (Australia) served as an adjunct foreign professor and ran a lab as P.I., focusing on brain function at the circuit level. From FY2026, two new foreign visiting professors will join NIPS. Also, many international students enter the Physiological Sciences Course of SOKENDAI as graduate students and actively engage in research.
　One of the main international exchange activities at NIPS is the annual international symposium. An NIPS professor serves as an organizer, and leading researchers from Japan and overseas are invited. In FY2025, the 55th NIPS International Symposium entitled “The Forefront and Future Prospects of Ion Channel Research” was held on site (Organizer: Professor Yoshihiro Kubo) and the 56th NIPS International Symposium ”Focus on Biophotonics and Neuroscience” (Organizer: Professor Tomomi Nemoto) was also held. In FY2026, an NIPS International Symposium entitled “Understanding Protein Structure Through Context: Cryo-Electron Microscopy and Integrated Techniques” is planned to be held, organized by Professor Kazuyoshi Murata.
　NIPS has academic exchange agreements or memoranda of understanding for academic interaction (MOUs) with foreign institutions as follows, and is actively conducting joint academic activities including collaborative research. The institutions are Korea University College of Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine and College of Dentistry (Korea); Tübingen University, Werner Reichardt Center for Integrative Neuroscience (Germany); Chulalongkorn University (Thailand); University of New South Wales, Faculty of Medicine (Australia); NeuroSpin (France); and McGill University (Canada). In FY2024, a joint symposium with Yonsei University College of Medicine and College of Dentistry, and Korea University College of Medicine was held at Yonsei University. NIPS dispatched 25 researchers, including graduate students. We will continue to promote active international exchange activities in FY2026, including joint symposia with McGill University.
　Besides these activities, many high-quality international research collaborations are conducted at the individual researchers’ level, supported by NIPS and NINS budgets as well as externally acquired research grants.