Joint Usage Center for Promoting Multidimensional Global Education Using marine Organisms

Taking advantage of the abundance of marine life in Mutsu Bay, the center has carried out pioneering research on marine biology since it was founded. Its achievements in this area have enhanced the state-of-the-art marine biology education. These research and educational activities at the station are highly regarded and the center was certified as one of the Joint Usage/Education Center for Marine Biology by MEXT and directed a project titled “Center for Promoting Marine Biology Education in Tohoku” from 2011 to 2015. During this project, we accepted an increasing number of collaborations from research and educational institutions across the globe and designed a number of educational programs focusing on a variety of marine animals that targeted non-biology majors in addition to biology majors. In 2015, an international marine biology course was offered, to which five prominent marine biologists from abroad were invited as instructors to train students from Japan, Asia, and Europe.
Since 2016, the center has directed the project “Joint Usage Center for Promoting Multidimensional Global Education Using Marine Organisms,” as it has been certified as a Joint Usage/Education Center for Marine Biology for a second term (2016-2021). In an effort to lead education and research in the field of marine biology in Asia, the center continues to accept a number of researchers and students from across the globe, conducts research on marine biology, and provides educational programs that impart knowledge and experience on marine biology together with international minds and skills through interactions between Japanese and international students.