7 July 2015

The Japanese Society for Developmental Biologists (JSDB) has long understood the importance of global exchange of ideas and learnings and has been increasing its internationalisation efforts as a result. Today all of the talks at its annual meeting are held in English and incorporate a joint symposium with an overseas developmental biology society.

In 2008, JSDB co-organized its annual meeting with the International Society of Developmental Biologists (ISDB). Since 2010, the JSDB has been co-hosting its annual meeting with the Asia-Pacific Developmental Biology Network (APDBN). Approximately 10% of participants of the 2010 Annual JSDB Meeting were (non-Japanese) participants from abroad.

To further promote the internationalisation of the meetings, it was essential to increase the number of invited scientists from abroad. A scientific meeting grant from The Company of Biologists enabled the JSDB to do so. Thanks to the grant, recent meetings have included speakers from the UK and United States in 2011, the United States and Switzerland in 2013, and the United States, the Netherlands, Spain, China, Hong Kong, and Singapore in 2014.