IBRO is pleased to announce that the 10th IBRO World Congress of Neuroscience will be hosted by the Korea Brain Research Institute (KBRI) and The Korean Society for Brain and Neural Science (KSBNS) in Daegu, South Korea, in July 2019.

The city of Daegu in southeast Korea is the third largest city in the country and is currently known for its high-tech medical industry. In 2009, a 4.3 billion USD government project was established to create the “Daegu High-Tech Medical Cluster” (or “Medi-Valley”) as the country’s new growth engine. Project implementation has been highly successful and Daegu is now known as “Medi City” because of its excellent medical infrastructure that includes 5 medical schools, 29 general hospitals and 5,000 medical clinics. By 2018, a high-tech brain convergence cluster will also be completed and, especially noteworthy, will offer a Brain Hospital. 

At the national level, South Korea has recently made great progress in the field of neuroscience. South Korea’s R&D investment (per GDP) ranked first in the world in 2013 at 4.15% and 47 billion USD has been invested over the past decade in basic research (including brain science). As part of the Brain Research Promotion Act, KBRI (one of the hosts of the next World Congress) was established in 2011 as well as three research centers at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS).

In anticipation of the 10th IBRO World Congress, many partners have already offered their generous support. The Korean Government (Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning), Daegu Metropolitan City Government, Korea Tourism Organization and the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies have made firm financial commitments. Combined, their contributions will add up to 1 million USD. Also, all 10 Korean neuroscience societies* (with a total membership of 11,000 neuroscientists) have agreed to participate in and support the event.

Other features to note:

· 10 plenary speakers and another 80 invited speakers
· 50 young investigators will be selected to spend one week at a research institute or university and a mentoring sub-program will be offered to match distinguished scholars with students
· 117 countries are visa-exempt
· Direct flights available from 179 cities in 57 countries
· Special registration discounts and group rates will be offered

South Korea has clearly made a strong commitment to R&D and has shown great progress in the field of neuroscience in particular. IBRO looks forward to contributing to this ongoing success and invites neuroscientists from around the world to attend the next World Congress in July 2019. We hope to see you all in Daegu!

*The 10 Korean neuroscience societies: KBRI, KSBNS, Korean Neuro-Psychiatric Association, Korean Society for Neurodegenerative Disease, Brain Engineering Society of Korea, Korean Society for Cognitive Science, Korean Society of Human Brain Mapping, Korean Dementia Society, Korean Brain Society, Korean Society of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery.

Additional Links:

· Host Organization: http://eng.kbri.re.kr/pages/main/ (under construction)
· Host City: http://english.daegu.go.kr/main.asp
· Korea Tourism Organization: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/index.kto
· Daegu Convention & Visitors Bureau: http://eng.daegucvb.com/mice/main/