"Engineering Biology Research Building" of the Integrated Research Center at Kobe University was opened in the Port Island area of Minami-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe City, Japan, and the grand opening ceremony was held on October 29^th, 2025. Approximately 70 stakeholders attended the event and celebrated the launch of the facility, which will become a new base for engineering biology at Kobe university.

The research building is part of the Digital Bio and Life Sciences Research Park (DBLR) established by the university in 2022 and is the core facility of the global biocluster. To further strengthen cutting-edge research in the field of engineering biology and accelerate open innovation that incorporates external knowledge and technology, it will become an "engineering biology co-creation center" that promotes cross-disciplinary co-creation research and startup creation. Top-level researchers and business people will co-create and promote joint research centered on facilities that integrate engineering biology and digital technology. It will also be used as a place to train startups in collaboration with nearby incubation facilities.

The completed research building is a three-story steel structure with a total area of about 3,000 square meters. It is a unique building with many steel pipes on the exterior walls to protect the landscape and ensure daylight, while blocking solar radiation and reducing heat load, and some of the buildings are decorated with curved designs. The "Academia Co-Creation Floor" on the first floor is a floor where top-notch researchers from our university, other universities, and various research organizations are at the core, and overseas researchers are also invited to co-create world-class knowledge. In addition, we introduce cutting-edge shared equipment, including biofoundries using robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), to accelerate engineering biology research. The "Open Innovation Floor" on the second floor is a shared space where research presentations can be held, and various researchers such as neighboring research institutions, startups, and companies can co-create across boundaries. On the third floor, six project laboratories are set up, and start-up companies and engineering biology-related companies born from co-creation will move in to promote research and development. 

This facility was built using a subsidy from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's project: the Program for Forming Japan’s Peak Research Universities (J-PEAKS) ". The pedestrian deck (sidewalk) connects between the second floor of the research building and the Keisan Kagaku Center Station of the Port Island Line, as well as surrounding facilities such as the Kobe Medical Innovation Center.

At the ceremony, President Masato Fujisawa said, "I would like to expand the DBLR by adding the Engineering Biology Research Building as a new facility, and it plays a role as a part of the global biocluster of the Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster to enhance connection with the medical clusters that are already being developed, so that we can develop the Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster into one of the world's leading global medical bioclusters."

Congratulatory speeches were delivered by Toshiaki Tamai, Assistant Director of the Center Formation and Regional Development Office, University-Industry Collaboration and Regional R&D Division , Science and Technology Policy Bureau, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Tsuyoshi Shiota, Exeucutive Director of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and Kizo Hisamoto, Mayor of Kobe City. After the ribbon cutting, Professor Tomohisa Hasunuma, Director of Advanced Research Hub for Engineering Biology, gave an overview of this facility, and the participants toured the brand new facility.