The participating universities, which consist of Kyushu University,University of Miyazaki, Kyoto University, the University of Ryukyus and Iwate University, have a huge collection of plant, animal and microbial material. Our collection includes such things as seeds, seedlings, plants, animals, cells, DNA, RNA, protein, antibodies and more, all of which have been created and/or modified by researchers in the course of their research. Furthermore, Kyushu University, University of Miyazaki and Kyoto University, with the assistance of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT) has assembled and distributed vast resources of rice, silkworms, morning glory, rats, legume base, wheat, etc.

Material Management Consortium (MMC) was established in April 2010 in order to promote and plan research using the collection of material and to obtain research funding. Moreover, MMC collaborates with the private sector and other research institutes, both domestic and international, by providing access to the collection of material. The responsibilities of MMC include the management of the collection and its distribution to other research centers in accordance with the Material Transfer Agreement, as well as the management of transfers of materials from other institutes via the Center's website. In addition, MMC studies the systems and rules that apply to material transfers, based on both international treaties and domestic laws (e.g. The Convention on Biological Diversity and The Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act.).

MMC hopes that our activities will help researchers perform cutting-edged research, using our material collection. We aim to promote research by facilitating the smooth exchange of materials between participating universities and other researchers.

Three Major Pillars:

• To promote the utilization of the collection of materials kept at participating universities
• To study and establish a system to manage the transfer of material
• To inform researchers of the benefits of the Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) and to train staff to negotiate and complete the MTA