Daegu to host 2019 World Congress of Neuroscience

The Daegu Metropolitan City announced that the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) chose Daegu as the host city for 2019 “10th World Congress of Neuroscience”.

10 nations including the Republic of Korea, China, Spain, and France submitted a declaration of intent to IBRO in hope of hosting this event, where the Republic of Korea (Daegu), China (Shanghai), and Spain (Granada) competed at the final selection process. Daegu triumphed by winning 74 votes out of 122, chosen as the host city of the 2019 Congress.

IBRO, headquartered in Paris, France, and founded in 1961, is an International not for profit organization with 75,000 members in 85 colloquiums worldwide. With its first Congress hosted in 1982, IBRO has been hosting World Congress of Neuroscience every four years with more than 4,000 brain researchers and neuroscientists across 100 nations, serving as the largest international seminar to share achievements in neuroscientific research and developments while promoting international joint research.

10th IBRO World Congress of Neuroscience will be hosted in July 2019, in the City of Daegu. This Congress is a significant international event as it will serve as a venue to discuss solutions to cerebropathia such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease commonly found in aging societies of 21st century, as well as to create a new economic growth engine for Korea through international joint brain research. With the prospect of over 4,000 (3,000 from abroad) international brain researchers participating in the congress, it is anticipated what this congress may provide Korea? A late mover in the field of brain research ?

The Daegu Metropolitan City has been putting efforts to foster brain-industry convergence in link with the City’s Medical Innovation Complex as a way to map the city’s future growth engine. Daegu City hosted Korea Brain Research Institute - the future foothold of Korea’s brain research - since 2011 and completed the construction of the institute headquarters in 2014. As the City of Daegu nurtures the promotion of Korean brain disease hospitals and brain precision medical industries, expectation is that hosting of the World Congress of Neuroscience will give a boost to Daegu’s brain-medical industries.

Daegu’s hosting of the World Congress of Neuroscience is a result of seamless coordination since last year with the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, Office of Daegu Metropolitan City, Korea Brain Research Institute, Korean Society for Brain and Neural Science, Daegu Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Korea Tourism Organization, on top of the unwavering support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Foreign Office to win over strong competitors such as Spain and China.

The Congress that will be held in Daegu will be the second Congress to be hosted in Asia. The first was held in Tokyo, Japan 24 years ago. The Colorful City of Daegu’s experience in successfully hosting large scale international events almost every year, to include the World Energy Congress in 2013, the World Water Forum in 2015, the World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships in 2017, the International Congress of Parasitology in 2018, and the World Gas Conference in 2021, has helped enormously in hosting the World Congress of Neuroscience, which many foresee as a contributing factor to reinvigorate the City’s Meetings Industry.