The Okazaki National Research Institutes, consisting of three cooperative research Institutes, the Inst. of Molecular Science (NIMS), the Inst. of Basic Biology (NIBB) and the Inst. of Physiological Sciences (NIPS), employs about 700 researchers and 200 full time technical staff. To support cooperative research projects, ONRI has several special shared research facilities in addition to those conventionally used for bioscience laboratories: a 1000 kV high voltage electron microscope designed for three dimensional morphometry and computer tomography of biological structures, a 300 kV ultra cryoelectron microscope equipped with an energy filtering system, which is now being set up, and a two photon excitation laser confocal microscope. In addition, there is an MRI, a rapid MRI, SQUID with 37 + 37 channels, and micro SQUID for non-invasive examination of brain function in human and experimental animals. A UVSOR (UV synchrotron orbital radiation) lab., a laser lab., and an ultra-low temperature lab. are available for neuroscience collaboration with Japanese and international scientists.