Throughout its history, the A.V. Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center of Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (NSCMB FEB RAS) (formerly the A.V. Zhirmunsky Institute of Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences), has actively interacted with the global scientific community, building strong partnerships with academic institutions, universities, museums, and other scientific and educational organizations worldwide. Due to the expansion of scientific ties, the active involvement of Russian scientists in international projects, numerous trips by the staff of NSCMB FEB RAS to conferences, fieldwork, and expeditions, and also visits by foreign scientists, diplomats, and specialists, the International Cooperation Department was established in February 2006 at the initiative of Konstantin Anatolyevich Lutaenko, (Cand. Sci. Biol.), with the active and committed support of the former director, Academician Andrey Vladimirovich Adrianov. Since 2019, K.A. Lutaenko,  Deputy Director for International Cooperation, has coordinated the Department’s work.

Over the past 20 years, the Department’s staff have participated in or been the primary organizers of 34 international scientific conferences, meetings, and symposia. In the last 15 years alone (since 2011), the Department has assisted in organizing 680 staff trips abroad (to 4–22 countries annually). Since 2011, 593 foreign specialists and scientists have visited the NSCMB FEB RAS, including members of official delegations, diplomats, and employees of international organizations (from 2–18 countries annually). Assistance was provided in organizing and arranging 39 expeditions and fieldwork abroad in 12 countries, including visa support, co-publication of books, and the operation of five joint laboratories/centers. After the Primorsky Aquarium joined the NSCMB FEB RAS as a branch in 2016, the International Cooperation Department began to supervise the Aquarium’s international staff (and later the Department established there), providing methodological guidance, assistance in work and organizing events, receiving delegations, and preparing consolidated reports.

In 2025, the NSCMB FEB RAS and the Primorsky Aquarium supported 37 active international agreements. These agreements covered cooperation with nine countries: the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, the Republic of Korea, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Japan, the Federal Republic of Germany, Belgium, the Republic of India, and the Republic of the Philippines. The Department also supports the operation of four joint open laboratories (two Russian–Vietnamese, one Russian–Korean, and one Russian–Chinese) and the Center of Excellence in Blue Economy (CoE-BE) between the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, India (IISER Kolkata) and the NSCMB FEB RAS.

 Cooperation with international organizations is developing. In particular, NSCMB staff are members of various committees and commissions of the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN), the Action Plan for the Protection, Management, and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Northwest Pacific Region (NOWPAP), the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES), UNESCO, and other organizations. The Department helps organize online meetings with these organizations and facilitates the preparation of documents and presentations.

With the assistance of the Department, international conferences are actively held. At the NSCMB FEB RAS, the Far Eastern Malacological Society organized three international meetings on mollusks (2004, 2014, 2019); geneticists held 12 international symposia on genetics (Modern Achievements in Population, Evolutionary, and Ecological Genetics – MAPEEG); an international conference on cell culture (Cell Cultures of Marine and Freshwater Animals) was held in 2015; since the 1990s, a series of international meetings on global changes in the natural environment and climate has been organized; seven joint Russian–Chinese conferences on marine biology and biodiversity, a number of Russian–German meetings on deep-sea biology, an international nematological conference, and other events have also been held. In all cases, the Department’s staff provided visa support, often logistical assistance, and sometimes even organized the entire event, operating as a “conference management team”. The Department’s staff also provided significant assistance during four joint Russian–German cruises in the North Pacific (since 2010) as part of a deep-sea biodiversity study program.

A significant contribution to the development and routine work of the Department at various stages was made by current and former specialists: Tatyana Vladimirovna Lavrova, Marina Viktorovna Gorelaya, Natalya Vladislavovna Miroshnikova, Daria Nikolaevna Kamenskaya, Vadim Mikhailovich Serkov, Svetlana Petrovna Geronina, Anastasiia Igorevna Grishina, and Konstantin Anatolyevich Lutaenko.

In 2025, the Center and the Primorsky Aquarium participated in organizing six events with international status, including international conferences, all-Russian conferences with international participation, seminars, and symposia.

In September 2025, the International Cooperation Department took an active part in organizing the Marine Biological Forum, which included the Center’s 55th anniversary, a bilateral Russian–Chinese meeting "Marine Biology and Biodiversity Research in the 21st Century," and an all-Russian conference with international participation "Marine Biology in the 21st Century." The bilateral Russian–Chinese meeting was the seventh event organized by the NSCMB FEB RAS and the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IO CAS, Qingdao). The six previous meetings were held in Qingdao in 2007, 2010, 2017, and 2023, and in Vladivostok in 2012 and 2019.

During this period, the International Cooperation Department actively collaborated with staff from various countries’ consulates general in Vladivostok, institutes of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Far Eastern Federal University, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Representative Office in Vladivostok, and numerous foreign organizations, always receiving their support. Many specialists of the Center and the Primorsky Aquarium provided volunteer assistance in hosting events and welcoming foreign guests, leading tours of the laboratories, museum, and aquarium. Our colleagues at the branch, Inna Vladimirovna Ustinova, Mikhail Sergeyevich Kornienko, and Sergey Ivanovich Venchakov, assisted us in our work, jointly holding conferences and organizing visits.