Hiroshi Matsumoto, 25th President of Kyoto University
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. As President of Kyoto University, I'd like to offer a warm welcome to all of you.
I am honored to be here with such a distinguished gathering of over 160 international visiting academics, their host researchers, the deans of graduate schools and directors of research institutes and centers.
Kyoto University welcomes many visiting academics from overseas every year. If we include one-day visits, 3431 researchers from all over the world visited Kyoto University in the 2007 academic year. 704 of those researchers stayed with us for over two weeks. Unfortunately, however, I don't often have the opportunity to meet with many of our visitors, so I am looking forward to talking with many of the international visiting researchers here today.
On this occasion, in order to provide a brief sketch of Kyoto University's recent activities for those who may not be so familiar with the university, I would like to give an overview of some of the major events which happened at the university in the past year.
In January Kyoto University became the chair university of the Association of East Asian Research Universities – AEARU. AEARU is an association comprised of 17 of the leading research universities in the East Asian region. The association promotes exchange between researchers and students, collaborative research projects, and seminars and workshops on a wide variety of topics.
On January 22nd of this year, the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, Institute for Integrated Cell-material Sciences was established.
On April 1st, the Wildlife Research Center, Unit of Synergetic Studies for Space was established.
In May, in Kyoto University's first presidential election since the incorporation of Japan's national universities, I was elected as the 25th president of Kyoto University, having formerly served as the university's executive vice-president for research and finance.
On June 9th, the Prime Minister of Australia, the Honorable Mr. Kevin Rudd gave a lecture at Kyoto University entitled "Australia and Japan – Working Together on the Global Challenges of Climate Change and Disarmament," and on June 29th, the UN secretary general, Mr. Ban Ki-moon spoke at our Town Hall Meeting on Climate Change.
On June 20th, we held an international forum entitled "The Formation of a Multipolar World-view and Foreign Language Education – The Challenge of Cultural and Linguistic Diversity." The forum featured a keynote speech by the former Prime Minister of France, Mr. Dominique de Villepin.
On June 25th, iPS Academia Japan Inc. was established to contribute to healthcare through the research results and technology relating to induced pluripotent stem cells.
On October 1st, I assumed my position as president of Kyoto University, and on the same day there was a reorganization of the executive staff system and the new members of the university's executive staff took their posts.
On October 7th, Dr. Toshihide Maskawa, a professor emeritus of Kyoto University and Dr. Makoto Kobayashi, a professor emeritus of KEK – High Energy Accelerator Research Organization were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for research undertaken at Kyoto University. The award ceremony was held on December 10.
On October 31st, a special meeting was held to commemorate the completion of the Inamori Foundation Memorial Hall. The hall was presented to Kyoto University by the Inamori Foundation and includes facilities such as the Kyoto Prize Library and an audio-visual research resource archive.
In November, three projects from Kyoto University, including one involving the application of iPS cell technology were adopted for the Super Special Consortia for Supporting the Development of Cutting-Edge Medical Care, a project which aims to promote the research and development of cutting-edge regenerative medicine, medical supplies and equipment.
On December 2nd, the Tokyo Forum was held with the theme of "Aiming to instill Kyoto University with merit, vitality and ability."
I hope that this brief overview has given you at least a general impression of the university's recent events and activities, and I hope that I have the opportunity to share further happy and memorable events with you all next year.
Finally, I would like to ask all of you to please enjoy yourselves at this evening's party, and I would like to wish you all a very happy New Year.
Thank you for your attention.
