第25代総長 松本 紘
Good morning, everyone. I'm Hiroshi Matsumoto, president of Kyoto University. First of all, I would like to express my hearty welcome to all of you. It is my great honor to attend this morning session of the site visit.
I would also like to express my deepest gratitude for the prioritized WPI grant allocation to the iCeMS for FY 2008.
On October 1st last year, the day I assumed the position of president, I made it clear that we would continue our strong commitment to the WPI Initiative in terms of human resources, finance and facilities, all of which had previously been affirmed by former president, Dr. Kazuo Oike. Support has also been provided for the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, "CiRA" for short, which was established in January 2008 under the auspices of the iCeMS, Kyoto University.
Based on those commitments, Kyoto University provided the iCeMS with ample financial assistance, such as personnel costs, operating costs and facility costs. In addition, the university offered 7,200 square meters of floor space to the iCeMS for its facilities.
In an attempt to strengthen cooperation between the university and the iCeMS, I had a series of intensive discussions with principal reresearchers of the iCeMS and the CiRA on how Kyoto University could effectively back up those two institutes. Prof. Nobutaka Fujii took up the post of executive vice president for research and international research in October 2008 and has been actively engaged in it ever since. Unfortunately, he is absent today due to illness.
As to the progress of cross-disciplinary collaboration, one example is the development of methods for regulating stem cell differentiation by chemical compounds, which Professors Nakatsuji, Uesugi, Sugiyama, and Kiso of the iCeMS are working on.
Another example is the full-fledged efforts made by Professors Tanaka, Kiso, Ueda, and Kusumi towards understanding membrane domains at the meso-scale, which are critically important for cellular functions. Furthermore, the formation of meso-scale domains necessitates cooperative assembly of molecules, which involves very interesting physics. Therefore in this team, physicists, organic chemists and cell biologists are working together.
These collaborations are occurring throughout the iCeMS.
Now that it has been a year since the foundation of the iCeMS, some of the research facilities are now completed, and we are about to start the full-fledged operation. Tomorrow you will visit the actual sites. After the on-site tour, we would very much appreciate it if you could provide us with feedback and input on the management of the iCeMS.
Unfortunately, I have to excuse myself during this session because of unavoidable circumstances. On my behalf, Prof. Kiyoshi Yoshikawa, executive vice president for strategic planning, and Prof. Toru Fushiki, deputy vice president, will be left in charge. So please feel free to ask questions anytime at all while I am here.
Finally, let me close by emphasizing how grateful we are for your guidance and cooperation in developing the iCeMS into a world-premier research institute.