10月23日に挙行された2024年度10月東京科学大学入学式の理事長祝辞は、英語で行われました。
Good morning, everyone.
Congratulations to all the new students entering Institute of Science Tokyo today. You have worked hard to achieve this milestone, and on behalf of the entire Science Tokyo community, I warmly welcome you all. I would also like to congratulate your guardians and families, and express my gratitude to them for their gracious support.
As the inaugural cohort of Science Tokyo students, you may want to know that the development of highly competent professionals is deeply rooted in our DNA. The establishments that merged to form Science Tokyo were both founded to train skilled vocational personnel. Tokyo Institute of Technology, which originated in 1881 as Tokyo Vocational School, was established to nurture professionals capable of creating new industries as required by the times. This technical education not only greatly enhanced the vocational training system in Japan, but also created numerous leaders in academia and industry.
Tokyo Medical and Dental University originated as the affiliated hospital for the Ministry of Education's national dental licensure examination. It was founded in 1928 as the Tokyo National School of Dentistry. While pioneering the cutting edge of dentistry, it chose not to join Tokyo Imperial University after World War II, but instead formed its own medical school and became Tokyo Medical and Dental University in 1946.
The organizations that preceded Science Tokyo understood the value of strong academic foundations when pursuing industrial and medical progress, as well as the training of leaders who freely applied knowledge and technology in the fields of science, engineering, medicine, and dentistry. Today, this new institution — with science at its core — continues to place great importance on both practical skills and academic excellence while striving to enhance the value of science and the impact it creates in academia and society.
In the 21st century, the world appears to be experiencing two notable changes. Firstly, while human beings still desire a convenient and comfortable life, there is a growing call to seek harmony with the Earth, and to achieve a productive yet agreeable coexistence with science and technology. This requires a greater understanding of society, including both people and the planet we inhabit. And secondly, the ways in which we use information continue to accelerate in various directions. This means that humans are increasingly conducting their activities in the virtual space, in addition to the physical world.
Science Tokyo is expected to play an important role in these changes. To do so, we must embrace diversity as a primary source of creativity and expand our global reach to help solve problems that affect all of humankind. Issues such as carbon neutrality and emerging infectious diseases cannot be tackled by individual nations alone. Through multicultural, cross-border collaboration that views problems from varying spatial and temporal perspectives, we can share not only the weight of these challenges and the accountability of our actions, but also the fruits of our efforts when we realize a better, brighter future together.
With an open and global viewpoint, Science Tokyo aims to redefine science to include technology, medicine, and social systems. I also invite you, the founding students of the Institute, to adopt a broader, more inclusive approach — a pan-science approach — in your studies and research. Let us join forces so we can expand and develop academic fields based on our shared understanding of people, society, and nature, and create new value together.
Science Tokyo is “a university dedicated to fostering a better and brighter life, society, and planet." From today, you are all important members of a courageous team that supports one another and devotes itself to creating a better tomorrow.
Once again, congratulations to you all. I warmly welcome you into this newly formed community of shared discovery and creation.
Thank you.
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