Introduction

Graduate School Entrance Ceremony for 2016

Congratulations on your admission to the graduate schools at Gifu University. We are extremely pleased to see today 573 graduate students, and on behalf of the Gifu University faculty I cordially welcome all of you. I would also like to take this opportunity to give our congratulations to all the people who have supported you in your academic careers up to now.

Along with five master's programs and two doctoral programs, Gifu University hosts three united graduate schools. Joining us here today are those entering our Teacher Education Course of the Professional Degree Program, and students entering our United Graduate School of Drug Discovery and Medical Information Sciences established together with Gifu Pharmaceutical University. Thus, we are honored to be here with President Takashi Inagaki, Gifu Pharmaceutical University.

In our third Mid-Term Objectives and Plan for six years beginning this year, Gifu University has declared that "we aim to be a center of community revitalization, as well as a center for nationwide and international education and research in fields, where we have outstanding strengths and distinctiveness." Today I would first like to talk about what we intend when we say the term "center of community revitalization." Of course, we do not mean just our prefecture, city, or the Chubu region. Instead, we conceive of it in a broader definition, that encompasses the whole Japan and global communities as well. I will show just one example of a major exchange program between an individual Japanese community and a community overseas. In this case, industries in between Gifu Prefecture and Assam, India, form the foundation for collaboration in education and researchwith Gifu University and Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati. The term "glocal," which combines "global" and "local," best approximates what we intend.

For those of you who have newly admitted today, a wide range of jobs awaits you once you complete your graduate courses. Many of you are mid-career professionals working for private-sector companies or local governments that have asked or encouraged you to enter graduate school. Regardless of your source, I wish all of you complete your graduate courses here as highly-skilled professionals capable of making contributions to your professional duties on the "glocal" fields wherever you are employed. Unlike undergraduate programs, those who have earned advanced degrees are expected to function as highly-skilled professionals. You must study toward the objectives that are set at a quite high level.

I would like to emphasize that what you gain as a result of your graduate school studies might not materialize immediately after you earn your degree. There are many cases where it took around a total of 20 years before advanced degree holders got actually to contribute to the local community or to make "glocal" contributions. Hence, you should also consider the skills you acquire during your graduate studies that you will need to survive as a skilled professional during that period. As members of the faculty at Gifu University, we are always ready to offer you guidance and advice with this regards.

Furthermore, some of you may find that a doctoral program is a very attractive option after you complete a master's program. This course particularly applies to those of you who wish to work as researchers. Most research that goes on to win the Nobel Prize is in fact completed when the researcher is around 30 years old, which means that in many cases it was done when the laureate was in graduate school, and the ideas that he or she developed in that period then led to breakthroughs in various areas of natural science, social science, etc. Regardless of the field, the key to developing such ideas is the continuation of study and research. Of course, a dream generates and maintains the motivation to push those studies. As graduate students, I want you to take a proper look at your future career as a skilled professional, or if you wish to be a researcher, to hold onto a dream. In doing so, please enjoy what Gifu University has to offer and make good use of it.

In conclusion, I am looking forward to enjoying campus life with all of you, and again, I congratulate you.

April 7, 2016

Hisataka Moriwaki
President of Gifu University

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