ブックタイトル東北大学リーフレット(英語)

概要

東北大学リーフレット(英語)

Message from the PresidentOn April 1st, 2012, I was appointed President of Tohoku University. In thefollowing, I would like to outline my thoughts on the tasks that should betackled through the coming six years term of my office.Since its foundation in 1907, Tohoku University, as a comprehensiveeducational institution with over a century of history to look at, has beenproducing under the principles of“Research First,”“Open Doors,”and“Practice-Oriented Research and Education”not only excellent human resources, but also disseminating numerous research results to the world. Now, we arefaced with difficult challenges, such as working up the experience of the Great East Japan Earthquake, the declinein industrial earning capacities, the dwindling birth rate, the intensification of international competition byglobalization and also the environmental problems on global level. In a situation like this, Tohoku University willmeet its responsibilities towards society and in order to fulfill its original mission on an even higher standard, wepursue the two goals“Leap to World-class”and“Leading the Way towards Reconstruction and Regeneration.”“Leap to World-class”First, we plan to further improve the level of education and research and aim at the“Leap for World-class.”In thefield of education, accumulating knowledge alone is not sufficient, we also need to polish, work on and with it,making use of that intellect for the benefit of society; therefore, we will review the role of liberal arts in the light ofhuman resource training. Besides this, we will prepare an environment introducing various and interdisciplinarystudy opportunities for the people of diverse nationalities and fields of specialization, and we will never stopproducing talented people with outstanding language and communication skills, capable of responding to globalsociety. What we all sensed deeply while experiencing the recent disaster is the crucial lack of social leaderscapable of identifying the real nature of our problems and making decisions thereupon. While observing thechanging society, it is necessary to reflect on how to train leaders to be global players, what liberal arts in thecontext of modern society means, how to combine them with professional education, and how to enhanceopportunities for personal learning including extracurricular and other activities; either of these questions will beinvestigated with highest priority.In the area of research, we, as a center of excellence for world leading research, will proactively promoteadvanced and interdisciplinary research projects while at the same time expanding research on fundamental level.The present situation and tasks of every graduate school and research institute will be thoroughly analyzed, andafter the direction of innovation has been made clear, we plan for steady functional enhancement. Excellent fieldsof study will be further expended while weak points will be strengthened. Originally, research at universities startswith independent research activities based on the ideas of individuals, but taking into consideration the responsibilityentrusted by the Japanese people and society, a more strategic focus might become necessary. Taking intoaccount the changing values in society after the great earthquake and the nuclear power plant accident, TohokuUniversity as a whole will endeavor to reveal common issues for human kind from a general and interdisciplinaryviewpoint while making use of all its resources to engage in these. At the same time, we also regard fundamentalresearch as very important. Fundamental research might not be immediately useful, but will in a broad sensecontribute to the enrichment of society. Through the coexistence / fusion of fundamental and applied research, newfields of research will be discovered; such undertakings will be strongly promoted.