The Asian Entrepreneurship Awards, a new annual business event in which startup companies from countries and regions across Asia compete with their peers for an award, were held for the first time on 9-11 May at the Kashiwanoha Campus.

By inviting to Japan technology startups from major Asian countries and regions with a passion to change the world through innovation, the Asian Entrepreneurship Awards will serve as the cornerstone for an innovation creation center attracting entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, business incubators, and mentors not only from Asia but from across the entire globe. This Japan-led project aims to create innovation that links all of Asia. These awards were hosted by Future Design Center Incorporated Association, co-hosted by the Division of University Corporate Relations of the University of Tokyo, TX Entrepreneur Partners, Chiba Prefecture and Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd.

The Nominating Committee, primarily comprising university faculty and staff of business incubators from countries and regions throughout Asia, and chaired by Professor Shigeo Kagami, Division of University Corporate Relations, the University of Tokyo, nominated 18 companies from 12 countries for the 2012 Awards. Competitors gave presentations in English in front of an extended audience made up of venture capitalists, private investors, entrepreneurs, and students who hope to start their own businesses in the future. First prize (3 million yen) went to Clearbridge Biomedics Pte Ltd (Singapore), second prize (1.5 million yen) to Neugent Technologies (Philippines) and third prize (500,000 yen) to WorkLohas Technology Co., Ltd (Taiwan).

The Awards website will be updated shortly with details of the competition.

Asian Entrepreneurship Award 2012:
http://www.fdc.or.jp/aea/eng/index.html


Award winners

The Go Global 2012 Todai Study Abroad Fair was held over two days between 26 and 27 April at the Komaba Campus of the University of Tokyo.

Around 500 students attended the General Orientation held on 26 April, filling the No. 900 Lecture theatre almost to capacity. The General Orientation was opened with introductory remarks from Executive Vice President Masako Egawa, followed by a presentation from the International Affairs Department explaining the framework for studying abroad. The final part of the first day was a presentation about their experiences from five students who have studied abroad and a question and answer session with the five students as part of the panel.

The structure of studying abroad while attending the University of Tokyo was explained by the International Affairs Department as well as giving explanations including overseas internship, international voluntary work and scholarship schemes to fund these activities. The attendees listened very carefully while taking notes during the presentation. Five students, each with diverse experience of studying abroad independently and through university exchange schemes, short-term stay, international voluntary work and overseas internship each made very interesting presentations on their experiences. In the following hour-long panel discussion chaired by Associate Professor Akiko Onishi of the International Center the five students answered questions and talked about what made them decide to go overseas.

24 groups and organizations participated on the second day of the event, 27 April, by holding individual consultations. Questions from attendees were answered and advice was carefully given at the booths prepared for the occasion. The attendees visited a large number of the booths gathering information on studying abroad, international student exchange, language proficiency requirements and other information on offer. The individual consultation sessions were a great success with approximately 1,200 people attending.

We hope that many students will use this study abroad fair as their first step towards international exchange.

Website, Todai Go Global
http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ja/administration/go-global/index.html

Facebook, International Affairs Department, The University of Tokyo
http://www.facebook.com/todai.go.global


(Left) A student listening very carefully
(Right) Opening address by Executive Vice President Masako Egawa


(Left) Panel discussion by students with diverse experience of studing abroad
(Right) International Affairs Department booth

The University of Tokyo and Hitotsubashi University boat race was held on Saturday, 28 April, at the Toda Olympic Boat Course organized by Hitotsubashi University. Members of both universities have a strong fondness for the event, which dates back to 1887. The race is known colloquially as the "Tōshō sen," taking one character from the name of the University of Tokyo and one character from the name of a predecessor of Hitotsubashi University, the Tokyo University of Commerce.

Under the sunny sky reminiscent of early summer, the morning started with races between junior and senior high school student teams and between alumni boats. After a vigorous display by the cheerleaders from both universities, an open competition and the main race were held in the afternoon.

The race proceeded smoothly with the enthusiastic support of the cheerleaders, students and alumni, that enthusiasm reaching its peak with the final event between the men's eights to decide the winner of the race. This explosive race takes place over 2000m between two boats, each with a crew of eight and a cox, and takes little more than six minutes. This year, the Hitotsubashi boat won a hard-earned victory from the Todai team after a close race to the finish. The University of Tokyo won the mens's single scull event, but the strong efforts of the Hitotsubashi team stood out in other events as well.

In his address to the post-race party, Executive Vice President Yoshiteru Muto thanked the organizing staff and supporters. Both teams praised the efforts of their competitors and the University of Tokyo team vowed to win the following year.


The men's eights in the heat of the race


Enthusiastic support from the cheerleaders


Executive Vice President Muto

The Information Technology Center of the University of Tokyo (ITC/UT) held an opening ceremony for the new Supercomputer Systems Research Facility at Kashiwa Campus on Monday, April 2, 2012. A welcome address by Professor Yoichiro Matsumoto, Executive Vice President of the University of Tokyo, was followed by speeches from Mr. Kengo Iwamoto (MEXT), Professor Kimihiko Hirao (director, RIKEN Advanced Institute for Computational Science) and other guests.

The new supercomputer system (FX10 Supercomputer System (Oakleaf-FX)) is the first such system installed at the Second Research Complex Building in Kashiwa Campus. Oakleaf-FX is a Fujitsu PRIMEHPC FX10 with a peak performance of 1.13 PFLOPS, and its power-consumption performance on FEM/FDM-type applications is eight times as efficient as that of the existing HA8000 Cluster System (T2K/Tokyo). The new system is named after an area of Kashiwa campus.

ITC/UT is a core organization of the "Joint Usage/Research Center for Interdisciplinary Large-Scale Information Infrastructures" which consists of eight academic supercomputer centers in Japan. Moreover, it is a part of HPCI (High-Performance Computing Infrastructure) operated by Japanese Government.

ITC/UT supercomputer systems have contributed to advances in research and development by users from both of academia and industry. They are also employed on the HPC education program in graduate schools of the University of Tokyo. Oakleaf-FX will also make significant contributions to these activities including development of excellent future computational scientists.

Prior to regular service of Oakleaf-FX starting on Monday, July 2, 2012, a three-month trial service started on Monday, April 2, 2012, during which no fee is charged for use of the system.　Detailed information of the services and supercomputer system is available at the following URL: http://www.cc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/(Japanese)


Supercomputer system "Oakleaf-FX"


Welcome address by Professor Yoichiro Matsumoto, Executive Vice President


Professor Kengo Nakajima introducing Oakleaf-FX after the opening ceremony

On March 28, President Sebastian Pinera of the Republic of Chile and senator and former president Eduardo Frei, foreign minister Alfredo Moreno, and Chilean ambassador to Japan Patricio Torres visited the University of Tokyo. The Chilean delegation met with University President Junichi Hamada and Executive Vice Presidents Yoichiro Matsumoto, Masako Egawa and Fumio Isoda.

A lecture was organized in the Yasuda Auditorium's Ichijo Hall, co-organized by eight of the University's graduate schools and research institutes. Guests numbered some 300, and included ambassadors to Japan from 15 countries, principally from Central and South America, Japanese Ambassador to Chile Hidenori Murakami, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Bureau Director-General Akira Yamada, and members of the press. During Executive Vice President Matsumoto's opening address, there was a round of applause from the floor to express the University's gratitude to the Government of Chile for the provision of land for the University of Tokyo's miniTAO telescope.

In his keynote lecture, President Pinera, who holds a PhD in economics from Harvard University, commented on the long history of friendship between Chile and Japan, the commonalities and complementarities of the two countries and analyzed the past economic development and stressing several important points for the future prospects of Chile, Japan and the world. President Pinera emphasized the importance of science and technology and free trade, and expressed his hopes for greater exchange between Chile and Japan in the future. After his speech the President answered questions from graduate students, faculty members and members of the Chilean media.

After the President's departure, lectures were held on three research areas of deep cooperation with Chile in which researchers introduced academic exchange between Japan and Chile in their respective fields. Professor Kenji Satake of the Earthquake Research Institute described giant earthquakes and tsunamis in Chile, Institute of Industrial Science Professor Toru Okabe described Chilean non-ferrous metal industries, and Graduate School of Science Professor Yuzuru Yoshii described plans for the University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory (TAO). The lectures were followed in the evening by an informal gathering between members of the University management, the Chilean delegation and other stakeholders from outside the University to further deepen exchange and share information.


President Pinera, University President Hamada, and members of the two delegations meeting in the Yasuda Auditorium.




President Pinera’s lecture

(top left) The lecture venue
(top right) Institute of Industrial Science Professor Okabe
(bottom left, from left) Graduate School of Science Professor Yoshii and Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences Professor Furuya at the evening exchange event
(bottom right) Evening informal information exchange event

On March 29, Executive Vice President Takao Shimizu and chairman of the Committee Considering the Future Timing of Enrollment handed the committee's report to University of Tokyo President Junichi Hamada.

The Committee's interim report was released in January and received many valuable comments from both on and off campus. This report incorporates these comments and reflects changing circumstances, but there are no major changes to the overall structure and recommendations from the interim report.

After receiving the report, the President Hamada announced that a new organization would be established early in the new academic year to take over the activities of the Committee and to further deepen study of autumn enrollment in conjunction with other educational reforms. In addition, Executive Vice President Takao Shimizu and acting chairman Executive Vice President Shinichi Sato held a press conference at which they explained changes from the interim report and current campus opinion. A lively question and answer session was held concerning future policy.

Committee Considering the Future Timing of Enrollment: established in April 2011 to put together proposals concerning timing of enrollment as part of plans to cope with globalization of the education system.

Please see the following link for the report of the Committee Considering the Future Timing of Enrollment.

URL: http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/gen02/fall.enrollment.html (Japanese only)

On Tuesday, March 13 from 11:30, in the International Center, Center for Japanese Language Education, the University of Tokyo Asatsu-DK China Scholarship MA graduation ceremony was held.

This graduation ceremony provided graduating students receiving scholarships from the University of Tokyo Asatsu-DK China Scholarship to express their appreciation and thoughts on their experience at the University of Tokyo, and was attended by Masao Inagaki, founder and Chairman Emeritus of Asatsu-DK Inc., who established the fund.

The event began with an address from the president of the University of Tokyo, congratulating graduating students on the completion of their studies, and thanking Asatsu-DK Inc. for supporting the scholarship program. In his address, Asatsu-DK Chairman Emeritus Inagaki encouraged graduating students to make the most of their education at the University of Tokyo and to become bridges between China and Japan.

Each of the graduating students gave a final report, mentioning their memories of their two year's student life and aspirations for the future, and thanking Asatsu-DK for support during their studies.

The event continued with an informal lunch attended by the graduating students, Chairman Emeritus Inagaki, the University president and other University members. At the end of the meeting, Chairman Emeritus Inagaki presented the students with a commemorative gift, and Executive Vice President Masako Egawa gave the closing remarks.


ADK Chairman Emeritus Masao Inagaki with graduating students


Commemorative photo

The 2011 Spring Graduate Commencement ceremony was held in Yasuda Auditorium on Thursday, March 22, at which 2,859 MA, 861 PhD, and 375 Professional Degrees were awarded. The following day, Friday, March 23, the Spring Undergraduate Commencement ceremony was held and 3,161 undergraduate degrees were awarded.

In his graduation address, the university president sent a candid message of support to graduating students required to face up to a difficult era in which Japanese society is confronting a range of problems, touching on the University's sense of crisis as it confronts today's international competition, and our internal sense of crisis that arises from the inability to confront slowly approaching danger due to the constraints of existing institutions and mechanisms.

In response to this graduation address, first section student representative Ryo Obara (Faculty of Education) gave a powerful speech on "searching for new social models in this transitional era without models, and not just devoting oneself to the accumulation of knowledge but reaching out to others through action." The student representative of the second group, Hotaka Matsui (Medicine) gave a speech in English on "confronting many national issues, competing with talented individuals from within Japan and from abroad, and bringing hope to the many people working to further their fields."

Additionally, in his graduation address at the previous day's Graduate Commencement Ceremony, the university president touched on the importance of awareness of others in reconstruction after the Great East Japan Earthquake and in interaction with the international community, and expressed the hope that the new graduates would make the awareness of others the seed of their own personal growth.

The University of Tokyo and Otsuchi (Kamihei, Iwate Prefecture) have signed an agreement on partnership and cooperation for disaster recovery and reconstruction. Otsuchi is home to the University of Tokyo's Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute International Coastal Research Center (ICRC). Together with the collaboration of researchers from within Japan and overseas, the ICRC has played a major role in coastal research centered on Iwate Prefecture since its establishment in 1973. The ICRC received devastating damage in the tsunami, but today efforts to resume research are under way. With the signing of this agreement, working towards the long-term recovery and reconstruction of the ICRC and of Otsuchi, strengthening the collaboration and cooperation of both parties, we will redouble our activities to ensure a sustainable and effective recovery.


Otsuchi Mayor Yutaka Ikarikawa and University of Tokyo President Junichi Hamada signed the agreement on Monday, March 19, in the temporary Otsuchi Town Hall.

On the previous morning of Sunday, 18 March, President Hamada visited ten volunteers from the University of Tokyo at a junior high school in Rikuzentakata, where they were supporting students' learning activities. This volunteer activity was in cooperation with the "Learning Room" program organized by the Iwate Prefecture Rikuzentakata Board of Education and other bodies. So far, four groups of student volunteers have taken part, A group (10 students, February 18 to 19), B group (10 students, February 25 to 26), C group (9 students, March 3 to 4), and D group (9 students, March 17 to 18).

On the afternoon of the same day, President Hamada was present at the "Great East Japan Earthquake logistics support gathering: the bonds for reconstruction on the periphery" organized by Tono City, and gave a keynote speech entitled "human bonds, organizational bonds" to the Tono City Civic Center, which was filled with local citizens and others. Additionally, in appreciation of the University of Tokyo's efforts as one of many organizations working in support of Tono City, the University was presented with a plaque of appreciation.

For the support of students and academic and administrative staff of the University engaged in activities related to relief and reconstruction in affected areas, the University of Tokyo has established the Tono Branch Office of the Office for Relief and Reconstruction Assistance in the West Wing of the Tono City Hall. Additionally, Tono has become a base of logistical support for the affected areas including Otsuchi.


President Junichi Hamada's keynote speech, "human bonds, organizational bonds"

The University of Tokyo has joined the International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T), an organization of the United Nations headquartered in Geneva, as an academic member at a signing ceremony held at Todai's Hongo Campus on Monday, March 12. As an academic member the University, centered on the efforts of the Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies and Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, will contribute to standardization within the telecommunications sector.

After the signing ceremony and to commemorate Todai joining the ITU-T, Director Malcolm Johnson gave a lecture on "Standards, Innovation and Academia."

International Telecommunication Union - Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T):
The Telecommunication Standardization Sector of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is an international organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, that researches telecommunications technology, operations and pricing and formulates international standards. Standards are determined in the form of recommendations from ITU-T. For example, analogue and digital data communications such as modem, ADSL and ISDN have been standardized as recommendations. ITU-T is comprised of 14 study groups which carry out the process of preparing standards, the Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group (TSAG) which decides on the priority of standardization work, and the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) which coordinates the efforts of these constituent organizations.

International Telecommunication Union (ITU): http://www.itu.int/en/pages/default.aspx

It has been one year since the Great East Japan Earthquake. Once again I express my profound sorrow for the loss of those who were victims of this terrible disaster, and my sincere sympathy to the many people who have been affected by this disaster, many of whom are still forced to live as refugees.

The University of Tokyo, mobilizing our knowledge as a comprehensive research university, is making an active and sustained effort to support the recovery and reconstruction of the Tohoku region and of Japan as a whole.

The results of the entrance examination for the University of Tokyo were announced on Saturday, March 10. Despite the drizzle, the drive before the Institute of Social Science and Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies was filled with applicants and their families, members of the media, and university athletic associations recruiting new members eagerly checking the notice boards for their applicant numbers.

The secondary selection entrance examination was held on Tuesday, March 13.

On Wednesday, February 29, graduating Todai international students met with support groups and the university president at an informal meeting held annually to deepen the friendship between international graduate students and members of the university academic and administrative staff and groups working to support international students during their studies. Some 190 international students and 370 university staff and support group members attended this year's gathering.

University President Junichi Hamada, Chairman of the KDDI Foundation Mr Yasuhiko Ito as representative of groups supporting international students, and University Vice President Akihiko Tanaka addressed the event.

During the event, the Myanmar Students' Association and the Indonesian Students' Association University of Tokyo Group performed dance and music on traditional instruments, followed by which Kiri Yumi McLaughlin (Faculty of Letters), Wattaneavekin Theeraphol (Graduate School of Engineering), and Joo Jae Yeol (Graduate School of Medicine), gave speeches about their experiences at Todai, life in Japan, and aspirations for the future.

Many of those present took photos with friends and members of the university staff, and a friendly atmosphere prevailed throughout the event. As the international students prepared for their new start on their life after Todai, all the attendees joined the University of Tokyo Ouen-bu in a rousing rendition of the university song "Tada hitotsu (only one)."

The University of Tokyo India Office has been established in Bangalore, India under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Global 30 project to promote the internationalization of Japanese universities. The office is an overseas office for shared-utilization and will act for the University of Tokyo and also for other Japanese universities. The office aims to promote academic exchange and academic links between India and Japan through the promotion of Japanese universities as a study abroad choice for Indian students and strengthening links with Indian academic networks and industry.

To mark the opening of the office, a symposium on academic exchange between India and Japan and a press conference were held in Bangalore on Monday, February 27. With the kind attendance of officials from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, other G30 member universities, the Japanese Embassy in India, S.G. Kulkarni (Chairman of the University of Tokyo India Alumni Association) and University of Tokyo Vice President Akihiko Tanaka cut a ribbon to open the office at 10am. Vice President Tanaka explained the mission and development of the India Office in his opening address, and Deputy Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Kanji Fujiki offered his congratulations on the opening of the office.

Following the opening ceremony, a press conference was held at a hotel in Bangalore attended by Vice President Tanaka, Executive Vice President Masako Egawa, India Office Director Hiroshi Yoshino, University of Tokyo President's Council member and Infosys Limited Chairman Emeritus N.R.N. Murthy, and Mr. Kulkarni. More than 50 journalists from the Indian media joined the press conference, at which Vice President Tanaka talked about the importance of academic exchange between India and Japan and expectations for an increase in the number of Indian students choosing to study in Japan, and Chairman Murthy about the significance and merits of studying in Japan.

A networking symposium was held at the same hotel from 2pm. After keynote addresses from Mr. Murthy and University of Tokyo Institute of Industrial Science Professor Yasuhiko Arakawa, Vice President Tanaka moderated two panel discussions on "The Future of Indo-Japan Academic Collaboration" and "Study in Japan" which were attended by an audience of over 200. Panelists from the University of Tokyo on the first panel were Graduate School of Engineering Professor Yozo Fujino, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology Professor Hiroshi Esaki, and Institute of Industrial Science Professor Hideki Kawakatsu, and on the second panel Graduate School of Frontier Sciences doctoral program student Mr. S. Khurana.

On Sunday 26 February prior to the opening ceremony and at the same hotel, a ceremony to mark the establishment of the University of Tokyo India Alumni Association was attended by over thirty Indian alumni of the University of Tokyo and Japanese alumni active in India.

In the future, the University of Tokyo India Office will provide a one-stop service on studying in Japan, hold study abroad fairs in India, gather and disseminate information on the situation of higher education in India, develop networks with local institutions and strive to further academic exchange.

India-Japan networking symposium
(Upper left) Opening address by Vice President Tanaka (upper right) Keynote speech by Mr. Murthy
(Lower left) Keynote speech by Professor Arakawa (lower right) Panel discussion


The symposium

The exhibition space on the first floor of the Central Administration Building is currently occupied by a display by the Asian Natural Environmental Science Center (ANESC).

ANESC's mission is to stem the depletion of biological resources and environmental destruction throughout Asia and conduct fundamental and applied research into the sustainable use of biological resources and harmonization of environmental conservation through employment of the center's international network. As well as being a focus for Asian Natural Environmental Sciences at the University of Tokyo, the center aims to become a focus of research for environmental conservation and harmonization of biological productivity in Japan and throughout the whole of Asia. In addition to research visits to areas with environmental problems, the center is working to deepen exchange with partners throughout the region.

The center has created this display in order to have the center's activities more widely known. The poster frames are bamboo prototypes created by faculty members during their research. Photographs on panels introducing the center's research can be opened to reveal text describing the programs and projects. The panels and display case contents are changed monthly during the exhibition to March 23. Three projects are on display until March 23: spatial development and creating appeal for regional revitalization; evaluation of multiple stress response mechanisms and biodiversity and ecosystem functional sustainability of tropical coastal ecosystems; and studies on virulence analysis of and host resistance to soil-borne pathogenic viruses. The display case introduces local revitalization efforts to create an attractive environment as part of reconstruction assistance after the Great East Japan Earthquake.

We hope you'll drop by to have a look.

The University of Tokyo's Office for Relief and Reconstruction Assistance, continuing providing assistance to children and students in areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, has dispatched ten volunteers in support of the "Learning Room" program for junior high school students organized by the Rikuzentakata City Board of Education, Iwate Prefecture.

A group of ten students (four undergraduate and six graduate students) provided assistance to 43 junior high school students during free study lessons and preparation for end-of-year examinations at three elementary and junior high schools in Rikuzentakata over the weekend of February 18 to 19.

Volunteers are expected to visit on the weekends of February 25-26 (10 volunteers), March 3-4 (9 volunteers), and March 17-18 (9 volunteers).

Office for Relief and Reconstruction Assistance

28 January 2012 (Saturday). The opening and naming ceremony for the Large-scale Cryogenic Gravitational Wave Telescope Project (LCGT) was held in the Kashiwa Library Media Hall on the Kashiwa Campus. The telescope has been nicknamed "KAGRA."

As a research project hosted by the University of Tokyo's Institute for Cosmic Ray Research in cooperation with the National Astronomical Observatory and the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization and in concert with our international research partners, the University of Tokyo is putting its full effort behind the construction of the LCGT aiming for the first detection of gravitational waves. The name was chosen from 666 suggestions sent in from all over Japan to the naming committee between 14 December 2010 and 9 February 2011. The committee was set up in response to a comment by the famous author Yoko Ogawa in a column in the newspaper Mainichi Shimbun that she hoped the telescope would soon be given a suitable name. The name chosen comes from the first syllable of Kamioka, the location of the telescope, and of gravitational wave, giving "Kagra". We hope that this nickname will become well-known around the world as a state-of-the-art observatory.

Gravitational waves are like ripples in the fabric of spacetime. Their existence was predicted over a hundred years ago, but despite the best efforts of scientists around the world no experiment has yet successfully detected them. Gravitational waves are generated when incredibly massive objects move vigorously and are propagated through a vacuum. The detection of gravitational waves will verify Einstein's general theory of relativity, but may also lead to the development of a new understanding of astronomy. It is thought that the ability to detect gravitational waves will enable observation of the creation of black holes and in the future may provide further information about the birth of the universe. If gravitational waves do exist, it is expected that KAGRA will be able to observe them. This device is an example of Japan's potential to open doors to new fields of research as a scientific and technological powerhouse.

Bearing the hopes of many, the LCGT has taken a new step with the new name KAGRA. To be completed in the near future, we hope to see KAGRA the first to detect gravitational waves in human history.

Please see the following link for further information about the announcement and images from the previous week's groundbreaking ceremony at Hida City, nearby to the University of Tokyo's Institute for Cosmic Ray Research Kamioka Observatory.
http://www.icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp/2012/02/06111749.html (Japanese)


Chairperson Yoko Ogawa announcing the new nickname


Congratulatory message from Executive Vice President Masako Egawa

8 February 2012 (Wednesday). At 11am in the Large Conference Room of the University of Tokyo's Central Administration Building, a press conference was held to announce that the University of Toyko's Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (IPMU) is to become the latest Kavli Institute through the establishment of a new fund by the American Kavli Foundation. The press conference was attended by President Junichi Hamada, Executive Vice President Masako Egawa, and IPMU Director Hitoshi Murayama from the University of Tokyo, and from the Kavli Foundation Chairman Fred Kavli and President Robert W. Conn joined by video link and Vice President for Science Programs

Miyoung Chun joined in person. Additionally, Koichi Morimoto, Deputy Director-General of the Research and Development Bureau, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, announced this first permanent funding of a Japanese national university by donation from a foreign fund.

The IPMU was launched in October 2007 and adopted by the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI). The institute strongly promotes research into the most important issues in basic science today, dark energy, dark matter, and grand unified theory (superstring theory and quantum gravity), through collaboration through world-leading researchers in mathematics, physics astronomy. The IPMU was the only institute to be awarded the maximum rating of "S" in this year's WPI mid-term evaluation.

The Kavli Foundation supports world-class research in the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience, neuroscience and theoretical physics through donations to institutes at leading universities including Harvard, MIT, and Cambridge. Institutes receiving support from the foundation carry the Kavli name.

The University of Tokyo and the Kavli Foundation have agreed that the IPMU shall become the newest member of the group of Kavli Institutes as the Kavli IPMU. The Kavli Foundation shall establish a fund with a donation of $7.5 million (approximately 570 million yen) the investment returns on which shall support research at the Kavli IPMU. From 1 April 2012, the University of Tokyo International Institute for Advanced Studies Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe shall make a fresh start.

Please see the IPMU website for further information.


Kavli Foundation founder and Chairman Fred Kavli and President Robert W. Conn attended the conference by video connection


IPMU Director Hitoshi Murayama

Issue 10 of the English-language version of the University of Tokyo's Tansei Magazine was made available online on February 1. This issue covers the details of the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, and University's response. From this issue, we have used a magazine format that should be easily viewed on both mobile phones and computers. Please be sure to have a look.

If you are viewing this issue from an iPhone or iPad, we recommend that you save the link below to your homescreen for the best reading experience.

Tansei issue 10: Renaissance (English-language version)
http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/about/publications/tansei/index.html

On Thursday, November 10, 2011, a branch of the Nandemo-Sodan (One-Stop Resources) Office was established at the Kashiwa campus. The new office's sign was completed recently and placed at the office on Thursday, February 2, 2012.

The first Nandemo-Sodan (One-Stop Resources) Office was established on April 1, 2008, and is located at the second floor of the Yasuda Auditorium at the Hongo Campus. The Shirokane Campus Nandemo-Sodan (One-Stop Resources) Office followed on March 10, 2010 before the opening of the Kashiwa branch last year.

Whenever you are not sure where to ask for help, or even if you wonder whether it is OK to ask such a question, please do not hesitate to visit us at the Nandemo-Sodan (One-Stop Resources) Office.

■Nandemo-Sodan (One-Stop Resources) Office Kashiwa branch
Opening hours: currently Thursday 10:00-17:00 (subject to change)
Location: Transdisciplinary Sciences, GSFS, 2nd floor, room 2B5
Telephone: 04-7136-4129

http://dcs.adm.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/

On January 20, 2012, a press conference on the timing of university admission was held on the Hongo campus and attended by University President Junichi Hamada and Executive Vice President Shimizu, chair of the Committee Considering the Future Timing of Enrollment. Executive Vice President Shimizu presented the contents of the committee's interim report, following which President Hamada explained his thoughts about changing the timing of enrollment, the current state of discussions with other universities and with industry and how the University will proceed. This was followed by a lively question and answer session which covered the gap term, employment of graduates, and reform of the entrance examination system and curriculum.

"Committee Considering the Future Timing of Enrollment": established in April 2011 to put together proposals concerning timing of enrollment as part of plans to cope with globalization of the education system.

President Hamada's comments on the timing of enrollment and the interim report of the Committee Considering the Future Timing of Enrollment.

URL: http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/gen02/fall.enrollment.html

On Wednesday, January 11, 2012, over 100 people attended a lecture "opening up the post-doctoral career path" at the Koshiba Hall, hosted by the Division for Counseling and Support (DCS).

The lecture opened with a greeting from Vice President Muto Yoshiteru and DCS Director Furuta Motoo. This was followed by Dr. Yu Nureki and Dr. Setsu Endo who talked about their own career choices, and Professor Tsutomu Yamamura, DCS vice director, who talked from the perspective of providing career support. The event closed with a question and answer session.

http://dcs.adm.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/

As part of long-term sustainable volunteer support activities organized by the University of Tokyo (Todai) Office for Relief and Reconstruction Assistance, the office is sponsoring volunteer activities by Todai students to provide learning support for pupils and children in areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. As a first step, student volunteers provided support over the new year to children and students through the "learning room" program organized by the Rikuzentakata Education Board, Iwate Prefecture.

Before the new year, seven Todai students (five undergraduate and two graduate students) provided junior high school students with help on their winter holiday homework and with solving example examination questions.

After the new year, a second group of nine Todai students (five undergraduate and four graduate students) provided junior high school students with English and winter homework and sample examination questions.

The symposium was attended by over 100 delegates, including journalists and representatives from Embassies in Japan. A press conference was held directly following the symposium.

The exhibition space on the first floor of the Central Administration Building is currently showing a display by the Asian Natural Environmental Science Center (ANESC).

ANESC's mission is to stem the depletion of biological resources and environmental destruction throughout Asia, to conduct fundamental and applied research into the sustainable use of biological resources, and harmonization of environmental conservation through employment of the center's international network. As well as being a focus for Asian Natural Environmental Sciences at the University of Tokyo, the center aims to become a focus of research for environmental conservation and harmonization of biological productivity in Japan and throughout the whole of Asia. In addition to research visits to areas with environmental problems, the center is working to deepen exchange with partners throughout the region.

The center has created this display in order to have the center's activities more widely known. The poster frames are bamboo prototypes created by ANESC faculty members during their research. Photographs on panels introducing the center's research can be opened to reveal text describing the programs and projects. The exhibition is on display until March 23 so the content of the panels will be changed each month. Projects on display until January 27 are "Studies on the sustainability of rain-fed rice in tropical Asia," "Studies on effective use of timber resources," and "Environmental stress resistance mechanisms of trees." Several wooden artifacts are also on display demonstrating the potential expansion of uses of wood through processing. You can pick up the samples and experience the use of wood as a spring and a sample that can be twisted.

We hope you'll drop by to have a look.

Season's greetings and best wishes for the New Year.

Last year, the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11 and the tsunami and nuclear accident at the Fukushima nuclear power station that followed shook Japanese society and brought grief and anxiety to many. I offer my sincere condolences and sympathy to all those who even today are refugees from this disaster and face a bitter daily struggle to rebuild their lives. In May last year I expressed the University of Tokyo's stance on relief and reconstruction assistance to those affected by the terrible ravages of this disaster with the message "Live. But not alone." Many of the University of Tokyo's students, academic and administrative staff are providing support through participation in volunteer activities or application of specialist knowledge through reconstruction projects. Remembering at the beginning this new year that the disaster is still ongoing, we will not flag in our continued support in the coming year.

Japanese politics and the Japanese economy also continue to struggle to break out of the mold and towards a new era, while the country's financial situation grows increasingly severe. The 2012 draft budget gives some consideration to academic research and higher education, but at the same time issues a strong call for university reform through the further reduction of grants for management expenses and the new allotment of funds for management reform. At the University of Tokyo we are determined to strengthen our competitiveness as a "world-leading center of knowledge" by continuing speedy and steady reforms.

This year marks the half-way point of my six-year term of office. We are advancing surely towards the objectives described in the "University of Tokyo Action Scenario (FOREST 2015)," and the sense that "the forest is moving" is becoming ever more real. In just such turbulent times as these, reforms at the University of Tokyo must tackle immediate issues, yet must also focus on twenty and thirty years from now when preparing education for students and the research to support Japanese science and technology, society and culture long into the future.

May the coming year be filled with happiness for you all.