<Display Japanese Version> 

Professor Dr. Kotaro Hirasawa
Dean of the Graduate School of Information, Production and Systems (IPS)
Entrance Ceremony Speech (September 2007)

Congratulations to all of you on the occasion of your entry into the Waseda University, Graduate School of Information, Production and Systems or, IPS. You are the fifth batch of students to enter our graduate school: there are 87 students undertaking the masters program, 22 students doing doctoral studies, and out of these, 101 are international students. Thus, one of the unique features of our graduate school is that the proportion of doctoral and international students is very high.

The reason we have so many international students is because, just as it has always been since the time Waseda University was established, one of our graduate school’s major aims is likewise, to educate and train human resources who will play an active role in Asia. In addition, that there are so many doctoral students is self-evident from the fact that our graduate school is an independent one with no undergraduate schools attached to it; but it is also because we aim to be a Center of Excellence that fosters research activities in cooperation with industrial sector partners and can proudly present its research and development to the world.

The special feature of this particular entrance ceremony is that many outstanding students from several elite universities throughout Asia with whom the Waseda University, Graduate School of Information, Production and Systems has signed Memoranda of Academic Exchange are here to take up their studies. I believe that some of those students will still be having difficulty understanding the Japanese language. If that is the case for you, please do not hesitate to consult with your supervising teachers. Our school is set up so that many teachers conduct lessons in either Japanese or English according to their students’ language level.

I am sure that having now successfully entered IPS, you are brimming over with excitement and expectation at the moment and wanting to try many things. I would ask you not to forget that initial fervor and your objectives, and to do your very best.

By the way, I have two or three things to ask of you that I would like to talk about now.

As I mentioned earlier, IPS is an independent graduate school with no undergraduate schools attached to it. Therefore, I want you to understand first of all, that the education you will receive here is totally different to what you will have experienced from elementary school through to the undergraduate level.

The education from elementary school level through to undergraduate level basically teaches already established knowledge and the focus is just on the student learning that. To put it in the extreme, it is sufficient merely to study the information and memorize it.

Graduate school is not like that. Students are required to use the skills and knowledge they have acquired throughout their school and undergraduate education as a base, think for themselves and be creative. Of course, you will carry out research and development under the overarching ethos and guidance of the academic supervisor of your lab, but the one who is responsible for doing the concrete thinking is you, the student. While you are enrolled here at Waseda University, I want you to equip yourselves with the ability to think independently and to be creative. This is because I believe that these are important skills that will be demanded of you first and foremost, as you set foot out into society and the world of work upon graduation.

Next, I want you all to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge that will equip you to deal with what will be remarkable changes in technology that will take place from now on in the dramatically changing age that we live in. At graduate school you will be affiliated with a research lab, and acquiring the specialist skills and knowledge of your research lab will be very important. However, even more importantly, I also want you to acquire a comprehensive technological development ability including the ability to write up your research work properly, the ability to explain your research work clearly and in an easy-to-understand way, and the ability to discuss and debate technical matters related to your field in English.

In other words, I want you to develop the desire to take on the challenge of acquiring new knowledge about technology outside of that which you have acquired in your own specialist area, and to develop problem-solving skills.

The third request I have to make of you may be on a slightly less lofty plane, but as it is very important, I would like to talk about it for a moment. That is, acquiring skills to make you adept at interpersonal relations.

Within the symbiotic relationships that exist in natural ecosystems and amongst the competition and exploitation, there is also a relationship known as ‘altruism’. This is a relationship wherein one sacrifices oneself for others. This can often be seen in the case of birds for example, where the parent bird sacrifices itself to save its chick.

Even if it may not go quite as far as altruism, to act with consideration for others is a very important skill essential to building good interpersonal relationships. In addition, altruism is an important factor that is fundamental to, and necessary in order to cooperate with others when working on large-scale projects.

When we are young, we have a tendency to be rather self-centered as we focus on our own dreams, hopes and ambitions for the future; and although this is, in itself, a very important thing, I want you to acquire the habit of looking at things from someone else’s point of view. Put yourselves in others shoes, so to speak.

In conclusion, I hope you will all enjoy a very fruitful and rewarding time as students here at IPS.

Congratulations!