AY 2021 Entrance Ceremony was held

On Friday, April 2, 2021, the entrance ceremony for the 2021 academic year was held in two separate sessions, with only the incoming students participating, in order to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

A total of 316 new students, 250 to the undergraduate school, 57 to master' s program, and 9 to the doctoral program were admitted by President MIYAZAKI Toshiaki.
Mr.AIZAWA toya and Ms.HASHIMOTO shihomi each made an oath on behalf of the new students admitted to the undergraduate school and the graduate school respectively.

Today we welcome the 316 new students to the University of Aizu, including 250 new undergraduates, 57 new master's students, and 9 new doctoral students. It is our great pleasure to welcome those of you taking your first steps as the newest members of our university. I am sure that the friends, family, and other relations who have raised, guided, and warmly watched over you until today are just as elated as you are. However, it is truly regrettable that today we are not able to celebrate your admission with your families who have supported you until now.

Words like AI, Big Data, IoT, and self-driving cars have become such a frequent matter of discussion that no day goes by without them being mentioned in the media. Information and Communications Technology, or ICT, the field you are about to begin studying at our university, covers all of these things. These days, ICT is not limited to just computers and communications technology. Rather, it has become something that enriches people's lives in everything from daily life to advanced medicine and space exploration as well as something that has been essential for creating a better future. Since its establishment, our university has both produced a wide variety of research achievements through the diligent efforts of our highly international faculty and student body recruited from across the world and has also sent highly capable ICT talents out into society. These efforts have borne fruit, causing the University of Aizu's reputation to rapidly increase in the last few years.

It is very likely that all of you know of Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple, which are sometimes collectively referred to as GAFA. Everyone recognizes the convenience of the services and platforms provided by these companies, which are generating enormous profits. However, these ICT-related companies are still very young. Many were born from the playful imaginations of lone university students or groups of friends, quickly grew and became accepted by a global audience comprised largely of young people, and eventually becoming the businesses they are today. Many of their founders were only in their 20s at the time, not much older than many of you. As University of Aizu students, you will have the opportunity to study technology and implementation methods related to ICT. However, I would like you to be aware that the ability to create entirely new systems and services exists within each of you.

The door to the promising world of learning ICT has been opened to you today. I hope that you will lead a fulfilling student life with the belief that a future of your own making is beyond this door. Learning new things sometimes requires effort and perseverance. In conclusion, it is my expectation that you each will devote yourself to your studies with an understanding of that fact while also working to polish your intelligence and humanity with a dream in your heart on our highly international campus, eventually growing into individuals capable of succeeding on the global stage.

Once again, congratulations on your admission to the University of Aizu.

April 02, 2021
MIYAZAKI Toshiaki, President, the University of Aizu