AY 2023 Entrance Ceremony was held

On Tuesday, April 4, 2023, the entrance ceremony for the 2023 academic year was held with only the incoming students participating, in order to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
A total of 327 new students, 260 to the undergraduate school, 64 to master' s program, and 3 to the doctoral program were admitted by President MIYAZAKI Toshiaki.
Mr. IGARASHI Yuki and Ms. SUDO Hitomi each made a pledge on behalf of the new students admitted to the undergraduate school and the graduate school respectively.

Today we welcome 327 new students to the University of Aizu, including 260 new undergraduates, 64 new master's students, and 3 new doctoral students. It is our great pleasure to welcome those of you taking your first steps as new members of the University of Aizu.

Words like AI, Big Data, IoT, and self-driving cars become such a frequent topic that no day goes by without them being mentioned in the media. Information Communication Technology, ICT, the field you will be studying at our university, covers all of these things. These days, ICT is not limited to 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 and now essential to create a better future. Since its establishment, our university has produced a wide variety of research achievements through the diligent efforts of our highly international faculty and student body recruited from across the world. We have also sent highly capable ICT talents out into society. These efforts have borne fruit, causing the University's reputation to rapidly rise in the last few years.

It is likely that all of you know of Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple, collectively referred to as GAFA. Everyone recognizes the convenience of their services and platforms they provide, 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. They quickly grew and became accepted by a global audience, eventually becoming the industry leaders they are today. Many of their founders were only in their 20s at the time, not much older than many of you. As the University of Aizu students, you will have the opportunity to study technology and implementation methods related to ICT. However, please be aware that the power to create entirely new mechanisms and services yet to exist in this world lies within each of you.

The door to the promising world of learning ICT has 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 the door. It is my expectation that you will dedicate yourselves to your studies with an awareness that learning new things requires effort and perseverance. I also hope that each of you will polish your intelligence and humanity with a dream in your heart on our highly international campus and grow into individuals capable of succeeding on the global stage.

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

April 4, 2023

MIYAZAKI Toshiaki, President, the University of Aizu