Taizo Muta
Hiroshima University President

Hiroshima University is a university that promotes freedom and peace and is open to the community. Under its five guiding principles, the University is aiming to become a top-level comprehensive university that is distinguished throughout the world and has established a long-term vision in order to realize this goal.

Hiroshima University is an integrated research university with ten faculties, ten graduate schools and one research institute, along with many education and research facilities. As a leading university, it has an excellent record of education and research achievements.

Along with perfecting the fundamental academic fields in which the University has already obtained an excellent international standing, the University contributes to the creation of an intellectual civilization by intensively promoting the importance of pioneer research and aims to establish a world position in a variety of fields of academic research. For this reason, we have established four special research centers including the Research Center for Nanodevices and Systems and are examining ways to promote centers that have been selected as a 21st Century Center of Excellence (COE) and would be research groups.

Based on the University's string of excellent educational achievements and traditions, we shape educational content to meet the needs of society and develop new educational methods in order to send out to society, students who have a wide field of vision, highly specialized abilities and are rich in human qualities. Universities, along with showing a particular image to society, must progress with society and meet society's various needs. Contributions to society are viewed as an important function of this University. Through its various activities, the University promotes co-operation with regional society and international enterprises. The University is located in the peace city of Hiroshima and so it is especially important that we take the lead in providing the means to, and in sending out, a message of peace. Within the University, we aim to create an invigorating, co-operative campus that allows individuals to display their strengths.

Universities need to progress in making their own reforms in order to establish the society demanded by the 21st century. Hiroshima University has already made various reforms in anticipation of the times, but it must endeavor to sternly judge and evaluate itself and make continual reforms in the future too.