To all our new students, welcome to Niigata University. On behalf of Niigata University, I extend my heartfelt congratulations on your admission.
Niigata University is a comprehensive university with 10 faculties and 5 graduate schools. Here, I hope you will cultivate yourselves and develop the abilities to face the society of the future. This will help make your dreams and hopes come true and open up a path to the future.
From today, you will experience many new encounters and learnings at Niigata University. This is because a university is a "space of learning" where diverse people come together. Consequently, your university days will provide valuable time for you to meet such diverse people, influence each other, and through communication with these people, support your growth. I am sure you all welcome your enrollment day with various dreams and hopes for the future. Please do not forget the joy you feel now, embrace your dreams and hopes, and make your campus life rich and productive.
On the occasion of your enrollment, I would like to share Niigata University’s philosophy with you. Niigata University’s philosophy is "Autonomy and Creativity." "Autonomy," as the word suggests, means to behave according to the standards you have set for yourself, and "Creativity" means to produce something new. This philosophy provides the basis for education at Niigata University.
Put another way, the spirit of "Autonomy and Creativity" means not to imitate other people but to be in the habit of making your own observations, discerning facts with your own eyes, and making correct judgements. I would like you to take to heart the philosophy of "Autonomy and Creativity" as you expand the horizons of your learning during your life at the university.
Furthermore, at Niigata University, we have a vision for the near future of 2030. In this vision, becoming "a front-runner of future life innovation" is defined as the mission for the university to accomplish.
"Life Innovation" here is not confined to the fields of medical care, health and welfare, but is also innovation that creates new values and meaning of our "existence," "whole life," "way of living," "the ideal society," and "involvement with the environment," as well as the very basis of these: the earth and nature, as we live through the 21st century. In other words, the "Life Innovation"that Niigata University strives for is innovation for the well-being of humanity.
In this way, Niigata University strives to foster research that will contribute to the future of human society and develop people who will play an active role in the future society. As you enter Niigata University, I hope you will embrace the university’s philosophy of "Autonomy and Creativity," share the university’s vision for the future, and get the most out of your time as a student.
This year marks the 75th anniversary since Niigata University became a national university.
"New challenges, Unlimited contributions"
As we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the university’s foundation, just like this catch phrase, Niigata University has pledged to take on new challenges toward the future and has deepened its determination to continue to be a university that contributes to society.
As you enter the university, I do hope you will face your dreams and hopes, embrace the university’s philosophy, share the university’s vision for the future and its determination for the 75th anniversary year of its foundation, and enjoy a meaningful student life. Maintain your intellectual curiosity, never lose sight of the importance of learning, and continue to pursue the dreams you have at the time of your enrollment.
My heartfelt congratulations, once again, on your admission to Niigata University. I hope your university life will be a truly rewarding one.
Thank you.
October 1, 2024
USHIKI Tatsuo, M.D., Ph.D.
President, Niigata University
入学的新生们，欢迎你们来到新潟大学。我谨代表新潟大学向同学们致以由衷的入学祝贺。
新潟大学是一所由10个学院和5个研究生院构成的综合性大学。希望同学们能在其中锻炼自己，养成在未来社会中立足的能力。这将帮助你们实现理想和愿望，开辟未来的道路。
相信同学们未来会在新潟大学中遇到和学到许许多多的新事物。因为大学这个地方是各种各样的人聚集到一起的"学习场所"。因此，你们将在大学生活中与各种各样的人相遇、相互影响、相互交流，不断成长，度过宝贵的时光。我相信，同学们都怀揣着对未来的各种理想和愿望，迎来入学的这一天。请大家不要忘记当下的喜悦，在培养自己的理想和愿望的同时，度过丰富多彩、硕果累累的大学生活。
值此入学之际，我首先要将新潟大学的理念告诉大家。新潟大学的理念是"自律与创生"。正如其字面意思所言，"自律"就是按照自己制定的规范来采取行动，"创生"就是创造新事物。新潟大学根据这一理念开展着教育工作。
若将"自律与创生"精神换种说法，那就是秉持不效仿他人、而是自己仔细观察或倾听事物并用自己的眼睛去分辨事实从而做出判断的习惯。希望同学们一面通过在新潟大学的学生生活完成各种学习，一面感受这种"自律与创生"的理念。
其次，新潟大学制定了面向2030年的未来愿景。其中规定了新潟大学应履行的使命，即成为"未来生命创新的领跑者"。
这里所说的"生命创新"不仅限于"医疗、健康、福利领域"，而是指为生活在21世纪的我们的"生命"、"人生"、"生活方式"、"社会应有的姿态"、"与环境之间的关系"以及作为其基础的"地球"和"自然"创造出新的价值和意义的革新。也就是说，新潟大学力求的"生命创新"就是为人类带来幸福的革新。
因此，新潟大学的目标就是开展有助于未来人类社会的研究，培养在未来社会中发挥积极作用的人才。从此刻开始，请同学们牢记新潟大学"自律与创生"的理念，共享新潟大学的未来愿景，度过有意义的学生生活。
今年，新潟大学迎来了成为国立大学后的建校75周年。
"新挑战、大贡献""New challenges, Unlimited contributions"
值此建校75周年的庆贺之年，新潟大学如该宣传口号般深化了面向未来迎接新挑战的誓言和继续成为为社会做贡献的大学的决心。
希望同学们在入学之际正视自己的理想和愿望，牢记新潟大学的理念，共享新潟大学的未来愿景和建校75周年的决心，度过有意义的学生生活。此外，请同学们在保持求知欲的同时，不忘记学习的重要性，朝着入学时怀抱的理想前进。
最后，我再次诚挚欢迎同学们入读本校。我向你们致以由衷的祝贺。希望同学们的大学生活硕果累累，我的致辞到此结束。
2024年10月1日
新潟大学校长 牛木辰男