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We are approaching the end of the first quarter of the 21st century. During this time, conflicts and natural disasters symbolized by the terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001 and the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 have continued to occur. Now we are facing the enormous challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has thrown our society into turmoil. On the other hand, there are great expectations for rapidly advancing science and technology as a driving force for the development of a sustainable society. Accordingly, in the course of social reform, a major review of the mission of universities has come to be required.
Niigata University aims to be needed and to continue shining even more in the turbulent society of the 21st century. To that end, we will always think about what we can do as a national university in Japan, take action, and contribute to fostering individuals of the next generation and to the development of science as well as to society based on predictions of the future.
This Niigata University Vision 2030 returns to the basics of Niigata University and shows various stakeholders what the future of Niigata University should be. In this vision, we regard the year 2030 as the immediate future, as it is the deadline for the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). Setting "Becoming a front-runner of future life innovation" as the mission that Niigata University is to accomplish toward the society of the future, we will gather the knowledge of Niigata University as a comprehensive university in order to enrich human activities on the earth. On the basis of this view, we have formulated visions of what Niigata University should be in the future of 2030 and establish the path toward these visions as our goal.
February 26, 2021
USHIKI Tatsuo, M.D., Ph.D.
President
Niigata University was established in May 1949 as a national university under the new educational system, originating from National Niigata Medical College and Niigata High School under the former educational system, incorporating institutions, including three Teachers' Schools, Nagaoka High School of Technology, and Niigata Prefectural Agriculture and Forestry Special School. Niigata University has carried on the time-honored traditions fostered in the land of "Koshi"* as well as the pioneering spirit of the port city of Niigata, one of the five ports opened to the world at the end of Edo period.
Our philosophy, "Autonomy and Creativity" is based on these traditions and spirit. Under this philosophy, Niigata University has functioned as a repository of knowledge committed to development both locally and globally from the viewpoints of education, research, and contribution to society.
Today, we have grown into a large-scale comprehensive university as one of the leading universities in Japan, with a student body of approximately 13,000 and 3,000 academic and administrative staff members. Along with 10 Faculties and 5 Graduate Schools, Niigata University boasts the Brain Research Institute, the Research Institute for Natural Hazards and Disaster Recovery, the Medical and Dental Hospital as well as the Attached Schools. Furthermore, the Asian Link Research Center, the Sado Island Center for Ecological Sustainability, and the Sakeology Center have been established as university-wide organizations that meet the needs of the times.
*Koshi is an old name for Niigata, and the meaning of its Chinese characters is "high ambition".
Niigata University is a large, comprehensive university, located on the Sea of Japan coast of Honshu, Japan's main island. Its main campus is situated in Niigata city, which is designated as a core city in Japan and also known as a government ordinance-designated city with several consulates. We clearly state our role as a "gateway of knowledge" open to the world with our base in Asia across the Sea of Japan. Niigata University will deepen exchange of knowledge through education, research, and contribution to society. We will put forward new definitions and suggestions in society regarding life, learning, local communities, and the international community as it ought to be in order to live humanly throughout the 21st century.
Accordingly, our definition of "Life Innovation" is not confined to the fields of medical care, health, and welfare, but is also innovation that creates new value and meaning of our "existence", "whole life", "way of living", "the ideal society", "involvement with the environment" as well as the bases of these: the earth and nature as we live through the 21st century. Under its philosophy, "Autonomy and Creativity", Niigata University sets out our mission to gather the knowledge of the entire university and become a front-runner of future life innovation.
Niigata University is to be a future-oriented comprehensive university where young Japanese, adults, and international students gather across time and space, learn with security as well as respect and embrace diversity while designing their own learning. We will promote education that integrates the digital and real world, and equip our students to grow into individuals who can contribute to an ever-changing future society. Niigata University will thus be the leading academic base for undergraduate and graduate education on the Sea of Japan side.
Niigata University will create research flagships* that bring together the knowledge of the entire university related to life innovation while improving the environment that fosters unique, cutting-edge research, and various basic research. Niigata University will thus be a research-oriented university that produces research of an international standard, valuable to the society of the future.
*Research flagship: Research with distinctive features that can be an emblem of the university
Niigata University will provide high-quality, advanced medical care at the Niigata University Medical and Dental Hospital. At the same time, we will foster highly skilled medical professionals and the medical professionals required by society. We will also solve problems in collaboration with the community and become a base for research and development for world-class advanced medical care.
Niigata University will promote education and research activities that utilize dialogue in the local community and industry-academia collaboration. Based in the regional core city of Niigata, we will contribute to regional revitalization and individualization, and become a base for "co-creation of society and communities" in order to create new life innovation.
Niigata University is a "gateway of knowledge" open to the world from Niigata, which is located on the Sea of Japan side. We will thus promote the creation of knowledge in collaboration with the world, and become the home of advanced and diverse brain circulation by enhancing global awareness on our campus.
Under the leadership of the President, Niigata University will optimize its organization, enhance external funds, including Niigata University Fund, as its core resources, and utilize other resources inside and outside the university. Through these efforts, we will become a vibrant university which develops sustainably, together with the local community.
Click HERE for Japanese version.