令和3年10月千葉大学大学院 新入生の皆さんへ（学長メッセージ）

President's Message to New Graduate Students at the 2021 Fall

Congratulations on your admission to the Master's, Doctoral, and Professional Degree Programs at the Graduate Schools of Chiba University. I am so proud to see that all of are full of curiosity with aspiration for knowledge. Our faculty and staff are more than welcome to support you in achieving your goals.

With the spread of the COVID-19, the entire world is now facing a major turning point. We are required to change our ways of thinking at all levels, including how we learn and work. To overcome these challenges and develop our society sustainably with other countries, we need "talented persons who create new values." To be such a person, who is required by society, it is essential to develop excellent research skills in your area of expertise. Besides academic knowledge and techniques, you should acquire other skills, including diverse perspectives, flexibility, high language abilities, and communication skills. Then, please aim to be a leading researcher in your field.

Just like you, I entered graduate school about 35 years ago. I specialized in immunology and researched allergies and cancer. After achieving my Ph.D., I started to work as a university faculty member. The theme of my research has been developed in the 30 years since my graduate school days. Now, I would like to share two important things that I learned from my experience.

First, please proactively adopt the latest technology in your research. Let's look back at the development history of life sciences. The optical microscope was invented about 400 years ago. This enabled us to observe cells for the first time in human history. Since then, cell biology has started to develop. As infectious diseases, such as cholera bacteria became visible, infectious disease medicine made significant progress. Later, the invention of the electron microscope made it possible to see viruses. You might have seen the images of　SARS-Cov2 in the media. These images were obtained with an electron microscope. The invention of new technology could be a breakthrough that leads to the explosive development of several research fields. This is a typical example of innovation. It is very important for a scientist to aggressively take in cutting-edge science and technology to advance their research. If you do that, I am sure that you will find exciting discoveries in your research field.

Secondly, if you decide to become a researcher, I recommend working on the same topic for a long time. If you keep it for a long time, you will surely come across great discoveries several times in your life. I promise you that. There are no national borders between research. I recommend that you study abroad at an early age, become absorbed in research life with researchers with different values and perspectives, and most importantly, make friends. These friends will enrich the rest of your life.

I hope you will devote yourself to academic and applied research, to be the leaders at the forefront of a global society. I am sure that you all be outstanding researchers who create new value for society. To that end, please continue pursuing your research with sincere academic inquiry while keeping Chiba University's philosophy, "Always Aim Higher," in mind. Besides academic expertise, please try to acquire a rich and profound cultural experience and knowledge. I sincerely hope that you find your graduate school life fruitful and that your research achievements are excellent.

October 1, 2021
Toshinori Nakayama,
President
Chiba University