On April 1, 2010, I was appointed the eleventh director of the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), the University of Tokyo, the third since RCAST became a national university research institution in 2004. The initial objective of RCAST when it was founded in 1987 was that "RCAST shall play the central role in the advancement of science and technology from wide academic view points, that go beyond the framework of conventional departments, including humanities and social science, by making effective use of the University of Tokyo's university-wide resources and personnel, and shall consistently respond to the challenging request of the modern science-and-technology-based society by placing emphasis on interdisciplinarity, mobility, internationality, and openness."(*1)23 years later, the objective of RCAST as stated in the "FOREST 2015"(*2)released this year, is to "exploit new areas of advanced science and technology towards humans and society by expeditiously taking on new challenges arising from the evolution of science and society, thereby contributing to the progress of science and technology."Though worded differently, this underlying foundation has not changed over nearly a quarter-century. This shows just how universal RCAST's founding principles are, and that they take time to fulfill.

I feel that RCAST's mission is to continue pursuing what the ideal university should be, rather than getting locked behind "make-believe iron bars" (limiting conditions) that nearly all university organizations take for granted, with a very wide perspective. What makes this possible is that RCAST is a small "mammalian organization" capable of acting based on swift decisions adapted to its environment. A fast metabolism embedded in RCAST's DNA is a constitution which frees RCAST from "fetters." Among all national university research institutions, RCAST is the only one that does not attach an academic field to the name of it. Though this may be a shortcoming that clouds RCAST's identity, on the other hand, it was the starting point from which RCAST freed itself from the invisible iron bars of academic fields.

It has been 6 years now since the privatization of national universities in Japan. The university has operated according to its 6-year Midterm Plan, and therefore this fiscal year it will plunge forward into the second phase of its Midterm Goals and Plans. After understanding the significance of privatization and throwing itself into efforts to instill these mechanisms during phase one, phase two is the time when we have to take maximum advantage of privatization and make the next leap forward. Consequently, during the current term RCAST has oriented itself towards becoming a "partner-collaborative research institution" . It is to lead research that transverses industry-academia-government collaboration through cross-cutting research activities centered on on-campus research, while promoting internationalization based on human interaction. This means, in dealing with ever-changing social challenges, RCAST is working agilely to become a keystone institution by structuring a research system that transcends constraints between industry, academia and government and those imposed by national borders, while naturally implementing true internationalization on an individual level. RCAST wants to continue focusing on the four fields of "energy and environment," "barrier-free," "life and medicine," "information networks," while also taking on the challenge of forging new academic terrain that further transverses these interdisciplinary fields.

With industry-academia collaboration, RCAST has moved forward on unique collaborative schemes such as a "trial method," oriented towards cooperation with enterprises from the stage of problem discovery. This method not only provides a quick response to the diverse needs of business but also contributes to the vitalization of university research activities for the purpose of enabling university researchers to discover new issues and establish new topics. In addition, trial method activities not only lead to the adoption of joint research and national projects but also lead partner companies to conduct R and D investments in new fields. I feel that the potentially significant impact this could have on companies' business strategy underscores the need to expand the scope of such activities in the future from the standpoint of not only science and technology but political and social systems as well. Since RCAST researchers will not necessarily be able to carry these activities out alone, we will also need to incorporate multidisciplinary synergy with other departments within the University of Tokyo. RCAST would like to serve as the hub for such efforts, forming a strong bidirectional partnership between our university and the industry.

In recent years the society around us has been saddled by a whole slew of difficult issues such as climate change and aging population. RCAST would like to set a course for solving these problems based on its accomplishments in science and technology, which blend both science and humanities, and fully intends to contribute to bringing a bright future to all mankind. I sincerely appreciate your continued support and cooperation now and into the future.

*1 From the "20 Year History of the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, the University of Tokyo"
*2 The University of Tokyo's action scenario to be followed during the current President Hamada's term until March, 2015
*3 Article 2, Rules of the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo