2025 New Year’s Greeting

Happy New Year from Kyushu University.

As we step into 2025, I remain committed to advancing the goals of Kyushu University VISION 2030. Building on our achievements thus far, I am eager to work alongside the university community and our stakeholders through meaningful dialogue and collaboration to achieve even greater progress.

The year 2024 marked a symbolic crossroads between the past and the future for Kyushu University. In April, we selected a preferred bidder to redevelop the Hakozaki Campus site. This historic campus served as the university’s main hub since its founding in 1911. The redevelopment will transform the campus into the HAKOZAKI Green Innovation Campus, honoring our legacy while fostering new industries, growth, and innovation.

Another highlight of 2024 was the centennial celebration of the first Japanese performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Known globally as the "Ode to Joy" or “The Ninth,” the first Japanese orchestra to perform this iconic piece was the Kyushu Imperial University Philharmonic, the predecessor of today’s Kyushu University Philharmonic Orchestra. To commemorate this milestone, the orchestra delivered an extraordinary performance, bringing the grandeur of this historic work into the present and deeply resonating with all who attended.

The year 2025 marks the fourth year of Kyushu University VISION 2030, a strategic plan launched in 2021 to address global challenges through interdisciplinary collaboration. The Integrated Initiative for Designing Future Society fosters cooperation across organizational boundaries, uniting researchers from the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Key contributors include our design-focused Think Tank Unit and research teams specializing in decarbonization, medicine, health, the environment, and food security. Together, they are advancing interdisciplinary research aimed at creating a better world.

These initiatives are already yielding significant results. Notable achievements include the creation of carbon dioxide separation membranes, Japan’s largest integrated medical and administrative data platform, and a predictive model for marine plastic waste with world-first quantitative targets.

Additionally, the Data-Driven Innovation Initiative, which leads digital transformation (DX) at the university, has achieved significant milestones across various domains. Notable accomplishments include the development and implementation of AI-powered technologies for data-driven agriculture, enabling precise environmental and growth management to enhance food production.

To accelerate the practical application of these research outcomes, in April we established Kyushu University Open Innovation Platform Co., Ltd. (OIP), an independent and wholly-owned subsidiary of the university. This restructuring enhances the scalability of our initiatives, streamlines decision-making processes, and ensures the timely execution of strategies. In July, EUV Photon Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Kyushu University Open Innovation Platform Co., Ltd., was launched as Japan’s sole provider of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography exposure and analysis services, which are critical for advanced semiconductor development. This initiative bolsters Japan’s global competitiveness through robust collaboration between academia and industry.

We are focused on expanding collaborations between industry and academia not only in Kyushu but also in neighboring Okinawa and around the world. In the semiconductor sector, for instance, we have deepened partnerships with Kumamoto Prefecture, Kumamoto University, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University to establish a global collaboration hub. As the lead institution of the Kyushu Okinawa Open University (KOOU)—a platform of 11 national universities across the Kyushu-Okinawa region—we have also partnered with the University Academic Alliance in Taiwan (UAAT), a consortium of 12 universities in Taiwan. Together, we are advancing numerous international projects spanning semiconductors, life sciences, engineering, and the humanities.

Our efforts to produce impactful research and translate it into innovation are well underway. Our mission is to align societal expectations with the university’s strengths. To address pressing challenges, we must build frameworks that bring researchers together, advancing research and bridging the gap between foundational inquiry and real-world applications. This requires envisioning the application and commercialization of research from its earliest stages, collaborating with industry, government, finance, and civil society to co-create a shared vision for the future.

Equally vital is our core mission of empowering individual researchers to pursue ambitious academic goals and produce research with high academic impact. For this to happen, researchers must have enough time and a supportive environment where they can focus fully on their work. As a university, we are dedicated to strengthening these support systems and fostering an atmosphere where creativity and innovation can flourish.

Today, the world faces numerous challenges, including the invasion of Ukraine, ongoing conflict in Gaza, and a multitude of other urgent issues. These are far from calm or stable times. In Japan, we contend with inflation, rising crime, and an overwhelming flood of information that often leaves us uncertain about what to believe, all against the backdrop of a precarious social climate. Amid these uncertain times, we must strive to build a secure and reliable future. Kyushu University is endowed with a vast reservoir of knowledge, cultivated and refined over its long history, and is home to exceptional individuals who are not only inheriting this legacy but also advancing groundbreaking, original research. While education and research remain at the heart of our mission, we are committed to uniting all the university’s capabilities. By collaborating with stakeholders who share our vision, we aim to create new value and evolve as a hub for business and innovation.

I look forward to shaping a renewed Kyushu University as we work together toward a brighter future in 2025.

January 1, 2025
Tatsuro Ishibashi
President of Kyushu University