TOn the morning of April 6, Kobe University held its Entrance Ceremony 2010 at Kobe World Memorial Hall. Among the 4,618 students were those entering the newly established Graduate School of System Informatics. President FUKUDA Hideki, Vice Presidents and Deans of all 14 graduate schools were on hand to congratulate them. The student breakdown is as follows:

• 2,621 undergraduate students (including 29 international students)
• 162 third year transfer students
• 1,340 graduate school students enrolling in the Former Period of Doctoral Degree Program (including 274 international students)
• 340 graduate school students enrolling in the Latter Period of Doctoral Degree Program
• 155 graduate school students enrolling in the Professional Degree Program for Law and Business Administration

In the President's speech, he used "internationality" and "interdisciplinarity" to describe the characteristics of Kobe University. He then introduced specific plans to promote these characteristics further, including the plan to set up a 'Kobe University Multidisciplinary Research Center of Excellence' near the so-called 'next generation super computer' which will be installed on Port Island. At the end of his speech, he told the students that in order to find their future dream, they should also acquire the fundamental skills to attain it.

The ceremony came to a close with a chorus of the Kobe University Song by the male members of the mixed chorus groups, "Apollon" and "Erde," and members of the "Glee Club".

A commemorative lecture by Dr. KOBAYASHI Makoto, the 2008 Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics and a member of Kobe University Board of Management Council, followed the ceremony. The theme of his lecture was "What to Study", in which he said, "New knowledge soon becomes common knowledge. In your course of study at Kobe University, please acquire wisdom which is the first step to creating new knowledge."