On May 17, 2019, the National Diet of Japan enacted the "Law for the Partial Revision of the School Education Act" which prescribes the partial revision of the National University Corporation Act, a law necessary to establish the integration of the two national university corporations of Gifu University and Nagoya University into one national university corporation, "Tokai National Higher Education and Research System (THERS)."
We would first like to express our deepest gratitude to all the related members of the National Diet and Government of Japan who have worked hard to make the revision of this law possible, and also to the people, local governments, and businesses of the Tokai region who have assisted us in various ways.
The enactment of this law is based on reports on the progress of examination to establish a single national university corporation for the two universities as well as requests to revise the relevant law that were sent to the then Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Yoshimasa Hayashi in August 2018 and to the current MEXT Minister Masahiko Shibayama in December 2018. The revision of the relevant law has allowed to meet the conditions essential for their aim of establishing a single national university corporation, and eventually, the establishment of THERS will come to realization on April 1, 2020.
In response to today's rapidly and significantly changing world and our country, the two universities have continued discussions since April 2018 to establish their common national university corporation, THERS, in order to fundamentally strengthen educational and research functions and further contribute to sustainable development in the Tokai region for the future.
From now on, we will accelerate the preparations for establishing this new corporation, and, by combining the strength of our universities under one corporate body, continue to develop both in terms of contribution to the regional development and enhancement of our international competitiveness. Furthermore, we will make extended efforts to become an intellectual hub through the development of world-class research, implement internationally recognized and competitive education, contribute to the regional development that can help solve social and industrial problems, and, finally, produce promising graduates who will be future leaders of the next generation serving not just within the Tokai region but in Japan and in other countries throughout the world.
We sincerely hope that prospective students and their guardians, current students, and alumni of Gifu University or Nagoya University, and those who assist the universities--including the people, local governments and businesses in the Tokai region--and finally, everyone who support national universities will continue to cooperate and support the establishment and the development of THERS.
May 17, 2019
Hisataka Moriwaki, Gifu University President
Seiichi Matsuo, Nagoya University President