Research and education in optical science and technology at the University of Electro-Communications (UEC) has long term history, and the achievements have earned renown in the worldwide community. It is a great honor that our efforts have been highly evaluated and that the Innovation in Coherent Optical Science program has been chosen as a COE program of the 21st century in the category of ﾒMathematics, Physics and Earth Science, a core field of the natural sciences.
The alumni of UEC and graduates from the master's program are highly regarded in various aspects. The master's program is becoming very popular, and enrollment has been expanded. UEC constantly earns a high reputation from the mass media in that aspect On the other hand, our doctoral program is still considerably young and has several shortcomings. This is because it was only in 1987 that UEC was approved to launch a doctoral program. Enhancement of the doctoral program is strongly correlated with the research activity of the university. Fostering the COE program of the 21st century in our doctoral course will be a driving force to excel in our research activity.
The COE program of the 21st Century is a part of a national policy to enhance education and research activities in doctoral programs. We expect that the Innovation in Coherent Optical Science program will make great contributions to the enhancement of research and education in optical science and, at the same time, we also hope this will stimulate further development of the doctoral program at UEC.
Under the strong leadership of the program leader, a Course of Coherent Optical Science was introduced for students in the doctoral programs of three departments: Applied Physics and Chemistry, Information and Communication Engineering, and Electronic Engineering. Students with high academic achievement will be provided with financial assistance. Inspired by this program, UEC has extended the financial assistance program to the students in the doctoral program of whole University in FY2004.
The Innovation in Coherent Optical Science program has been smoothly administered thanks to the enthusiasm of its personnel. The first COE symposium was held in December of 2003. The university is determined to provide all the support possible to help the program win high praise from the public. Reinforcing the strength of the program and making it a distinguishing feature of UEC is in line with the basic policy of the university administration in this new era. Currently, the Innovation in coherent optical science program is the only COE program to be undertaken at UEC. We are striving to further promote the Innovation in Coherent Optical Science program while we also endeavor to have additional programs in the fields of information and communication qualified as COE programs in the near future. Our ultimate goal is to establish UEC as a highly renowned university of science and technology worldwide.