On 1 September 2025, ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ-IAS welcomed 12 students and 3 students from 12 different countries in a ceremony inaugurating academic year 2025-26.
Opening the event, (Director, ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ-IAS) welcomed the new students and highlighted the unique features of the ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ-IAS postgraduate degree programmes, such as interdisciplinarity and policy-oriented research. Tshilidzi Marwala (Rector, ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ) noted the diversity of the academic body and noted that 2025 was a special year commemorating both the 50th anniversary of ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ and the 80th anniversary of the UN.
Taro Kawase (Director, Multilateral Cultural Cooperation Division, Minister¡¯s Secretariat, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan) and Aya Saito (Deputy Director, Office for International Cooperation Planning, International Affairs Division, Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan) delivered congratulatory remarks.
Yasushi Katsuma (Academic Programme Advisor, ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ-IAS) provided a short introduction to the postgraduate degree programmes. A special lecture by (Chair of the ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ-IAS Board; Chief Operating Officer at CIFOR-ICRAF) highlighted the need for students to consider how their studies can contribute to achieving the SDGs and informing action on the ground to address challenges such as reducing inequality, protecting ecosystems and biodiversity, pursuing sustainable cities and taking climate action.
The new student cohort will be studying and researching different aspects of sustainability in four ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ-IAS : Governance for Climate Change & Sustainable Development, Biodiversity & Society, Water & Resource Management, and Innovation & Education.
