On March 10, 2016, a public panel discussion on the topic of “A Global Leader in the 21st Century” was held as part of our program’s special plan. Professor Takeo Arimoto at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies and senior fellow at the Center for Research and Development Strategy at the Japan Science and Technology Agency, attended as a special guest. During the first half of the event, Professor Arimoto gave a speech in which he developed the theme of the event, indicating that the 20th-century model of research, whereby it was enough to simply produce more knowledge, no longer holds applicable. He stressed that in the rapidly changing world of the 21st century, research needed to be conducted with a social value in mind. The panel discussion in the second half of the event ranged far and wide over a broad scope of topics—from what the Program for Leading Graduate Schools should teach to equip its participants to play an active role globally to the question of funding in academic policy making and the formation of research frameworks and systems and to the importance of diverse perspectives and international experience.