Academia Sinica

Academia Sinica (AS, ; zh, t=中央研究院) is the national academy of the Republic of China. It is headquartered in Nangang, Taipei.

Founded in Nanjing, the academy supports research activities in mathematics, physical sciences, life sciences, humanities and social sciences. As an educational institute, it provides PhD training and scholarship through its English-language Taiwan International Graduate Program in biology, agriculture, chemistry, physics, informatics, and earth and environmental sciences.

The current president since 2016 is James C. Liao, an expert in metabolic engineering, systems biology and synthetic biology.

History

Academia Sinica, which means "Chinese Academy", was founded in 1928 in Nanjing, then capital of the Republic of China, with its first meeting held in Shanghai. By December 1948, all fourteen institutes of the Academia Sinica had agreed to move from Nanjing to Taiwan alongside other institutions of the government of the Republic of China as a result of the Chinese Civil War. In the end, only the Academia Sinica's Institute of History and Philology was relocated to Taiwan, because the head of the Institute of Mathematics, Jiang Lifu, resigned his position in June 1949, and never traveled to Taiwan.

Of the 81 inaugural research fellows appointed by the Academia Sinica prior to its move, nine crossed the Taiwan Strait. The institution was low on monetary funds, and reopened with the Institute of History and Philology in December 1954. In the same year, its main campus was constructed in , Nangang, Taipei. Due to the importance of agriculture to the economy of Taiwan, efforts were made to revive the Institute of Botany. The second convocation of the Academia Sinica was held in 1957. At the same time, the mainland part of Academia Sinica remained functioning under Communist rule and was renamed as the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the 1980s.

In the 2000s, many of the current institutes and research centers were established, partially through reorganization of old ones. Academia Sinica's first PhD program, the Taiwan International Graduate Program, was inaugurated in 2006.

Leadership

The president of Academia Sinica is appointed by the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from three candidates recommended by the Council Meeting. The president of Academia Sinica must be an academician. After the appointment, the president serves a five-year term and can serve up to two consecutive terms.

Academia Sinica's current president is James C. Liao, a biochemist, who replaced Chi-Huey Wong, a biological chemist and the Parsons Foundation Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, as the 11th president on 21 June 2016. The list of past presidents also includes Hu Shih, a philosopher and essayist, and a key contributor to Chinese liberalism and language reform in his advocacy for the use of vernacular Chinese, as well as an influential redology scholar and holder of the Jiaxu manuscript ( zh, c=甲戌本, p=Jiǎxū běn, links=no) until his death. The fifth president, Yuan T. Lee, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "contributions to the dynamics of chemical elementary processes".

Presidents

* Cai Yuanpei (1928–1940)
* Chu Chia-Hua (Acting, 1940–1957)
* Hu Shih (1958–1962)
* Wang Shih-Chieh (1962–1970)
* Chien Shih-Liang (1970–1983)
* Wu Ta-You (1983–1994)
* Yuan T. Lee (1994–2006)
* Chi-Huey Wong (2006–2016)
* James C. Liao (2016–)

Convocation

The Convocation of Academia Sinica consists of 281 academicians, including 105 domestic and 176 overseas appointed scientists. Seven academicians of Academia Sinica are Nobel laureates. Academician membership is an honorary lifetime privilege without remuneration. They do not necessarily perform research or reside at the Academia Sinica campus. According to their own expertise, academicians are grouped into three divisions: Mathematics and Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, and Social Sciences and Humanities. A maximum number of ten new members is allocated to each of the three divisions during the biennial convocation. The eligibility of the academicians is not restricted to the residents of Taiwan or Republic of China citizens. More than half of the academicians are overseas scholars and scientists.

At the convocation, the academicians elect new academicians and honorary academicians, and elect members to the Council of Academia Sinica. The convocation can also recommend policies to the government on academic research. The academicians also have responsibilities to carry out research at the government's request, although the government has never requested any task.

Academicians

Academicians are elected every two years, with nominations open in July and ending in October. Outcome of election to academicians are publicly announced in July the following year. Election to the academy is regarded a national honor in Taiwan. Up until the 34th convocation of academicians in 2022, any scientist of Chinese descent could be elected a member of Academia Sinica. Starting in 2023, election is to be restricted to citizens of the Republic of China. This change led Academia Sinica to discuss formally classifying non-Taiwanese members as honorary or foreign members. Such a classification system would require amendments to the Organic Act of the Academia Sinica. A group of academicians proposed that membership be further restricted to Taiwan passport or national identification card holders.

Resident academicians

; Mathematics and physical sciences
* Yuan T. Lee
* Chi-Huey Wong
* Typhoon Lee
* Maw-Kuen Wu

; Life sciences
* James C. Liao
* Wen-Hsiung Li
* Chien-Jen Chen
* Liao I-chiu
* Chen Pei-jer
* Ming-Che Shih

; Humanities and social sciences
* Paul Jen-kuei Li
* Cyrus Chu

Nobel Prize laureates

* Yuan T. Lee (chemistry 1986)
* Steven Chu (physics 1997)
* Daniel C. Tsui (physics 1998)

Academicians who reside overseas

Campuses

Academia Sinica has its main campus located in Nangang, Taipei, and runs over 40 research stations distributed across the country and throughout the world.

Main campus

The main campus in , Nangang was constructed in 1954. In addition to the Central Office of Administration and 28 institutes and research centers, the main campus has 10 museums or memorial halls open to the public, as well as an ecological pond, a forest park, a Tudigong temple (Fude Temple ), and Sifen Creek (), which runs through the campus and to the north by the National Biotechnology Research Park.

National Biotechnology Research Park

The National Biotechnology Research Park, finished in 2017 and inaugurated in October 2018 by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, is located about 500 m north of the main campus and 500 m south of the Nankang Software Park, with the Nangang station to the west and the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center MRT station to the east. It is home to four Academia Sinica centers for translational medicine, innovation, incubation, and bioinformatics service, as well as the Biotechnology Development Center of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Food and Drug Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the National Laboratory Animal Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

National Taiwan University main campus

Three physical sciences institutes, Mathematics, Astronomy, and Atomic and Molecular Sciences, are located in the main campus of National Taiwan University in Gongguan, Daan, Taipei. A joint office between the two institutions was established in 2014.

Southern Campus

A campus in the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City, near the Tainan High Speed Rail station, Guiren District, Tainan, opened in 2024. The Southern Campus is part of an effort to promote regional balance in the academic landscape of Taiwan and will prioritize research on agricultural biotechnology, sustainable development, and archaeology of early Taiwanese history and culture.

Organization

Institutes and research centers

Academia Sinica covers three major academic divisions:

Mathematics and physical sciences

11 centers; 339 research fellows
*Mathematics
*Physics (1962)
*Chemistry (1957)
*Earth Sciences (1982)
*Institute of Information Science (1982)
* Statistical Science (1987)
* Atomic and Molecular Sciences (1995)
* Astronomy and Astrophysics (2010)
* Applied Sciences (2006)
* Environmental Changes (2004)
* Information Technology Innovation (2007)

Life sciences

8 centers; 329 research fellows
* Plant and Microbial Biology (2005)
* Cellular and Organismic Biology (2005)
* Biological Chemistry (1970)
* Molecular Biology (1993)
*Genomics (2003)
* Agricultural Biotechnology (2006)
*Biodiversity (2004)
*Biomedical Sciences (1981)

Humanities and social sciences

12 centers; 319 research fellows
* History and Philology
*Ethnology (1965)
*Modern History (1965)
* Economics (1970)
* European and American Studies (1991)
* Chinese Literature and Philosophy (2002)
*Taiwan History (2004)
*Sociology (2004)
*Linguistics (2004)
*Political Science (2012)
* Iurisprudentiae (2011)
* Humanities and Social Sciences (2004)

Research stations

The research stations in Taiwan include:
* Southern Taiwan Science Park Archaeological Station ()
* Green Island Marine Station ()
*Yuanyang Lake Station (), Jianshi, Hsinchu
*Marine Research Station, Jiaosi, Yilan ()
* Dongsha Atoll Research Station, Kaohsiung ()

The research sites abroad include:
*Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), Luzon, the Philippines
*Sesoko Station, Okinawa, Japan
*Yuan Tseh Lee Array (YTLA), Mauna Loa, Hawaii, United States
*South-East Asian Time Series Study (SEATS) on the South China Sea

Education programs

PhD programs

Joint programs

In general Academia Sinica is a non-teaching institution, but it has very close collaboration with the top research universities in Taiwan, such as National Taiwan University, National Tsing Hua University, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University and National Central University. Many research fellows from Academia Sinica have a second appointment or joint professorship at these universities. In addition, Academia Sinica established joint PhD programs in biological sciences with Taiwan's universities, such as the Doctoral Degree Program in Marine Biotechnology with National Taiwan Ocean University. Through these mechanisms, the faculty at Academia Sinica give lecture courses and supervise graduate students.

Taiwan International Graduate Program

Since 2002, Academia Sinica set up the Taiwan International Graduate Program (TIGP),Taiwan International Graduate Program
, Academia Sinica, Taiwan. open to local and international students for PhD programs. All courses at TIGP are conducted in English. Students can choose their advisor among a faculty selected for the program out of outstanding researchers and professors appointed at Academia Sinica or at one of the partner universities (or both). Currently, admittance to the programme guarantees a monthly stipend of 40,000 NTD, roughly $1,200 or €1,150 in their first year and up to 50,000 NTD, roughly $1,500 or €1,400 in their third year.

The TIGP offers PhD programs only in selected disciplines agreed upon by Academia Sinica and its national research universities partners. The program offers doctoral degrees in highly interdisciplinary areas in the physical sciences, applied sciences, engineering, biological and agricultural sciences, health and medical sciences, humanities and social sciences. As of March 2017, Academia Sinica administers 13 such programs with degrees issued from partner universities:
* Chemical Biology and Molecular Biophysics
* Molecular Science and Technology
* Molecular and Biological Agricultural Sciences
* Bioinformatics
* Molecular and Cell Biology
* Nano Science and Technology
* Molecular Medicine
* Earth System Science
* Biodiversity
* Interdisciplinary Neuroscience
* Sustainable Chemical Science and Technology
* Social Network and Human-Centered Computing
* Artificial Intelligence of Things

Predoctoral programs

TIGP International Internship Program

Launched in 2009, th
TIGP International Internship Program (TIGP-IIP)
is an intensive, predoctoral, summer research training program for two months that prepares its participating interns with the necessary knowledge and skills for future research or career development through rigorous hands-on training.

Postdoctoral scholars

Academia Sinica has a high number of both domestic and international postdoctoral fellows. They are funded by grants of the Ministry of Science and Technology or by Academia Sinica. The latter, the Academia Sinica Postdoctoral Fellow Program, consists of two tracks: Regular Postdoctoral Scholars (starting annual salary: NT$810,351 (US$28,100), additional benefits depending on the principal investigator) and Academia Sinica Postdoctoral Scholars (annual salary up to NT$1,167,278 (US$40,000), plus round-trip ticket and research subsidy of (US$4,500).

International cooperation

The institute has extensive cooperation with research and academic institutions from other countries (such as Harvard-Yenching Institute) and hosts several foreign institutes and their scholars.

France

The Taipei Center of the French School of Asian Studies ( EFEO) was hosted by the Institute of Modern History, AS, from 1992 to 1996 and since 1996 by the Institute of History and Philology. Its research projects center on the local and cultural history of Taiwan and China, and it organizes conferences and talks, support visiting scholars and students, and hosts EFEO fellows.

Journals associated with Academia Sinica

Academia Sinica currently sponsors the following journals:
*'' Botanical Studies''
*'' Zoological Studies''
*'' Language and Linguistics''
*'' Statistica Sinica''
*''Academia Sinica Law Journal''
*''Taiwan Journal of Anthropology''
*''Academia Economic Papers''
*''Bulletin of the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica''
*''Journal of Social Sciences and Philosophy''

See also

* List of universities in Taiwan
* Max Planck Institutes
* Tang K. Tang
* Academician of Academia Sinica

References

Further reading

* Levinson, David et al. eds. ''The Encyclopedia of Modern Asia'' (6 vol Thomson-Gale, 2002) 1:9–.

External links

*

{{Authority control

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Taiwan
Education in Taiwan
Scientific organizations established in 1928
Members of the International Council for Science
Members of the International Science Council