Four government-funded universities in central and southern Taiwan formally launched a unit yesterday to integrate their resources and jointly nurture talent.
The unit, named the Comprehensive University System of Taiwan, will be run by National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Greater Tainan, National Sun Yat-Sen University in Greater Kaohsiung, National Chung Hsing University in Greater Taichung and National Chung Cheng University in Chiayi County.
The aim of the unit is to integrate educational resources and collaborate on research and development, library information, international affairs, intellectual property and sustainable management, among other fields, the schools said in a statement.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
At the inauguration ceremony, NCKU president Hwung Hwung-hweng (黃煌煇) announced that Paul Chu (朱經武), an internationally renowned pioneer in the field of superconductivity, would serve as the unit’s honorary chancellor.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) praised Chu’s decision to return to serve his alma mater, NCKU, without pay.
Chu’s success in helping to improve the academic ranking of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology during his tenure there as school president shows that he is not only an accomplished researcher, but also a management expert, Ma said at the opening ceremony.
Ma also said his administration would continue to push educational reforms to help globalize the nation’s schools and increase the country’s competitiveness.
Chu, who is also an academic in the field of mathematics and physical science at Academia Sinica, said he took up the job because he was grateful and wanted to give back to the country where he was raised.
He said he hoped the new unit would be a driver for the improvement and development of education in Taiwan and that the four participating schools would become world-class universities.
Chu, 71, and Chinese American physicist Wu Maw-kuen (吳茂昆), who was also raised in Taiwan, made a groundbreaking discovery in the field of superconductivity in 1987.
Chu has received many awards and honors for his work in physics and is the founding director of the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston.
The coast guard drove away 567 Chinese boats and seized seven illegally operating in Taiwanese waters in the first six months of this year, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. They mostly operated near Kinmen and Penghu counties, resulting in fines totaling NT$1.7 million (US$52,440), it said. Three ships — two near Kinmen County and one near Penghu County — were detained in January for illegally crossing the border, while one ship each was detained near Kinmen in February and Penghu in March respectively, it said. The ship seized near Penghu in January was the Yun Ao (雲澳), detained by the CGA’s
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
Military photovoltaic projects have been found to have used Chinese-made devices blacklisted by the government, including Huawei Technologies Co routers, the Ministry of National Defense’s Armaments Bureau said on Thursday. An ongoing investigation has identified the illegal use of 128 current transformers, two routers and a data reader at the Hungchailin Army Base, Pinghai Navy Base and Tri-Service General Hospital’s Songshan branch, it said. The devices were manufactured in the Chinese factories of German solar energy equipment supplier SMA Solar Technology, Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Delta Electronics Co, Chinese electronics manufacturer Huawei and Taiwanese industrial PC maker Advantech Co, the bureau said. The bureau’s
FLU CONTINUES: Hospitals reported 101,091 visits for flu-like illnesses last week, while 68 severe cases and 16 flu-related deaths were also reported, the CDC said The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported 932 hospitalizations due to COVID-19 and 64 related deaths for last week, adding that the number of people who had contracted new SARS-CoV-2 subvariants KP.2 and LB.1 has increased. The number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 increased from 815 in the previous week to 932 last week, while 90 percent of the 64 deceased were aged 65 or older, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. JN.1 was still the dominant variant among local and imported cases in the past four weeks, while KP.2 was the second-most common, Lin said. Cases with the LB.1 subvariant