President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said he expects the nation’s academics to continue to boost the nation’s scientific research capabilities.
“Academia Sinica, being Taiwan’s highest research institution, has been leading Taiwan forward by offering advice on government policies,” Lai said in his opening address at the 35th Convocation of Academicians, which was attended by more than 200 academicians.
This year’s convocation, which runs until Thursday, is also to elect academicians and honorary academicians of Academia Sinica, the nation’s top academic institution.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
This is the first time the nominees’ Republic of China citizenship had to be verified prior to the election, and also the first time the biennial event was held with full in-person attendance at the institution in Taipei’s Nangang District (南港) since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lai lauded Academia Sinica’s dedication to “cultivating talent for Taiwan in collaboration with universities on more than 100 course programs in the fields of humanities and social sciences.”
Academia Sinica developed the first quantum computer based on 5-quantum-bit chips in Taiwan, further assisting the Industrial Technology Research Institute in developing related modules and components and marking a significant milestone in Taiwan’s technological development, Lai said.
Photo: CNA
To cope with climate change, Academia Sinica collaborated with Taiwan Power Co (台電) in researching methane pyrolysis technology for electricity generation, in addition to cooperating in studies on developing geothermal power, solar power and ocean power to generate electricity, he said.
Academia Sinica also seeks to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) technology into medical and ecological applications in response to Taiwan becoming an “AI island,” while ensuring personal data safety for research fellows to access the information needed, he said.
Lai also thanked the institution for establishing the South Campus in Tainan, where he was elected mayor twice — in 2010 and 2014.
The contributions made by Academia Sinica’s academicians and researchers would lead Taiwan to rival the world’s best in scientific research and bolster the nation’s international influence, he said.
Academia Sinica President James Liao (廖俊智) said the institution has established an AI promotion office and would focus on how it can best be applied to humanities-based research.
The institution will take advantage of its rich humanities and sociology-related database to explore the use of AI in these fields while reviewing its impact on society, he said.
Noting that the AI boom has just started and raises many potential legal and ethical issues, he said that by promoting the deployment of AI in the humanities and social sciences, “we hope to let students who were interested in these areas but turned to AI realize that studying humanities and social sciences is a good way to apply AI.
Additional reporting by CNA
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
RSS