Five hundred academics have signed a petition urging continued government support for multidisciplinary research on sustainable development after rumors suggested the National Science and Technology Council would shift gears on scientific funding.
Rumors have suggested that the council is considering cutting funding for multidisciplinary research in sustainable development, disaster management and spatial information technology, the petition said.
Officials who supported the move purportedly believed the state-funded research programs in these fields lacked focus and did not achieve the desired results, it said.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
That assertion would be surprising, as these fields are key to President William Lai’s (賴清德) digital transformation, resilient Taiwan and sustainable environment initiatives, it said.
The council’s proposed strategy to re-entrench the division between fields of study would contradict modern scientific approaches and would not be fair to those who have worked to develop science in Taiwan in the past 30 years, it said.
The government should take seriously the complex challenges and requirements in Taiwan’s quest for sustainable development, the academics said, adding that the council should have been more transparent and communicative in the policymaking process.
Academia Sinica Biodiversity Research Center fellow Li Wen-hsiung (李文雄), Academia Sinica Institute of Earth Sciences Research fellow Chang Wen-yen (張文彥) and University of Taipei president Elton Chiu (邱英浩) are among the academics who signed the petition.
The council said that the scientific research budget has been increased every year and that further discussion is required to adjust the government’s strategy.
The council said it understands that Taiwan’s societal problems require dialogue between different fields and complex solutions, adding that it has invested NT$480 million (US$15 million) this year and would invest another NT$520 million next year to address such problems.
It is committed to discussing the national strategy for sustainability, disaster management and spatial information technology research with the nation’s academics to better respond to challenges, the council said.
It would consult with domestic experts to make the best use of the nation’s resources and broaden academic participation in crucial research goals, the council added.
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