Taiwan and Sweden have launched their first joint research initiative with a budget of nearly NT$250 million (US$8.43 million) to be spent over five years on six teams working on information and communications technologies, bioengineering and materials research, the Ministry of Science and Technology said yesterday.
The initiative was established after the ministry and the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research in August last year signed a memorandum of understanding, the ministry said in a news release.
The foundation, an independent funding agency for research projects at universities and technical institutes, said on its Web site that it prioritizes projects related to information, communications and systems technologies, life sciences and materials research.
Former minister of science and technology Chen Liang-gee (陳良基) last year led a delegation to the foundation and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and met with Swedish Minister for Higher Education and Research Matilda Ernkrans to discuss the project, the ministry said.
After signing the memorandum, they then called for research projects, receiving 49 applications and approving six teams, the ministry said.
It said the teams would research new technologies, such as solid-state anode-less lithium batteries; antenna technologies for beyond-5G wireless communication; highly scalable CMOS-integrated nanopore biomolecular sensors; a chip-size accelerator for material research and health; advanced gallium nitride devices for millimeter and sub-millimeter-wave communications; and two-dimensional quantum optoelectronics devices.
Recognizing Taiwan’s strengths in these areas, the foundation is to provide the bulk of the funding with 60 million kronor (US$6.43 million) over the next five years, while up to 25 percent of the grants would be transferred to Taiwanese participants, the ministry said.
The Swedish funding is significant, as the budgets for other research collaborations between Taiwan and another nation have been shared 50-50, it said.
The ministry is to allocate NT$50 million to Taiwanese researchers involved in the projects, it added.
The research groups include 23 Swedish scientists from several Swedish institutions, including Uppsala University, Chalmers University of Technology, KTH-Royal Institute of Technology and Linkoping University, the ministry said.
They also include 14 Taiwanese researchers from National Taiwan University, National Tsing Hua University, National Chiao Tung University, National Cheng Kung University, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology and National Central University, it said.
It is the first time that the two nations have launched such a joint research platform, as previous collaborations were usually conducted on a case-by-case basis, the Department of International Cooperation and Science Education said.
The ministry said it expects the joint framework to become a strategic foothold for Taiwan to increase technological partnerships with other North European countries.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS