Taiwanese scholars have to work extra hard to reach a par with academic advancements in the rest of the world, according to Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲).
"It is a shame that the progress made by Taiwanese researchers has been lagging. But if we [scholars] keep up the pace, there is still a chance for us [Taiwan] to be placed in the leading role in research development in the world," Lee said at a contract-signing ceremony at National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday.
"Academia Sinica is working hard to collaborate with domestic universities on the establishment of an international graduate level research institution, whose coursework would be conducted in English. However, we do not rule out the possibility of cooperating with universities overseas if we fail to find a suitable institution in Taiwan," Lee added.
Lee, the 1986 Nobel laureate in chemistry, was at NTU yesterday to sign an agreement between Academia Sinica -- Taiwan's leading academic center -- and the university for joint research into astrophysics and mathematics. Under the contract, Academia Sinica's Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics will be relocated to the university and a new building for the institute will be constructed on the campus in the near future.
During the signing ceremony NTU President Chen Wei-chao (
Lee, however, said the partnership had not always been so smooth.
"Twenty years ago when I served as a member of Academia Sinica, I proposed to NTU's then president, Chien Su-liang (
"A few years later, with the assistance of then NTU president Yu Chao-chung (
"Cooperation between the two research centers is not achieved easily ? the mutual trust and confidence have been built with 20 years of hard effort."
However, Lee lamented the slow progress of academic development in Taiwan, citing the effort to found the international research center as an example.
"Academia Sinica is pushing very hard for the center to be set up, however, the response from NTU has not been satisfactory," Lee said.
Academia Sinica has proposed setting up 11 research centers, but it needs the cooperation of universities in Taiwan. "We will very much welcome the participation of NTU if it demonstrates sufficient sincerity, otherwise, we will have to seek partners abroad, Lee said.
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