Minister of Science and Technology Chen Liang-gee (陳良基) yesterday presented German plant molecular biologist Wolf Frommer with the 11th Tsungming Tu Award, the nation’s highest academic honor for foreign researchers, at a ceremony at Academia Sinica in Taipei.
The award — named after Tu Tsung-ming (杜聰明) — who in 1922 became the first Taiwanese to earn a doctorate and later founded Kaohsiung Medical University — was established in 2006.
Frommer, who was recommended by Academia Sinica’s Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center, is the sole winner this year.
Photo: Chien Hui-ju, Taipei Times
Winners of the award receive US$75,000, the ministry said, noting that 16 German academics have received the award since 2007.
Frommer previously served as an adviser to Academia Sinica’s Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, and it expects to continue to collaborate with him, Academia Sinica Vice President Liu Fu-tong (劉扶東) said.
The 60-year-old Frommer, a member of Leopoldina, the German National Academy of Science, and a professor at Stanford University since 2003, is best known for his discovery of the so-called SWEET proteins that are related to sugar transportation in plant cells and his studies on fluorescent biosensors.
He returned to Germany in April last year to take up an Alexander von Humbolt professorship at Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf, where he heads the Institute of Molecular Physiology.
In his speech at the ceremony, Frommer discussed water and food shortages around the world.
While such shortages are aggravated by climate change, it is “weird” that some people, especially in the US, say there is no such thing as climate change, he said, flashing a photograph of US President Donald Trump during his slide presentation.
To remedy food shortages and boost agricultural production, governments should allocate more funding to fundamental research on plant biology and promote “rational” engineering, he said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
RSS