German Institute Taipei Director-General Jorg Polster on Monday became the first foreign recipient of Taiwan’s Science and Technology Profession Medal for his work on bilateral science and technological cooperation.
At a ceremony in Taipei, Tom Yeh (葉至誠), the head of international cooperation at the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), said the council had conferred the honor on Polster for his efforts in enhancing exchanges, including facilitating the signing of a science and technology agreement between Taiwan and Germany in March.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by German Minister of Education and Research Bettina Stark-Watzinger, who was making the first official trip by a German minister to Taiwan in 26 years, Yeh said.
Photo: CNA
Under the agreement, Taiwan and Germany are to enhance cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence applications, semiconductors, IC design, automobiles, hydrogen energy and education, NSTC Minister Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) said.
Yeh also emphasized the various research areas in which both countries have collaborated, including semiconductors and lithium battery research and development.
Receiving the award, Polster, who holds a doctorate in physics from the Dresden University of Technology, said he was pleased to witness the potential of the next generation and hoped that young people would carry on academic exchanges between Taiwan and Germany.
Regarding recent bilateral cooperation, Polster cited a slate of memorandums of understanding signed between his alma mater in Dresden and Taiwanese universities and research institutes in April, as well as an exchange program under which students from National Hsinchu Senior High School visited Germany.
Polster said that bilateral agreements such as those signed during his time leading the German Institute Taipei — which functions as the country’s de facto embassy in the absence of diplomatic relations — led not only to the development of joint research efforts, but also industrial cooperation.
One example of such industry-level ties is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s proposal for a factory in Saxony, which might be approved in the next few weeks, he said.
The Science and Technology Profession Medal, set up by the NSTC, is designed to recognize people who have made special contributions to Taiwan’s development of science and technology.
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