The French Office in Taipei is to launch a series of science talks across Taiwan with the first event set to be held in Hsinchu City next week with the theme of “women in science.”
The event, the sixth edition of a program called “Science Bubble Tea,” will be held at Hsinchu Railway Art Village on Wednesday evening, the first time such a talk has been held outside Taipei, according to French Representative to Taiwan Franck Paris.
Two female scientists, Maud Vinet from France and Zan Hsiao-wen (冉曉雯) from Taiwan, have been invited to talk about their research and share their experience working in the science and technology sectors, Paris said on Wednesday.
Photo: CNA
According to the office, Vinet is a quantum physicist who last year cofounded Quobly, a company that develops quantum computers based on silicon spin qubits.
The company raised 19 million euros (US$20.88 million) in its seed funding round that year, the office said, which represents the Elysee Palace’s interests in Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic relations.
Meanwhile, Zan, a photonic physics researcher at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University based in Hsinchu, won the Franco-Taiwanese Scientific Grand Prize in Paris last year and holds nearly 80 patents, the office said.
Through the sharing of such role models as Vinet and Zan, hopefully, attendees, especially female students, will be encouraged to pursue studies in science, Paris said, adding that women are “under-represented” in science in Taiwan and France.
The event is also part of the office’s effort to “scale up” scientific links between Taiwan and France, said the envoy, who has pledged to make science and innovation “the focus of the relationship between France and Taiwan.”
The two sides share “a taste for creativity and innovation” and both have “a long-standing history of cooperation in science,” he said.
France has developed partnerships with democracies such as the US, Japan and other EU nations, he said, adding that his office aims to bring its scientific ties with Taiwan to “at least the same level as we have with these partners.”
Speaking of its plans for future Science Bubble Tea events, Paris said the office is looking to organize a talk once every three months in different cities next year, with the hope of making the scientific development of France “more visible” to people across Taiwan.
‘OBNOXIOUS MAN’: The KMT’s Chen Ching-hui moved into Chung Chia-pin’s path atop the podium and reached for him before he grabbed at her legs with both hands Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) yesterday said he slipped and lost his balance, and did not know who was around him, after jumping onto the speaker’s podium at the legislature in Taipei. He apologized after a collision with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Ching-hui (陳菁徽), who moved to intercept him as he mounted the podium. There was pushing and shoving when the session started in the morning as KMT lawmakers attempted to block access to the podium to shield Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) so he could preside over the session. Video footage showed Chung step on a chair and
Hungarian Member of Parliament Tompos Marton said he considers Taiwan to be a better alternative to China as a strategic partner. Marton, who is the vice president of the opposition Momentum Party, made the remarks in an interview with the Central News Agency on Sunday. He draped a Republic of China flag across his shoulders to protest Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) visit to the capital city, Budapest, on Thursday last week, and openly voiced support for Taiwan on social media. He said in the interview that he wanted to remind the world that there were alternatives to China, and that “Taiwan has
A female physician at New Taipei City’s Shuang Ho Hospital was bullied and made to work for 32 consecutive hours by a senior colleague while pregnant before later having a miscarriage, an internal investigation found, the hospital said on Monday. The perpetrator has been removed from his post, the hospital said. The attending physician in the hospital’s Medical Imaging Department, identified by the pseudonym Y, earlier on Monday told reporters that she had been bullied by a male senior colleague who arranged shifts in her department. In January, shortly after she became pregnant, Y asked the department director if she could avoid overnight
Television presenter Mickey Huang (黃子佼) yesterday was indicted for allegedly possessing sexually explicit videos involving minors. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Huang after the High Prosecutors’ Office found deficiencies in its initial probe and on April 19 returned the case for further investigation. Earlier last month, Huang had been given two years of deferred prosecution. Prosecutors said that they found in their latest investigation that Huang had been a member of the online forum “Chuangyi Sifang” (創意私房) since Feb. 12, 2014. He purchased sexually explicit videos involving minors, and had downloaded images and videos that featured the breasts and sexual organs of young