Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/07/04
By: Chen Chih-chung and Lilian Wu

Taipei, July 4 (CNA) James Liao (廖俊智), the new president of Academia Sinica, said Monday that he hoped the nation’s top research institution can become the prime mover of academic and social progress in Taiwan.

That could be achieved by turning basic research into practical applications, such as flu vaccines, new uses of nanomaterials or diagnostic tools that can detect diseases early, said Liao at the start of a four-day meeting of the institution’s academicians.

Liao said that while Academia Sinica has a budget of about NT$10 billion (US$311 million), only about a third of it is left for research after payroll and equipment expenses are deducted, and he stressed that every research dollar needed to be put to maximum use.

He also appealed for the balanced development of the humanities, mathematics and engineering sciences, and bioscience at Academia Sinica.     [FULL  STORY]