Dame Sally Mapleston, President of the University of St. Andrews, a top university in the UK, recently led a delegation to visit Taiwan. The first stop was at Academia Sinica. The purpose was to deepen exchanges in the humanities and social sciences and discuss topics such as the history of Taiwan and East Asia, biomedicine, net-zero technology, and international talent cultivation. Chen Jianren, Dean of Academia Sinica, said that the areas of advantage of both parties are highly complementary and look forward to laying a solid foundation for long-term cooperation through exchanges. The University of St. Andrews also emphasized that the school is committed to establishing long-term partnerships with research institutions with similar concepts and academic goals, and Taiwan is a key development target for international cooperation. In the future, various ideas will be gradually implemented into concrete results.
Founded in 1413, the University of St. Andrews is the oldest top university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world. It has been ranked among the best in the UK by The Times and The Guardian university guides many times, and is currently ranked first among universities in the UK. Nearly half of the school's students come from more than 130 countries around the world, making it a university with extremely international characteristics. Mapston, who is coming to Taiwan for the first time, will also visit the Ministry of Education, as well as academic and research institutions such as National Taiwan University, National Chengchi University, and National Library of Science and Technology.
The University of St. Andrews enjoys a high reputation in the field of humanities and social sciences. The school's performance in international relations, history, art history, philosophy and social anthropology is ranked first in the UK. Mapston mentioned that the school has a Department of Chinese Literature and a Taiwan Sinology Resource Center, and hopes to establish a "Taiwan Studies Lecture" in the future to cooperate with Taiwan in the fields of East Asian studies and geopolitics.
Peng Xinkun, deputy director of Academia Sinica, pointed out that the institute has long-term close interaction with the British academic community, and many excellent cooperations stem from the researchers' common academic interests. In recent years, it has also actively expanded the cultivation of international talents in the fields of humanities and social sciences. This year, it launched the "East Asia and the Making of the Modern World" international postgraduate program, allowing outstanding overseas students to apply.
Chen Jianren also introduced in detail Academia Sinica’s quantum technology research layout in the southern campus, the results of the net-zero plan, and the biomedical research capacity of the National Biotechnology Research Park. Mapston also mentioned that the school has set the goal of achieving net-zero emissions in 2035, actively invests in biomass energy, hydrogen energy and other related research, and has a dedicated sustainable technology campus. It also actively promotes industry-university cooperation. Both parties have profound potential for transnational cooperation.
Young talent cultivation and researcher exchanges were also important topics during the talks. Chen Jianren introduced the Taiwan International Graduate Program (TIGP) and the Taiwan International Internship Program (TIIP) of Academia Sinica, which work together with top domestic universities to provide opportunities for outstanding overseas students to study in Taiwan and enrich the scientific research talent pool. Samantha Lister, Director of the Global Office of the University of St. Andrews, introduced the school's "Global Scholars Program" and also proposed methods such as personnel exchange visits and sharing of research results to establish closer academic connections.
