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Nobel-Prize-winning structural biologist Dr. Venki Ramakrishnan will deliver an Academia Sinica Lecture entitled “My Adventures in the Ribosome”. The lecture, a part of the 2023 Academia Sinica Lecture Series, will take place on August 11, 2023 in the International Conference Hall (3F) of the Humanities and Social Sciences Building. General public and members of the media are welcome.

During the first half of 2023, major economies experienced the consequences of contractionary monetary policies to address inflation, resulting in a global economic slowdown and weakened demand. The ongoing inventory adjustment in the manufacturing sector negatively affected export orders and equipment investment in Taiwan. In the first quarter of 2023, the real GDP growth rate declined by 2.87%. Looking ahead, private consumption is expected to play a pivotal role in supporting economic growth in the second half of the year. External demand, however, remains constrained. As a result, we revise downward the projected real economic growth rate for 2023 to 1.56%.

Human use of fossil fuels results in ~36 billion tons of carbon dioxide being released annually, severely impacting the carbon balance on earth. A team led by Academia Sinica President James C. Liao and Professor Ming-Daw Tsai has discovered a new way to increase carbon fixation, the process by which CO2 is absorbed, by cyanobacteria (so called blue-green algae). The team’s findings, published in the journal Nature Metabolism in June 2023, provide a new opportunity to mitigate carbon imbalance in nature.

For over 250 years, biologists have been puzzled about why regenerative animals regrow lost appendages at a rate proportional to the degree of appendage loss. A team led by Dr. Chen-Hui Chen at the Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology (ICOB) and Dr. Keng-Hui Lin at the Institute of Physics (IOP), Academia Sinica discovered a ‘mechanical wave’ that governs positional sensing during wound healing and regeneration. This study was published in Nature Physics in June 2023.

The 72nd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting will be held from 25–30 June 2023. Around 40 Nobel Laureates will be invited to meet 635 young (35 years of age or less) scientists from all over the world to engage in face-to-face discussions. Young scientists who had been selected for the 70th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting and took part in the digital meeting are invited to participate on site.

The Museum of the Institute of Ethnology (MIOE), Academia Sinica, is launching an exhibition entitled “Striding Across Political Trauma” on May 20th, 2023. MIOE’s first attempt to explore psychologic themes, the exhibition was curated by Dr. Jen-Yu Peng, associate research fellow at IOE and psychoanalyst specializing in trauma induced by multiple forms of interpersonal violence. The exhibition is an invitation for the public to understand the diverse traumatic experiences among social movement protesters and explore possible pathways towards healing.

Did you know the “breadfruit tree” in Taiwan is not a real breadfruit tree? And what are the astronomical journeys of Fast Radio Bursts? This is the fourth time the Academia Sinica Center for Digital Cultures (ASCDC) celebrates the International Museum Day (May 18). This year, the ASCDC has collaborated with the research institutes at Academia Sinica and the Chinese Association of Museums and decided to take “blossoming knowledge” as the theme. Under this theme, 30 domestic research institutions, museums, art galleries present 35 online exhibitions.

The American physicist Dr. John Martinis has been invited as the Academia Sinica Lecturer for the 2023 Academia Sinica Lecture Series to deliver a lecture entitled “Quantum Computers and Quantum Supremacy.” The lecture will take place at the International Conference Hall (3F) of the Humanities and Social Sciences Building on April 26, 2023. Members of the media and the public are welcome to attend.

Taiwan’s energy self-sufficiency is relatively low. Hence, in addition to renewable energy, self-generated energy can enhance energy security consistent with reaching net zero emissions by 2050. With the fast and stable Kuroshio Current on the East Coast, using ocean currents as a source of renewable energy may allow Taiwan to reach net zero emissions. Academia Sinica signed the "Ocean Energy and Ocean Technology Research and Development Collaboration Agreement"(MOU) with the National Applied Research Laboratories (NARLabs) on March 28, 2023. Both parties look forward to accelerating the development of zero-carbon power through closer technical collaboration.

As the 2023 Taipei International Book Exhibition starts January 31, Academia Sinica has unveiled its special exhibition, “Welcome to the Academia Emporium,” to showcase its recent research accomplishments. Featuring nearly 3,500 published works, 14 talks and ten special forums, as well as a “display window” for stargazing and an “ornament cabinet” of plant specimens, the six-day academic exhibition will provide a carnivalesque experience for all visitors.

In 2022, the Russia-Ukraine war has hurt economies the world over, global inflation is soaring, and most economies such as the United States and Europe have successively launched a cycle of interest rate hikes. The financial situation has faced austerity on part of consumers, affecting end demand that has resulted in weak global economic growth in the second half of the year. However, domestic private consumption in Taiwan picked up significantly in the third quarter. Real GDP growth rate in Taiwan in the third quarter reached 4.01% and growth in whole of the year 2022 is expected to be 2.94%. Looking forward to 2023, domestic demand is expected to increase following the opening of the border, and consumption momentum is expected to accelerate. However, the slowdown of the global economy will negatively impact Taiwan’s foreign trade and economic growth. The real economic growth rate in 2023 is expected to be 2.41%.

Academia Sinica announced a new Vice President in the Division of Life Sciences today (December 21, 2022). Distinguished Research Fellow and Academician Tang K. Tang in the Institute of Biomedical Sciences (IBMS) will be appointed as the new Vice President. Former Vice President Academician Fu-Tong Liu will retire on the same day.