TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Academia Sinica opened its southern campus in Tainan’s Guiren District on Tuesday (Oct. 15). 

During the opening ceremony, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) pointed out that the campus was intentionally built near the Tainan High-Speed Rail Station to establish a physical link with the northern campus in Nangang. 

Lai said he had advocated for a southern campus since he was mayor of Tainan. He witnessed Academia Sinica's dedicated efforts in advancing cutting-edge technology research. 

The southern campus is dedicated to fields including quantum technology and agricultural science and features an AI innovation zone and medical innovation industry park. With these developments and close connections to Chiayi and the Kaohsiung-Pingtung region, a technology corridor will be formed, Lai said. 

Lai said this will boost Taiwan's technological development and contribute to a balanced growth between Taiwan’s north and south. He also hoped the southern campus would develop into a world-class research hub.

Academia Sinica is Taiwan’s foremost research institution. Its three goals are to enhance humanities and science research; promote scholarly research, and cultivate academic talent. 

The institution said its southern campus “will build upon current resources from Academia Sinica and respond to new trends in socio-economic and academic development as well as global climate change.” It will recruit talent from both domestic and international pools to improve research and talent cultivation in southern Taiwan, according to its website.