TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The National Science and Technology Council on Tuesday honored 166 scholars with awards recognizing their research achievements.
National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) attended the award ceremony, noting that this year’s winning research covered architecture, medicine, agriculture, and AI applications. He said the council would continue increasing research funding and foster stronger collaboration with industry and international partners to improve Taiwan's academic research quality, per CNA.
National Taiwan Normal University Educational Psychology and Counseling Department Professor Sung Yao-ting (宋曜廷) was honored with the distinguished researcher award. He developed educational tools using AI and language processing and headed a team to support students' learning in rural areas.
Sung said that declining motivation for reading long-form texts could affect critical thinking. In response, he led his team in developing SmartReading, which he described as the world’s first reading platform mainly focused on Mandarin-language books. The platform evaluates users' reading abilities and uses its database and AI to suggest books appropriate for their skill level.
Tunghai University Chemical and Engineering Department Professor Chang Jo-shu (張嘉修) also received the distinguished researcher award. Chang developed carbon reduction technologies utilizing microalgae and is promoting a microalgae-based circular economy.
Chang and his team collaborated with China Steel Corporation, CPC Corporation, and the Industrial Technology Research Institute to develop biofuels and health supplements from microalgae. The team also utilized their collection of microalgae strains to absorb ammonia and phosphorus from wastewater. Their research has applications in sectors including aquaculture, fertilizers, bioenergy, and wastewater treatment.
Ou Yu-chen (歐昱辰), a researcher at the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering, also received an award for his advancements in civil engineering technologies. He developed methods to assess the earthquake resistance of reinforced concrete and designed bridge columns capable of automatically resetting after an earthquake.
National Taiwan University Entomology Department Professor Yang En-cheng (楊恩誠) and his team developed a novel pollination method for greenhouse crops. This technique involves replacing the queen bee in hives with synthetic bee pheromones. Their research has been implemented on more than 250 farms across Taiwan.
National Taiwan University Chemistry Department Associate Professor Hsu Cheng-chih (徐丞志) and his team developed a breast cancer screening device incorporating AI technology. The device can deliver results with 90% accuracy within 10 minutes.
