Taipei, Jan. 4 (CNA) A leading research institute from Germany is set to establish an international research center in Hsinchu, northern Taiwan in conjunction with Taiwan's National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (NSRRC).

The Max Planck Institute (MPI), working with the NSRRC, National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) and National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), will establish the Center for Complex Phase Materials later this year, the NSRRC announced at a news conference on Wednesday.

The center will strengthen scientific collaboration and exchange of scientists and students between the Max Planck Society (MPS), the NSRRC and the universities, it said.

According to L. J. Chen (陳力俊), chairman of the NSRRC, a team under Liu-Hao Tjeng (莊鎏豪), director of the MPI for Chemical Physics of Solids (MPI-CPS) in Dresden, Germany, has a long-standing collaborative relationship with the NSRRC.

MPI-CPS has used Taiwan's synchrontron light source to perform experiments for two decades and together with NSRRC scientists published more than 90 papers in renowned journals.

In addition, the MPS has invested 1.5 million euros (US$1.56 million) in the construction of a beamline station at the Taiwan Photon Source, a second synchrontron light source that opened to users in 2016.

Chen said that Taiwan Photon Source, an important scientific instrument, was inaugurated in Sept. 2016, with Taiwan's biggest ever investment in the field of NT$7 billion (US$217.6 million).

The MPS is one of the world's most reputable research organizations and often lauded as a "cradle of Nobel Laureates." Since its formation in 1948, 18 MPS scientists have received Nobel prizes in physics, chemistry and medicine. Research carried out at the Max Planck Institute results in more than 15,000 papers printed in internationally renowned scientific journals every year.

Wednesday's news conference was attended by Science and Technology Minister Yang Hung-duen (楊弘敦), German Institute deputy representative Sabrina Schmidt-Koschella, Max Planck Institute (MPI director Liu-hao Tjeng (莊鎏豪), National Tsing Hua University President Hocheng Hong (賀陳弘) and National Chiao Tung University President Chang Mau-chung (張懋中).

(By Huang Li-yun nad Lilian Wu)
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