Lai inaugurates Taiwan Bridges academic exchange initiative

Taipei, Nov. 10 (CNA) President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) presided over the launch of an international academic exchange initiative Monday, expressing hope that the program will bolster Taiwan's higher education and help deepen the country's ties with research institutions worldwide.

Speaking at the launch ceremony for the Taiwan Bridges Initiative at National Taiwan University (NTU), Lai said the program will bring 31 Nobel laureates to Taiwan over the next seven months to deliver speeches and engage in small discussion sessions that are expected to benefit faculty members, students, researchers and the general public.

Lai, who is the honorary chair of the initiative, thanked its organizers for "building bridges" that connect Taiwan to the world.

"We will take this initiative as an opportunity to continuously enhance higher education in Taiwan, nurture more future Nobel laureates, and further contribute to global peace, prosperity, and sustainable well-being," Lai said.

The Taiwan Bridges initiative is jointly led by Academia Sinica, Taiwan's top academic research institution, and NTU, while also involving 10 other higher education and research institutions.

In his remarks, Academia Sinica President James C. Liao (廖俊智) said the initiative, proposed by Taiwanese Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), aims to bridge nations, disciplines and minds.

"We're here to promote science, to promote the sustained support of sciences, and most importantly, the use of science for the common good of the world. And that is the most important thing for this Bridges program," he said.

Kicking off the series of speeches was world-renowned physicist Andre Geim, who gave a keynote speech at NTU titled "Wonder Materials," based on the research for which he received his Nobel Prize.

Geim was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics, which he shared with fellow physicist Konstantin Novoselov, for their groundbreaking discovery of graphene.