Message from Prof. Louis Yu-Ning Ge, Vice President for General Affairs

NTU’s Office of General Affairs (OGA) is responsible for all the administrative work related to the activities of NTU colleges and departments. Our work ranges from as small as cleaning up sidewalks and caring for campus trees, to as big as procuring equipment and constructing buildings. It is our mission to take good care of the lives of our staff and students and ensure they have the logistic support to continue their studies and research on campus. NTU boasts a large and beautiful campus. The main campus alone sits on 110 hectares. Besides the main campus, there are also other campuses, farmlands, and experimental forests, occupying nearly approximately one percent of the total land area of Taiwan. Managing such a large campus is not an easy task, yet thanks to the collaborative efforts of our nine divisions and 300 staff members, OGA has delivered proper maintenance and received various ISO certifications. During the pandemic, we have worked hand in hand with our colleagues from other offices to ensure the campus remains a safe environment for everyone, as well as safeguard the health of our faculty and students. Despite the virus, we have continued with our construction projects and striven to make NTU a safer, friendlier, smarter, and more beautiful campus.

Prof. Louis Yu-Ning Ge, Vice President for General Affairs.

We also leveraged the power of IoT to make our campus smarter. This January, we implemented the Youbike2.0 Pilot Project, and many users responded positively. By offering more incentives and increasing the number of Youbike stations on campus, we expect to reduce the number of private bicycles on campus.

Currently, NTU has a total enrollment of 32,000 students and over one thousand faculty members. It is our hope that our students can feel at home at school and our teachers can take pride in their work.

NTU Dazzles and Shines at BIO Asia 2020

The 2020 BIO Asia International Conference was hosted at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 2 during July 22-26. A first-time exhibitor, NTU showcased the results of many recent significant R&D projects at the “NTU Pavilion” to demonstrate its excellent and diverse achievements. The pavilion had the latest R&D innovations on display from over 16 research divisions and 20 professors, addressing such issues as pandemic prevention, drug and vaccine R&D, novel medical devices, precision medicine and various testing technologies, smart healthcare, as well as innovation highlights from a range of industries, notably agriculture, forestry, fishery, and animal husbandry. Conference participants were offered a glimpse of cutting-edge technology as well as NTU's core competitiveness in the fields of biotechnology, medicine, and agriculture.

President Chung-Ming Kuan presided over the opening ceremony of the "NTU Pavilion" in the morning of July 23 affirming that this displayed the fruit of the university’s first large-scale attempt at integrating its biotechnology research capabilities and R&D results while proactively reaching out to industries and asserting NTU’s potential as the best partner in facilitating industrial upgrade and added value.

Prof. Pai-Chi Li, NTU’s Vice President for Research and Development, said that the NTU Pavilion was made possible through the joint efforts of multiple divisions coordinated by the Office of Research and Development. Cross-domain collaboration is a standing R&D tradition at NTU and has become a trending model due to the pandemic. Founded in 2006, the Graduate Institute of Biomedical Electronics and Bioinformatics is the perfect example of merging the different fields of biotechnology, electrical engineering and information science to engage in advanced research and cross-field teaching in biomedicine. In addition, teams from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the College of Engineering, and the College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science have engaged in research projects in biomedicine and will surely deliver more breakthroughs and research results in the near future.

With 11 colleges, 56 departments, 112 graduate institutes, and 18 graduate programs, NTU not only stands out as Taiwan's leading comprehensive university, but also boasts exceptional R&D capacity. According to information made available by the university, a total of 39,351 papers have been published during 2013-2018, with as high as 40% rated as the top 10% critical publications by international organizations. Moreover, NTU is home to 400 research teams and holds nearly 2,000 patents. In 2019, the funds invested in all research projects had reached NT$7 billion. As a result, NTU has long been the top pick when international companies and universities seek partners in Taiwan.

President Chung-Ming Kuan (second from left) and Executive Vice President Dr. Shan-Chwen Chang (first from right) at BIO ASIA 2020

Prof. Pai-Chi Li also pointed out that the scope of R&D at NTU covers a wide range of fields. Besides the biotechnological and medical research results showcased at Bio Asia, NTU is also a leader in semiconductor and fintech research. Its collaboration projects with E.SUN Financial Holding Company and Cathay Financial Holdings have exemplified NTU’s highly appreciated and much sought-after R&D capabilities, scope, and technical expertise. Since its inception, the Office of Research and Development has been dedicated to facilitating academic research, strengthening research infrastructure and industry-academia collaboration, while integrating university resources, building a top-quality environment for research and industry-academia collaboration, as well as promoting team research. It is the Office’s fondest hope to attract top talents at home and abroad, maximize the value derived from intellectual property outputs, and ensure NTU’s leading position and sustainable development in global academia.

Under the Office of Research and Development, the Center of Industry-Academia Cooperation acts as a bridge between academic research and industrial innovation, handling such tasks as patent applications, technology transfer and licensing, selection of partners for industry-academia collaboration, and contract discussions. According to Prof. Pai-Chi Li, as the number of industry-academia collaboration projects continues to rise, NTU has set up a dedicated Division of Industrial-Academic Cooperation to provide services and support for teams engaging in research and innovation. To sustain the momentum of research and development, on the one hand, innovative research funds and assistance for long-term projects are made available to R&D projects of young and middle-aged faculty members; on the other hand, senior faculty with long-term experience and an excellent track record in research and development are recruited to lead research teams in order to pass on their expertise and experience.

With abundant resources in manpower, infrastructure, and opportunities for industrial collaboration, the outlook of research and development at NTU is brighter than ever. As a member of the global academic community, NTU’s ultimate goal is to make as many contributions as possible to broaden the knowledge horizon for the entire human race as well as create practical applications that benefit society as a whole.

International Corner

Enrichment Camp Connects High School Students to the World

Prof. Hsiao-Wei Yuan, Vice President for International Affairs, leads a birdwatching tour on campus.

Organized and hosted by the Office of International Affairs (OIA) during August 5-7, the 2020 NTU Plus Academy Enrichment Camp was aimed at broadening the horizon for talented students from international schools in Taiwan, as well as spotlighting NTU’s outstanding research environment. The participants came from diverse backgrounds, including schools with different systems, such as Kang Chiao International School, Morrison Academy, and VIS Experimental High School. Some of the students had already been accepted by world-class universities, such as the University of British Columbia, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Washington. With different nationalities in play, the students added an extra dimension of diversity to the program. A total of five professors from different departments were invited to offer courses covering such topics as life sciences, forestry and resource conservation, evolutionary biology, geography, civil engineering, and creativity and entrepreneurship. Besides giving the students a taste of what university classes are like, another highlight of the program was the manner in which the professors explained profound concepts in their respective fields in simple language while employing an interactive pedagogy.

Group photo taken at the campus tour.

Besides lectures, the OIA also arranged various lab visits, giving the students rare opportunities to observe the conduct of experiments firsthand. The GAME BABY program provided food for thought on how computers can speed up complex work processes for humans; the Zebrafish Model Lab gave a glimpse into how biological research is conducted; and a visit to the seismic isolation layer of the Civil Engineering Research Building revealed a seismic device that is normally hidden in buildings. Visits to the Gallery of NTU History, NTU Farm, and a plant dye session also proved to be both engaging and inspiring.

Leadership and team spirit were actively fostered during the 3-day event. In a poster session themed “Vision of NTU as a Leader,” the students were guided to think from a leader’s perspective, brainstorm ideas that would better represent NTU, and give group presentations. In the Creative Thinking & Innovation class, the professor organized a group competition to see which group could build the highest structure with a variety of materials, showing them the value of good teamwork.

The OIA hopes that the camp could offer precious opportunities of connecting local high school students to the rest of the world, as well as enhancing the visibility of NTU among international schools in Taiwan. Given the strongly positive feedback of the participants, the camp is likely to be expanded to accommodate even more high school students in the future.

NTU and KU Signs MOU on Strategic Partnership

On August 5, NTU and Kyoto University (KU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Partnership online, a commitment that will encourage future collaboration and interdisciplinary international research.

President Yamagiwa also seized the chance to formally introduce the incumbent Executive Vice-President Nagahiro Minato as the incoming President of KU. It was a moment of historical importance, and as Dr. Minato was inaugurated on October 1, he will surely continue passing down the school’s heritage and strive to reach international consensus.

NTU currently has over 600 partner universities. Starting from 2013, NTU has established strategic partnerships with various prestigious universities worldwide, including the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, the University of Tsukuba, Peking University, the University of Sydney, the University of Hamburg, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. These strategic partnerships are aimed at encouraging schools to fund key areas of research and bilateral faculty exchanges that are focused on tackling global issues and fulfilling the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The International Collaboration Seed Funding, a project launched by the OIA, has already supported over 40 collaboration projects between NTU and KU to date. It is believed that this strategic partnership agreement will greatly enhance the collaboration between the two schools in the future and fully unleash their research potential in various fields.

NTU Realizes the Promise of Silicon Photonics

Prof. Shi-Wei Chu (second from right, back row) and the research team members.

Taiwan holds a global edge in the production of electronic components and is recognized as the leading manufacturer of semiconductors and chips. These advanced nanotechnology-based integrated circuits (ICs) are mostly made from silicon, the second most abundant element on Earth. Currently, silicon has limited applications with respect to circuit size and operation speed; however, if photonics could be used for operations, data processing and transmission speed would be greatly enhanced. This would lay a solid foundation for future research on silicon photonics, enabling industry to leverage these advantages to generate innovative designs. In electronics, the key to success lies in producing nonlinear components (e.g., transistors) that can control electrical signals via voltage or current. Similarly, in silicon photonics, light-control-light, or all-optical control, is a critical function. However, at present, the optical nonlinearity of silicon is too weak to achieve efficient all-optical control.

The team has successfully enhanced the optical nonlinearity of silicon 10,000 fold, reducing response time to nanosecond-scale.

With the funding of MOST’s Outstanding Young Scientist Project and Add-on Grant for International Cooperation, Prof. Shi-Wei Chu of NTU’s Department of Physics and Molecular Imaging Center formed an international research team, including Prof. Junichi Takahara and Prof. Katsumasa Fujita of Osaka University, Prof. Xiangping Li of Jinan University, Dr. Kung-Hsuan Lin of Academia Sinica, Dr. Chih-Wei Chang of NTU, and Prof. Kuo-Ping Chen of National Chiao Tung University. The team has successfully enhanced the optical nonlinearity of silicon 10,000 fold, reducing response time to nanosecond-scale. These results may facilitate the development of all-optical circuit components and replace current ICs with silicon photonic ICs

The team’s two latest studies were published in the prestigious journal, Nature Communications. Their findings revealed that silicon nanostructures exhibiting special electromagnetic resonance mode can enhance light interaction. The results also showed that in a thermally isolated nano-environment, the optical nonlinearity’s magnitude of enhancement increases by 3-4 orders and reaches nanosecond-scale response time. Additionally, the fast nonlinearity enables nearly 100% all-optical modulation of scattering light from a single silicon nanoparticle at GHz speed. The team also discovered that this technology could achieve 40-nm resolution, improving the resolution not only by one order but allowing label-free imaging in silicon nanostructures.

These groundbreaking discoveries offer significant insights into silicon photonics and open up new possible applications of these high-speed, high-contrast all-optical nanoscale components as well as the super-resolution imaging of silicon.

	“Giant Photothermal Nonlinearity in a Single Silicon Nanostructure” in Nature Communications (Aug 14, 2020). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17846-6
	“Anapole Mediated Giant Photothermal Nonlinearity in Nanostructured Silicon” in Nature Communications (June 15, 2020). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16845-x

NTU’s Discovery Offers New Hope for Pulmonary Fibrosis Patients

Illustrations of the research results.

A research team led by Dr. Kai-Chien Yang, Associate Professor of NTU’s Department and Graduate Institute of Pharmacology, discovered the critical role that thioredoxin domain containing 5 (TXNDC5) plays in pulmonary fibrosis (PF). This finding, published in Nature Communications, may lead to a novel therapeutic approach against PF. PF is a major public health problem due to the devastating morbidity rate and the vast amount of health care and economic costs associated with treating the disease. Currently, there is no cure for the disease, and medications used to relieve symptoms are often shown to be ineffective. As a result, a lung transplant is often the only option left for many patients. Therefore, novel therapeutic options are urgently needed to improve the treatment outcome and prognosis of PF patients. TXNDC5, a fibroblast-enriched endoplasmic reticulum (ER) protein, is believed to be responsible for extracellular matrix (ECM) protein folding and linked to reactive oxygen species. In 2018, Dr. Yang and his team identified TXNDC5 as a possible novel mediator of cardiac fibrosis. Tzu-Han Lee, a Ph.D. student of Dr. Yang, later revealed in her research that TXNDC5 promotes fibrogensis by enhancing TGFβ1 signaling through direct binding with and stabilization of TGFBR1 in lung fibroblasts. The team identified increased protein expression of TXNDC5 and myofibroblast marker αSMA in PF patients’ lung tissues. Through an in vivo experiment using a mouse model of bleomycin-induced PF, the team found that by deleting TXNDC5, the development of PF can be significantly reduced, thus preserving the lung’s function.

In the future, Dr. Yang and his team will continue working on developing medications that target TXNDC5, hoping to offer a more effective therapeutic approach to mitigating PF and improving patients' lung function and outcomes. It is the mission of the team to develop drugs that help mitigate cardiac fibrosis, PF, and other respiratory dysfunctions. The findings of the team will not only aid PF and cardiac patients but also possibly offer a ray of hope to those suffering from chronic kidney diseases and liver cirrhosis.

Scan the QR code to read the journal article. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18047-x.epdf?sharing_token=9oCcV-NSPuVzhAEk- zpTCNRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0P8_YpyrnY2a5tVgQjsWnEm3S9oHAnAmBE2fIc3Ix25fI_ GxI7YPv3VEdJKJYAuNgY3rb9CQ8XTgNIcU0Nl95p7QSFya5TLc9gxaYk0d9CJi6WbTPEq-hMlScnbwOsPYvc%3D

NTU Library Signs MOU with RDMLA

NTU Library signed an MOU with the Research Data Management Librarian Academy (RDMLA) in June 2020 to launch an RDMLA online professional development program in traditional Chinese. The aim is to promote professional expertise in research data management (RDM) among researchers and librarians in the Mandarin-speaking world. The online course in traditional Chinese will be completed in June 2021, and it is expected to be available online in October 2021.

Following open access, open data has become another important issue for open science. The aim of open data is to enable researchers, research institutes, and the general public to reuse data, enhance research efficiency, improve research quality, and promote academic exchange, so as to optimize research data. RMD is vital to academic research today, and it is imperative that the process and results of research adhere to the Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) principles. RDMLA is an online professional development program for librarians, information professionals, and any other professionals who work in a data-intensive environment throughout the world. It features a unique partnership between LIS academic programs, academic health sciences, research libraries, and Elsevier. Partner institutions include Harvard Medical School, Harvard Library, Simmons University, Boston University, Brown University, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Northeastern University, and Tufts University. In 2019, the RDMLA Online Curriculum was launched on the Canvas platform, based on CC-BY-NC-SA authorization. The curriculum features eight online self-paced learning units that cover such topics as the foundations of RDM, research culture, advocating and marketing RDM services in libraries, project management, and an overview of RDM tools.

NTU Library signs MOU with RDMLA to launch curriculum in traditional Chinese.

NTU Library.

The RDMLA online course promises to equip those who complete the course with the ability to:

• Summarize research workflow and specify information professionals’ role in each stage of the data life cycle
• Understand the value of and approaches to navigating research culture and partnering with members of the research ecosystem
• Identify institutional research data management stakeholders and describe strategies for advocating the library’s role in RDM
• Design action plans to launch and manage data services in libraries
• Develop RDM project management plans and evaluate RDM processes, outcomes, and impact/value
• Describe the steps of data analysis and visualization and develop skills in using relevant tools such as R and Tableau
• Develop skills in appropriately using RDM programming tools, such as Python and Jupyter Notebook, to meet data needs
• Gain familiarity with a variety of platform tools for data sharing, storage, discovery, reuse, and reproducibility
  
  

In with the Freshmen! Opening Ceremony for the 2020 Academic Year

The Royal Palm Boulevard once again buzzed with the youthful energy of freshmen, marking the beginning of the 2020 academic year. NTU held the grand opening ceremony at the NTU Sports Center on September 6 with over 2,800 students and parents in attendance. There are 4,484 freshmen and 4,739 first-year graduate students in the 2020 academic year. The heart-warming opening ceremony was filled not only with words of encouragement from the faculty but also well-wishes from students in higher classes.

Presiding over the opening ceremony, President Chung-Ming Kuan welcomed the attendees, including administrators, faculty, as well as the freshmen and their parents. During his presentation, President Kuan said the COVID-19 pandemic had cast a shadow over the global economic outlook, making the international political order increasingly complicated and intricate. While the freshmen had to start their university education at a time of insecurity and uncertainty, they were fortunate in that Taiwan was handling this global crisis effectively. Unlike many university campuses abroad that had to stay closed, NTU was open and her students could attend the opening ceremony and their courses in person. President Kuan pointed out that a university education offers the best opportunity to absorb all the knowledge the world has to offer, and NTU is in the position to assist students with abundant learning resources. As long as they are willing to learn, there is no limit to the academic treasure they can take away to benefit themselves for the rest of their lives. He predicted that while the trend of globalization is not going to be reversed, it will inevitably be integrated with local forces to present a new outlook propelled by this new momentum. Consequently, NTU students need to come to terms with the importance of connecting to the world, as they will eventually have to tackle its impact regardless of their major and future career choice.

President Kuan addresses the audience at the ceremony.

Freshmen attending the ceremony are dressed in this year’s limited-edition T-shirt.

President Kuan closed his presentation with the following words of encouragement: “NTU is the beacon of Taiwan. The university has worked hard to shine brighter so that everyone can find Taiwan on the world map. Your achievements will also for sure cast a spotlight on the university. Therefore, it is paramount that you try your best.” He also threw in a dash of humor by informing the parents that they can rest assured that the university will take good care of their children, but that it is also the hope of the administration that the students do not kick up too much fuss at school.

Two recipients of the Outstanding Youth Awards were invited to share their stories of personal growth, Yu-Hsiang Wang, a 6th-year medical school student, and Wen-Hsuan Tu, a senior of the Department of Drama and Theatre. Wang told the freshmen that he had been very active in student clubs since the beginning of his university years, and he ended up participating in the event organized by the International Federation of Medical Students' Associations in Canada during his 4th year. However, when the students from other countries engaged in lively conversations in English, he was not able to say very much, since his English was not proficient. That summer, he suffered another blow. He failed the first stage of the national exam. To get back on the right track, he put his studies at medical school on hold and concentrated on improving his English as well as taking some courses in finance that he had always wanted to attend. This decision allowed him to rediscover the joy of learning. Not only did he end up with the highest GPA that semester, he also passed the national exam. He succeeded in strengthening his capacity at NTU while enriching his life in the most unexpected way.

Wen-Hsuan Tu, on the other hand, has taken many classes in oral communications to overcome the psychological barrier caused by a congenital hearing impairment. She also has participated in a project organized by the Ministry of Education to share her story at elementary schools. By stepping out of her comfort zone time and time again, she has become a talented public speaker. A former athlete in the Deaflympics, she is also a licensed badminton coach and the captain of the varsity team. The stories told by these two students inspired the freshmen to seize their time at NTU to become better versions of themselves and live extraordinary lives.

At the end of the ceremony, the freshmen saluted the teaching staff and their parents to show their gratitude, as well as greeting the fellow students around them. After singing the university anthem, the students participated in a lucky draw, which added an extra element of joy to this special day.