Academia Sinica is the leading academic institution of Taiwan and plays a major role in the field of Chinese studies. Its graduate program recruits students for its eleven PhD programs.
Academia Sinica, founded in Nanjing in 1928, is the most prominent academic institution in Taiwan (Republic of China). Although it is affiliated directly with the Presidential Office, Academia Sinica, located in the capital city, Taipei, enjoys independence in formulating its own research agenda. Its major tasks are to conduct academic research in sciences, humanities, and social sciences, as well as to provide guidance, coordination, and incentives to raise academic standards in Taiwan. In 2004 Academia Sinica established the Taiwan International Graduate Program to train scholars; it recruits five to ten graduate students every year for each of its eleven PhD programs.
Academia Sinica has made great progress in recent years. An increasing number of research papers written by its faculty members, which numbered 1,150 in 2001, are appearing in international journals. Some journals, published by Academia Sinica itself, such as Zoological Studies and Statistical Sinica, have received international recognition. Academia Sinica plays a major role in the field of Chinese studies. For example, the archaeological findings by researchers at the Institute of History and Philology have, in combination with written documents, led to a virtual rewriting of ancient Chinese history, pushing back the span of Chinese history by many centuries.
The president of Academia Sinica is Dr. Yuan-tseh Lee, a 1986 Nobel laureate in chemistry. The convocation (a ceremonial assembly of members of a college) consists of 199 members (academicians), including five ethnic Chinese Nobel laureates.
Further Reading
Chen, Shiwei. (1997, Spring). Legitimizing the state: Politics and the founding of Academia Sinica in 1927. Papers on Chinese History, 6, 23–42.
Chen, Shiwei. (1998). Government and academy in Republican China: History of Academia Sinica, 1927- 1949. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
Source: Chang, Jui-te. (2009). Academia Sinica. In Linsun Cheng, et al. (Eds.), Berkshire Encyclopedia of China, pp. 5–5. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing.
Academia Sinica (Zhōngguó Kēxuéyuàn 中国科学院)|Zhōngguó Kēxuéyuàn 中国科学院 (Academia Sinica)
