Tag: National Taiwan University

National Taiwan University (NTU) has long prioritized building a resilient campus as part of its social responsibility, aiming to ensure a safe and sustainable environment for learning and research while strengthening its capacity to respond to extreme weather, earthquakes, and other emergencies. Through the multi-year Resilient Campus Project, NTU has progressively enhanced disaster preparedness and institutional response capabilities.

To strengthen campus-wide skills, NTU launched a Disaster Prevention Specialist Training Program, inviting professional instructors to equip faculty, staff, and students with practical disaster-response knowledge. This initiative improves readiness and will be expanded in the coming years to further enhance institutional resilience.

To foster leadership awareness of disaster risks, NTU invited Secretary General Li Wei-Sen of the National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction to deliver a keynote at the December 31 administrative meeting. His talk, titled “Campus Disaster Preparedness from a Business Continuity Perspective,” provided insights into both domestic and international risk management practices, enabling university leaders to refine response strategies and further strengthen overall campus resilience.

https://sustainable.ntu.edu.tw/uploads/files/shares/USR-Report/NTU%202024%20USR%20Report%20(EN).pdf

The National Taiwan University (NTU) plant and animal medical team, spanning multiple departments in the College of Bioresources and Agriculture, has long partnered with Yunlin County to support local farms. By providing on-site diagnosis and consultation across 20 townships, the plant hospital helped farmers manage approximately 111 hectares of farmland, which led to an estimated NT$12.59 million in added value according to agricultural data and Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis.

The veterinary team’s interventions—including lectures, workshops, mobile diagnoses, and economic animal dissections—improved pig growth and health, thereby enhancing food safety and increasing economic benefits for local farmers. Over the year, the team completed 8,836 cases of serology, molecular biology, and pathological diagnoses, directly strengthening farm productivity and livestock welfare.

Because NTU’s Animal Disease Diagnostic Center in Yunlin provided free precision diagnostics, biosecurity guidance, and vaccination planning, farmers were able to adopt better practices. Collaborating with young farmers and the county’s only HACCP-compliant slaughterhouse enabled full cold-chain processing, which reduced transport costs and greenhouse gas emissions, stabilized pork supply and quality, and fostered a more sustainable agricultural ecosystem in Yunlin.

https://sustainable.ntu.edu.tw/uploads/files/shares/USR-Report/NTU%202024%20USR%20Report%20(EN).pdf

Professor Chen-Hao Kuo of National Taiwan University (NTU) ’s Center for Carbon Exploration Technologies collaborated with Professor Ken Tsuji from the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Engineering to study supercritical geothermal systems in Japan’s Kyushu volcanic region. Their findings, published in Communications Earth & Environment, mark a milestone in Taiwan–Japan collaboration. The team used advanced seismic reflection imaging and AI-powered data analysis developed in Taiwan to visualize the three-dimensional structure beneath volcanoes, revealing how supercritical fluids are trapped, migrate, and trigger microseismic activity.

The study identified impermeable rock layers that seal supercritical fluids at depths of 2–3 km, while fault zones act as “permeable windows” for fluid escape. Professor Kuo emphasized that monitoring is crucial for early warning systems. This breakthrough demonstrates how integrating AI with seismic exploration can overcome traditional limitations, offering new possibilities for geothermal development, disaster prevention, and renewable energy innovation.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02774-4

National Taiwan University (NTU) announced that Physics Professors Lin Min-Tsung, Kao Ying-Che, and Chiang Cheng-Wei were all elected Fellows of the American Physical Society (APS) this year. This marks the first time in NTU Physics history that three professors have received this honor simultaneously, highlighting the department’s international influence. The APS, founded in 1899, is a leading global physics organization with over 50,000 members, of whom only 0.5% are elected Fellows annually.

Professor Lin Min-Tsung specializes in surface magnetism and magnetic nanostructures. He has served as Vice Chair of the National Science Council and President of the Physical Society of Taiwan, contributing significantly to Taiwan’s physics development and international scientific collaboration. His fundamental research on interactions in low-dimensional and nanoscale magnetic systems earned him this recognition.

Professor Kao Ying-Che, an expert in condensed matter theory and strongly correlated electron systems, was recognized for his numerical studies of emergent phenomena in quantum many-body systems and for fostering collaboration between Asian and U.S. physicists.

Professor Chiang Cheng-Wei, whose research focuses on particle phenomenology, rare decays, CP violation, and physics beyond the Standard Model, was honored for both his scientific contributions and efforts to advance particle physics collaboration and education regionally and internationally.

https://udn.com/news/story/6928/9069412

A research team from National Taiwan University (NTU) , led by Postdoc Hu Xunming and Professor Shen Chuan-chou, has successfully recalculated the half-life of uranium-234, overcoming a technical bottleneck that has persisted since the 1960s. Their work extends the reliable range of uranium–thorium dating from 600,000 to 800,000 years and reduces dating errors, offering important insights for Earth sciences and human evolution. The results were published in Science Advances on October 1, 2025.

The team used advanced mass spectrometry to simulate and correct interference from uranium-238, improving the measurement precision nearly fourfold. They established uranium-234’s half-life at 245,670 ± 260 years, about 50 years longer than previous estimates. This precision allows for more accurate dating of older geological samples, including those critical for studying ancient climate cycles and early human evolution.

The new method also requires only a third of the sample material compared with traditional approaches, making it suitable for rare minerals, fossils, and archaeological artifacts. The international project involved 11 research institutions from the U.S., Australia, and Asia, supported by Taiwan’s Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Education, and positions NTU at the forefront of high-precision geochronology.

https://www.ntu.edu.tw/spotlight/2025/2414_20251008.html

National Taiwan University (NTU) Assistant Professor Shaopu Tsai, together with Cambridge PhD Dr. Boyan Tong, led a team to develop Lattice, an AI method that “learns” crystal physics from EBSD data. Using a variational autoencoder (VAE), Lattice indexes patterns 7.5 times faster, compresses data by 99.9%, and captures rotational symmetries, effectively creating a “physics-aware” AI for crystal analysis.

In materials research, determining crystal structures is often a slow, labor-intensive process essential for linking structure to performance. Traditional electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) methods, widely used in scanning electron microscopy, face trade-offs between speed and accuracy: fast approaches like Hough transforms lack precision, while dictionary indexing and full pattern matching are highly accurate but time-consuming and resource-intensive.

The three-year project, primarily executed by NTU student Yujun Liu, has already been applied to fully recrystallized 316 stainless steel and was published in Cell Reports Physical Science. Funded by the NSC, NTU R&D, and Walsin Lihwa, the team plans to expand this physics-informed AI approach for broader materials science applications.

https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-physical-science/fulltext/S2666-3864(25)00470-9

Supported by the Ocean Affairs Council, NTU International College and the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology (NMMST) held a two-day course, “The Ocean Connects Us: Science × Culture × Community,” from September 19–20, 2025. Designed by the International Master’s Program in Biodiversity (IMB), the program explored how marine ecology, culture, and community intersect.

Nearly 70 students from over 25 countries participated. The course began at NMMST with museum tours and hands-on workshops on seaweed diversity and coral observation, combining science with community engagement. Students also visited Keelung Miaokou Night Market to see marine resources reflected in local culture. On the second day, participants explored a fishing village, learning traditional practices, ecological management, and the impacts of climate change on local livelihoods.

The program concluded with group discussions and reflections, fostering cross-cultural dialogue on sustainable fisheries, climate change, and community resilience. IMB Director Prof. Chia-Ying Ko encouraged students to carry their “impressions of the ocean” forward and use this experience to inspire interdisciplinary collaboration and sustainable solutions.

https://sec.ntu.edu.tw/epaper/article.asp?num=1660&sn=39554

In a groundbreaking advance, researchers from National Taiwan University (NTU) have developed a rub-on serum that restores hair growth in just 20 days. The innovative treatment, derived from natural fatty acids, stimulates skin fat cells to regenerate hair follicles — mimicking the body’s natural response to irritation and injury. The research, led by Professor Sung-Jan Lin, was recently published in the prestigious journal Cell Metabolism.

According to Professor Lin, the idea emerged from observing how minor skin inflammation can trigger hair regrowth. “Skin injury not only induces tissue inflammation but also stimulates hair regeneration,” he explained. The team found that by applying oleic acid and palmitoleic acid — both found in human fat tissue and plant oils — they could safely reproduce this effect without irritation. Early self-tests and animal trials showed significant results within weeks.

Unlike many chemical-based hair treatments, the NTU serum uses ingredients that are natural, safe, and potentially suitable for over-the-counter use. The research team has patented the formulation and aims to further develop it for commercial production, offering a promising and accessible solution for those experiencing hair loss.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/new-updates/hair-regrowth-in-just-20-days-taiwanese-researchers-made-a-breakthrough-hair-serum-that-promises-hair-restoration-within-a-month/articleshow/124848869.cms?from=mdr

National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH), the primary teaching hospital of National Taiwan University (NTU) — a leading institution with a comprehensive medical system that includes six affiliated hospitals — has successfully performed Asia’s first “dual long-term ventricular assist device (VAD)” implantation on a 46-year-old patient suffering from end-stage heart failure. After removing the patient’s necrotic left and right ventricles, the surgical team implanted two VAD systems to simulate a total artificial heart, allowing the patient to survive without a native heart. The patient has recovered well and can now eat and walk while waiting for a heart transplant.

The patient had severe heart muscle damage and suffered repeated cardiac arrests despite multiple advanced life-support treatments. NTUH transplant center director Dr. Yi-Hsian Chen explained that heart failure has a higher mortality rate than many cancers, yet treatment options remain limited due to the scarcity of donor hearts in Taiwan. For critically ill patients, innovative support strategies may be the only chance to survive until transplantation.

Because commercially available total artificial hearts are too large for most Asian patients, the NTUH team chose to implant two long-term VADs to fully replace cardiac pumping function. While each device can typically operate for 5–7 years, the patient will still require lifelong anticoagulation and ultimately a heart transplant. NTUH leaders emphasized that the success of this surgically and medically demanding case demonstrates the strength of the hospital’s multidisciplinary advanced circulatory support team—and its commitment to safeguarding every possible life.