2018 Tang Prize Week
Rooted in the long-standing cultural traditions of Chinese philosophical thought and in an outlook of convergence and mutual enrichment with other traditions, the Tang Prize aims to provide fresh impetus to first-class research and development. Founded in Taiwan, the prize stimulates exchange among scholars and scientists all over the world across four fields (Sustainable Development, Biopharmaceutical Science, Sinology, and Rule of Law). Now into its third year, the Tang Prize has effected real change in the world. The prize itself has the gained the attention of the public, and its laureates have been recognized by their respective fields.
Just three months ago, in June, the 2018 laureates were announced. And this September the eight 2018 laureates will come to Taiwan to receive their prizes and participate in a week of events with other top scholars and scientists. Events include the award ceremony, banquet, concert, exhibition, and more scholarly events such as a lecture series and forums at universities and high schools throughout Taiwan.
For more event details, please visit the Tang Prize website
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 Reception
Date: September 19 (Wed); 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Venue: Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
What better way to greet the guests of honor than with a reception in one of Taiwan’s most iconic buildings? Previous receptions were held in the National Palace Museum, another one of Taiwan’s most historical buildings, adding variety to past prize years. This is also the very first time such an event has been held at the hall, making it a doubly important event for this year.
Also in the hall is the Tang Prize exhibition, which guides visitors through the life and work of the laureates. Special for 2018 are new interactive areas that give visitors a deeper experience of the scientific and scholarly work.
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 Award Ceremony
Date: September 21 (Fri); 2:30 – 4:30 pm
Venue: Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall
The central event of each Tang Prize year is the Award Ceremony, where these academic greats gather with the best of Taiwan to accept their medal and diploma. Special guests and short films will introduce the laureates, their lives, and their accomplishments that won them the prize. The night will also have special performances by the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, who will perform both Vivaldi’s Spring and Mozart’s The Magic Flute. The event will be broadcast on CTV Channel 10, CTV’s YouTube channel, CTITV News, and live on the Tang Prize website.
CTV’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opafZVNyPbw&feature=youtu.be
CTITV News: https://www.facebook.com/ctitv.news/
Tang Prize website
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 Banquet
Date: September 21 (Fri); 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Venue: Grand Hotel
Healthy eating is at the heart of the menu of the 2018 Tang Prize Banquet, which will be held this September 21 at the iconic Grand Hotel in Taipei. Designed by the Chinese Gourmet Association and its director Hong-Che Guo, with chef Yeh Ba-Hua heading the kitchen, this year’s banquet is centered on the theme of Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS). Fresh ingredients, such as red quinoa, dried radish, and Japanese wagyu beef, will undergo a minimum of cooking and will be served in the proper proportion to celebrate this year’s prize recipients.
After a run of nine courses, from earthy soups to upgraded street foods, the grand finale of the sumptuous meal is certainly the knifework of internationally renowned chef Xu Yao-guang, as displayed in his hand-cut chrysanthemum blossom with 11,664 individual petal-like strands, a work which blurs the boundary between food and art.
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 Concert
Date: September 24 (Mon); 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Venue: National Concert Hall
Falling on the auspicious Mid-autumn festival, this year’s Tang Prize Concert gathers the best of Taiwan’s musical world: with Shao-Chia Lü conducting for the National Symphony Orchestra and Taipei Philharmonic Chorus, the concert will run through a time-tested repertoire.
In the first half of the program is Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622, played by Jörg Widmann, an artist who has been dubbed the “Modern Mozart.” This work could not be followed by anything less masterful: so, in the latter half of the program, an extensive rearrangement of Mozart’s Requiem will be performed. The night will close with The Sun Rises over Taiwan by Gordon S. W. Chin, a song that intones the beauty of Mt. Alishan. Each of the songs was chosen for this special occasion, one that celebrates the laureates and their world-shaking accomplishments.
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 Lectures and Forums
Closing the distance between great ideas and the general public, the 2018 laureates will deliver their lectures on a wide variety of topics in the Tang Prize Laureate Lecture series. Topics include climate change, targeted therapies, Tang poetry, Chinese socio-economic history, and legal philosophy. Lectures will be delivered over the course of one day (8 am – 6 pm, September 22) at the Howard Civil Service International House. Registration for the event is free. All lectures will be delivered in English with Chinese interpretation provided on site.
Forums and other talks are also scheduled for Tang Prize Week. The Tang Prize Masters’ Forum series will be held at seven universities throughout Taiwan, and a talk at Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University is scheduled as well. These forums and talks will give the public, especially the younger public, a chance to engage with these big ideas and provoke discussion through question and answer sessions. Through such events, the characters and accomplishments of the laureates will be a great source of inspiration for young and old.
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 Exhibition
The Taipei exhibition will run from September 7 through October 28 at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
The Kaohsiung exhibition will run from November 2 through January 27 (2019) at the National Science and Technology Museum
The Glory of the Tang Prize exhibition, an exploratory walk through the philosophy of the Tang Prize and the accomplishments of its laureates, will open this September, just before Tang Prize Week. New for 2018 are interactive elements that will give visitors a deeper experience of the scientific and scholarly work. Each exhibit area, one per prize category, has a different game that allows visitors to better understand the details of each major accomplishment. In the sustainable development area, for instance, there is an Eco Station with a house set up that allows the visitor to compare the energy use of two types of windows: regular glass pane windows and smart windows, which have applied a partially reflective coating. These experiential areas will bring the ideas of the laureates directly into the real world experiences of the general public.
CEO of the Tang Prize Jenn-Chuan Chern said of the opening that there is a greater opportunity for the public to understand these deep ideas of the laureates, especially in comparison with past exhibitions, which did not incorporate interactive elements.
Laureates have added to the character of the display by donating certain items signifying their life and work. This includes a United Nations Environment Programme trophy given to Veerabhadran Ramanathan (Sustainable Development) and a pair of Nikes donated by Brian J. Druker (Biopharmaceutical Science). The shoes were signed by the Nike founder Phil Knight and symbolize the long road of the battle against cancer.
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