October 14, 2013-- As substantial attention has been drawn to the 2013 Nobel Prize Laureates for their significant contributions to the world, the Tang Prize, considered by many the Nobel Prize in the East, has just completed the nomination process on Sep. 30. Academic Sinica, the highest research institute in Taiwan, has been commissioned to invite distinguished researchers and experts from around the world, including a number of the Nobel Laureates, to nominate and select the Tang Prize Laureates. Laureates will be announced starting on June 18, 2014, and the Tang Prize award ceremony and various related events will be held during the Tang Prize Week.
Having a profound concern over the progress of human civilization, Dr. Samuel Yin in 2012 established the Tang Prize, an international award, with an aim to recognizing and encouraging innovative research and development in various fields that can make contributions to the world. The Tang Prize, as a whole, can be conceptualized as a concerted effort made by the Chinese community to encourage and support international experts to carry out both theoretically-oriented and practically-oriented research in four select areas: Sustainable Development, Biopharmaceutical Science, Sinology, and Rule of Law. The ultimate goal, importantly, is to spur human development.
A highly-anticipated international award, the Tang Prize will be awarded on a biennial basis to recognize and encourage research and development in the above four areas, with specific reference to their potential in making the sustainable development of human civilization possible, a central concern to the world and humankind in the 21st Century. Specifically, each category comes with a cash prize of NT$ 40 million (around US$1,360,000). Should two, or up to three, laureates receive an award in the same category, the cash prize will be shared. An additional NT$10 million (around US$341,000) in each category will be granted to the Laureate(s) for the execution of a research plan to conduct further research and nurture talent in the related areas.
According to Dr. Jenn-Chuan Chern, CEO of the Tang Prize Foundation, the large prize amounts of the Tang Prizes are intended to show reverence to the Tang Prize Laureates. However, as he further noted, “When we look at the Nobel Prize, which enjoys a long history and prestigious reputation, the value of the prize has far surpassed that of the prize amounts”. Accordingly, the most important task for the Tang Prize, according to Dr. Chern, lies in the selection of laureates.
In support of the award ceremony, the Tang Prize Foundation has commissioned the Taiwan Design Center to hold contests to invite designers and talents to design the Tang Prize diplomas and medals. Noteworthily, the final design of the medals will be selected from proposals submitted by well-known designers throughout the world. In addition, a Tang Prize concert and several seminar-featured lectures and discussion sessions will be held during the Tang Prize Week, with the intention of promoting the interactions among the Laureates, the selection committee, and students from local schools. To accommodate the spirit of the Tang Prize, the above events will be held in places that can epitomize Chinese culture, including the National Theater Concert Hall, the National Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall, the National Palace Museum, and the Grand Hotel. Just as the Nobel Prize has exerted numerous positive effects on the world, so the Tang Prize is aimed at generating similar positive effects, creating an environment in which first-class research and development converges to make the world a better place.
