The Inaugural Laureate in Rule of Law Albie Sachs is set to arrive in Taiwan at the end of April for a series of talks around Taiwan. First on the schedule is National Central University on April 29, followed by National Tsing Hua University on the 30 and Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School on May 1, where 12 other Taipei high schools will come to listen in on Albie's life story. On May 2 is the Determined to Change: the First Tang Prize Laureates book release, where Albie is scheduled to speak and sign.

The book release will be held at 2:30 pm on the 6th Floor of the Xinyi District Eslite Bookstore (by the Taipei City Hall MRT Station). How, after surviving an assassination attempt by bomb, did Albie maintain the determination to bring the rule of law to South Africa? What does Albie have to say about law in Taiwan? Register for the book release below, and listen in as Albie shares his life story.

Register for the May 2 book release >>

They moved forward because they were not satisfied with the present;
In between the words of history are determined, idealistic spirits.

"The Tang Prize awards the very best." —Dr. Yuan T. Lee (Selection Committee Chairman and convener)

The laureates of the first ever Tang Prize—Gro Harlem Brundtland in Sustainable Development, James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo in Biopharmaceutical Science, Yu Ying-Shih in Sinology, and Albie Sachs in Rule of Law, are proof of those words… they are the leaders of their fields.

Their contributions are unquestionable, but what is their history? What experiences made them who they are today? How do they look at the world of today? The first Tang Prize book, the story of the first Tang Prize laureates, gives the reader a closer look into the lives of these outstanding individuals.

Read more >>

The Tang Prize Foundation traveled to the US in March and April this year to participate and interact at the pinnacle events of each of the four fields, including annual meetings from the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), Experimental Biology (EB), and the American Society of International Law (ASIL).

The main event was Experimental Biology (EB) 2015 in Boston, Mass, where Tang Prize Foundation CEO Dr. Chern signed an agreement with EB for cooperation in promoting education in biology over the next ten years. Educational promotion in the biological fields being one of the objectives of the agreement, a special series of lectures have been planned to reach that very effect. This included the inaugural Tang Prize Lecture at EB, given by 2014 Tang Prize Laureate Dr. James P. Allison on the topic Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Cancer Therapy: New Insights and Opportunities. The event was hosted by Dr. Shu Chien.

For all of our East Asian readers out there, the Tang Prize will be participating in several events held in Taiwan in the following months. The Chinese (Taiwan) Society of International Law (CSIL) will be held May 25-26; Association for Asian Studies (AAS-in-Asia) on June 22-24; and the Society of Chinese Bioscientists in America (SCBA) on June 26-29; and one need not travel far, since all three events will be held in Taipei. Inaugural laureate in Biopharmaceutical Science Dr. Tasuku Honjo is expected to give a Tang Prize Lecture at the SCBA meeting. Details about Dr. Honjo's speech and all other events will be announced as the events approach. Please check our Facebook fanpage for all updates.

See you all at the conferences!

Click the links above to learn more about each international conference >>

Professor Emeritus of Chinese Studies at Princeton University and recipient of the first-ever Tang Prize in Sinology Yu Ying-shih recently designated the NT$10 million grant accompanying the Tang Prize to the founding of a new fellowship, the "Yu Ying-shih Fellowship for the Humanities." Active from May 2015 through 2019, the fellowship is intended to support promising researchers and scholars in the humanities fields with the financial assistance needed to complete dissertations and other larger academic works. In addition to support for those already in the field, the fellowship also hopes to tilt the scales for borderline students and bring more young talent into humanities research.

The focus of the fellowship is on research spanning the many fields of the humanities and Sinology, including history, linguistics, archaeology, philosophy, religion, classical studies, literary studies, and the arts. The fellowship is given each year for two types of academic work:

Applications for the 2015 year will be accepted from July 1 through August 31. More information about the fellowship >>

Last September 15-21 saw the world's first Tang Prize Week, including the Award Ceremony, Banquet, Concert and a series of forums and lectures from the five inaugural laureates. All the knowledge and ceremony is now available on the Tang Prize website.

Watch the laureates share their views, their life stories, and give the audience an inspiring model for substantive change.

Watch video from the inaugural Tang Prize year>>