2026 Tang Prize Week Officially Kicks Off; Six Laureates to Gather in Taiwan in Mid-September Tang Prize Exhibition Opens First, with Free Admission at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall for Two Months

The biennial international event Tang Prize Week officially kicked off today, September 3. Tang Prize Foundation CEO Dr. Jenn-Chuan Chern, Academician Wen-Chang Chang, Chair of the Tang Prize Selection Committee for Biopharmaceutical Science, and Deputy Director Chang Huey-Ju of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Management Office jointly took part in the Tang Prize Week launch ceremony and ribbon-cutting for the Tang Prize Exhibition at the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, marking the official start of 2026 Tang Prize Week.

The Tang Prize Exhibition, the first event in this year's program, is now open to the public at the Central Corridor of the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, where it will remain on view for two months with free admission. From September 18 to 23, a series of Tang Prize Week events,[1] including the Award Ceremony, Banquet, Laureate Lectures, Master’s Forums, and Youth Symposia, will take place, welcoming the six 2026 Tang Prize Laureates to Taiwan. The Tang Prize Award Ceremony will also be livestreamed in full on the Tang Prize YouTube channel.

Dr. Chern noted that Founder Dr. Samuel Yen-Liang Yin established the Tang Prize in 2012 with the hope of guiding humanity toward sustainable development by recognizing outstanding research achievements and social practices. The Foundation will continue to uphold Dr. Yin’s founding vision, maintain a rigorous selection process, fulfill its educational mission, and carry the spirit of the Tang Prize forward. This September will mark the first Tang Prize Week since his passing, with the six 2026 Tang Prize Laureates gathering in Taiwan to receive their awards and participate in a series of events, creating opportunities for Taiwan's industry, government, and academic communities to engage directly with leading international scholars and connect with cutting-edge research. In doing so, Tang Prize Week gives the world an opportunity to see Taiwan and enables Taiwan, in turn, to make an impact on the world—one of the event's central purposes. In particular, the Laureate Lectures, to be held at Taipei Bioinnovation Park on September 19, will offer the public a rare opportunity to hear laureates from all four Tang Prize categories share a lifetime of research achievements and personal wisdom, all in a single day. Members of the public are warmly invited to register through the Tang Prize website.

In her remarks, Deputy Director Chang Huey-Ju said it was a great honor for the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to join the Tang Prize Foundation in presenting the Tang Prize Exhibition, an exhibition with an international outlook. The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is a diverse and open cultural venue that serves as an international platform for cultural exchange, attracting millions of visitors from Taiwan and around the world each year. Since the inaugural Tang Prize Exhibition in 2014, the Memorial Hall has served as an important venue for showcasing the achievements of the Tang Prize, with cumulative attendance reaching 2.9 million over more than a decade. Over the years, it has also witnessed the outstanding achievements of Tang Prize Laureates and the cross-border exchanges they have fostered with Taiwanese society. Looking ahead, the Memorial Hall will continue to serve as an important cultural platform connecting Taiwan with the world through a diverse range of exhibitions and activities.

In his presentation, Dr. Chern introduced several highlights of this year's Tang Prize Week. The Foundation will present the Tang Prize Biopharmaceutical Science Day in Taipei on September 21, followed by the Tang Prize Susan Solomon Sustainability Day in Kaohsiung on September 22. Master’s Forums and Youth Symposia will bring Tang Prize Laureates to universities, high schools, and other educational venues for direct exchanges with Taiwan’s academic community and younger generations.

The Tang Prize Biopharmaceutical Science Day will take place in Taipei. Biopharmaceutical Science laureates Steven A. Rosenberg, Michel Sadelain, and Carl H. June will jointly participate in a Master's Forum at Conference Hall 201, NTUH International Convention Center. Sadelain and June will also take part in Youth Symposia at the Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University and Taipei Medical University, respectively, engaging with students from northern Taiwan. For the Tang Prize Susan Solomon Sustainability Day, Sustainable Development laureate Professor Susan Solomon will participate in a Master's Forum at National Sun Yat-sen University and meet with high school students at the National Science and Technology Museum in Kaohsiung. Participants will include students from Kaohsiung Municipal Kaohsiung Senior High School, Kaohsiung Municipal Kaohsiung Girls' Senior High School, National Tainan First Senior High School, National Chiayi Senior High School, and National Chia-Yi Girls' Senior High School, making the event a major occasion for southern Taiwan. In addition, Sinology laureate Ge Zhaoguang will participate in a Master’s Forum at National Taiwan Normal University, while Rule of Law laureate Bruce Ackerman will take part in one at National Taiwan University.

This year's Tang Prize Exhibition is themed "Illuminating the World Through Knowledge" and introduces the digital Tang Prize Knowledge Hub for the first time, bringing together the contributions and wisdom of laureates from the first seven editions of the Tang Prize. The exhibition also expands to Taichung for the first time, adding the National Library of Public Information as a new exhibition venue and further deepening collaboration with Taiwan's library system. The Tang Prize Knowledge Hub kiosks will be integrated with library collections, making it easier for young people to find books and other works related to Tang Prize Laureates. Following its two-month run at the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, the exhibition will move to the National Science and Technology Museum in Kaohsiung on November 6, where it will remain on view for two years. It will then open at the National Library of Public Information in Taichung on December 10 for a one-year run.

The exhibition adopts “Islands of Wisdom” as its curatorial concept and features five themed zones: Core, Sustainable Development, Biopharmaceutical Science, Sinology, and Rule of Law. Highlights include introductions to the 2026 laureates in all four Tang Prize categories; a commemorative section honoring Founder Dr. Yin; more than 30 pieces of treasured memorabilia donated by laureates, each holding special significance in their research journeys or personal lives; 36 books authored by laureates; and an interactive digital co-creation wall featuring memorable quotations from laureates and allowing visitors to leave their own messages. Members of the public are warmly invited to visit the exhibition.

Table 1. Tang Prize Week Events

About the Tang Prize

Since the advent of globalization, humanity has enjoyed unprecedented benefits from advances in civilization and science. Yet a multitude of challenges, such as climate change, the emergence of new infectious diseases, the widening wealth gap, and moral degradation, have surfaced along the way. Against this backdrop, Dr. Samuel Yin established the Tang Prize in December 2012. It consists of four award categories: Sustainable Development, Biopharmaceutical Science, Sinology, and Rule of Law. Every two years, four independent and professional selection committees, comprising many internationally renowned experts, scholars, and Nobel laureates, choose Tang Prize laureates who have made substantive contributions and generated a far-reaching impact on the world, regardless of race, nationality, gender, or religion. A cash prize of NT$50 million (approximately US$1.6 million) is allocated to each category, with NT$10 million (approximately US$320,000) of it being a grant intended for research or educational outreach programs to encourage professionals in every field to examine mankind's most urgent needs in the 21st century, and become leading forces in the sustainable development of human society through their outstanding research outcomes and active civic engagement.

[1] See Table 1 below for the full Tang Prize Week schedule.