The Ministry of Education (MOE) held a press conference today to launch the Taiwan Science Festival. Dr. Lin Teng-Chiao, Administrative Deputy Minister of Education, Dr. Chen Tzong-Chyuan, Vice Minister of Science and Technology (MOST), directors of the five participating science museums and representatives of ten of the twenty participating SciBases jointly announced that the 2021 Second Taiwan Science Festival will be held from November 6 to November 14. 

The theme of this year’s festival is Science for Society. The first Science Festival, held last year, elicited such an enthusiastic response, that the MOE invited MOST to be a co-organizer, This year’s Festival will integrate MOST’s science popularization resources, adding ten new SciBases and making it even more diverse, and exciting.

Deputy Minister Lin explained that scientific thinking should become part of our everyday life. The 2019 curriculum has an emphasis on promoting science literacy through “inquiry and practice” and so, as well as setting up interesting science courses in schools, last year the MOE organized the first Taiwan Science Festival, to help society see science as fun and interesting. A wide range of fun and intriguing methods were used to awaken and spark people’s curiosity about science and no longer think of it as a dry or tedious subject. These included wonderful shows and music celebrating scientific discoveries in relaxed settings. We want everyone taking part in this year’s Festival to enjoy the grand science feast it offers and feel comfortable with science!

Ten institutions were invited to serve as additional SciBases: the Taiwan Ocean Research Institute (TORI), the Taiwan Marine Education Center, the National Laboratory Animal Center (part of NAR Labs), NTU Museum of Zoology, NTU Highland Experimental Farm, the National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, the Industrial Technology Research Institute, ASE Group (Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc.), the National Academy of Marine Research, and Kenting National Park Headquarters. These public and private institutions are joining the ten that participated as SciBases for the first festival and will make the 2nd Science Festival   offer a wider feast of science education activities in more locations around Taiwan. They are all engaged in cutting-edge science and technology research, conservation, and/or enterprise management and are long-time supporters of science education. 

A memorandum of cooperation was signed during the press conference with the National Museum of Natural Science representing the five museums and these ten SciBases, and each SciBase was presented with a plaque from the MOE to express its deep appreciation of their close cooperation. 

Each of the five participating museums will be presenting unique and exciting activities. 

• The National Museum of Marine Science & Technology is hosting the 2021 Ocean and Fish Village Innovathon which explores topics related to marine conservation. 

• The National Taiwan Science Education Center will guide the public to discover the scientific phenomena of night markets during its Science Night Market activities. 

• The National Museum of Natural Science will offer thought-provoking Mad Science Night shows that let audiences experience the power of science. 

• The National Science and Technology Museum has developed interactive games based on its Science and Technology collections. The games are designed to give players an understanding of the science behind indigenous peoples’ traditional knowledge. 

• The National Museum of Marine Biology & Aquarium will be encouraging the public to explore the mysteries of the ocean in its Fishing for Knowledge – Science Market. 

There will be a feast of activities during the nine days of the Science Festival: 13 seminars and forums, six theatrical performances, 82 science demonstrations, 166 film showings and exhibitions, six science competitions, 171 workshops, 33 science bazaars, and ten other types of activities. These are expected to attract 300,000 participants. 

For more information about the festival, please visit the festival website (https://tsf.moe.edu.tw) or its Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/taiwansciencefestival/). Everyone is invited to participate, experience how interesting science is up close, and have fun!