On 6^th February 2020, Mr. Cheu-An Bi, Director-General of the Department of International and Cross-strait Education of the Ministry of Education, received delegates of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) from the U.K. led by Professor Paul Nightingale, Director of Strategy and Operations at the ESRC.

The ESRC, part of UK Research and Innovation, is the UK's largest organization for funding research on economic and social issues. It supports independent, high quality research likely to have an impact on business, the public sector and civil society. This visit aims to identify new partnerships and potential joint activities with Taiwan’s research institutes and funding bodies.

“Taiwan and the U.K., having developed intensive exchanges among universities, share the same vision to raise the quality of advanced R&D and enhance international competitiveness” Mr. Bi said, adding that the Taiwan’s Ministry of Education has launched “Higher Education Sprout Project” since 2018. “The featured areas research center program” is one of the major programs which aims to build leading research centers through each university’s specialty and resource integration with industry. Among the selected 65 research centers, eight centers have set their sights on social science.

The ESRC has identified Taiwan as a priority for engagement in the social sciences given the volume and quality of its social science outputs. Professor Nightingale said the ESRC looks forward to further expanding cooperation in economic and social sciences with Taiwanese academic institutions.