2013.0310
NTNU won three distinguished research awards from Taiwan’s National Science Council
The National Science Council announced the winners of the 2012 Distinguished Research Awards on Feb. 1 this year. NTNU professor Chun-yen Chang and Kuo-en Chang won the award for the third times, while Professor Chau-Ron Wu of the Institute of Marine Environment Science and Technology won the earth science category of the award for the first time. The number of award winners from NTNU this year surpassed that of other Taiwanese universities such as National Chengchi University, National Chung Hsing University, National Yang-Ming University, and National Sun Yat-sen University.
The three professors have been working at NTNU after having obtaining doctoral degrees or after having studied abroad. They have all held positions at the university such as assistant professor and professor.
Professor Chau-Ron Wu won the earth science category of the Distinguished Research Awards from the National Science Council. Professor Wu, who is also the present Director of the Institute of Marine Environment Science, began teaching at NTNU’s Department of Earth Science after obtaining his PhD from North Carolina State University in 2001. He helped establish the Marine Environment Science Institute in 2006 and became the institute’s third director in 2011. His research focuses on the numerical simulation of the ocean, using computers to simulate the movement of ocean water in the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean and the waters around Taiwan. He has published over 50 research papers in international journals. Wu won the recognition of the National Science Council with the award, which was also the first time the NTNU was honored for research in the field of earth science.
Professor Chun-Yen Chang promotes science education.
Chang has published over 100 papers, of which 53 of them were published in international journals over the past five years. Around 80% of his papers were indexed in the Science/Social Science Citation Index (SCI/SSCI) database. One of his research, automatic scoring system which incorporates neuroscience and molecular biology, was listed in the 50 Great Achievements of the National Science Council.
Professor Chang’s research specializes in computer-assisted teaching, distance teaching and learning and digital learning evaluation. He has been training science students for years and has been a project manager for the International Earth Science Olympiad. He has helped Taiwanese students to win the competition’s top prizes for the past six consecutive years.
President Kuo-En Chang is dedicated to digital leaning.
Professor Kuo-En Chang is from Graduate Institute of Information and Computer Education and currently the President of NTNU. He has been promoting digital learning and has published over a hundred research papers in international journals. He is specialized in computerized simulation and digital learning, online corporate training and mobile learning. He has integrated technologies and educational research to help digital learners. He has also presided multiple large-scale research projects and is now one of the program directors for Taiwanese e-Learning and the Digital Archives Program.
Professor Kuo-En Chang has won 9 Research Awards from the National Science Council and the annual achievements award from the global Chinese information and computer education association in 2007. He won his third Distinguished Research Award from the National Science Council after having been given the honor in both 2002 and 2010. During his term as the President of NTNU, the university has been included in the Aim for the Top University Project of Taiwan Ministry of Education, which helped to elevate the importance of NTNU’s research and its academic status throughout the world.