Heeding the Executive Yuan's call for community empowerment and regional revitalization, National Chi Nan University (NCNU) is working with local alliances and grassroots groups in Nantou County's Ren'ai Township to transform the mountainous heart of Taiwan into a world-class stargazing destination. Taiwan is uniquely positioned on Earth, with latitudinal and longitudinal advantages that allow stargazers here to behold 82 out of the 88 constellations officially recognized by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). As such conditions are rarely met elsewhere, star-chasers from neighboring Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong all fly to Taiwan.
Highlights
2021-04-30NCNU students craft coffee business with government start-up fund
Based in Ren'ai Township of Nantou County, the team behind the coffee start-up Lai Bai (來唄工作室) comprises Sunay Mayaw (高國郡) of the Amis tribe, Tiang Tamalasan (黃紹剛) of the Thao tribe, and Lawa Tesing (石翔碩) of the Bunun tribe. Utilizing their different backgrounds and experiences, these entrepreneurial students successfully applied for the MOE's "U-start Plan for Innovation and Entrepreneurship," receiving NT$1.1 million seed fund in two parts: NT$500,000 in 2020, and NT$600,000 in 2021.
2021-04-29NCNU's women softball team wins Taiwan university league
National Chi Nan University captured the 2021 university softball championship title on March 28, winning 7:0 against National Taiwan University of Sport at the Taichung King Long Baseball Stadium. NCNU President Dr. Dong-Sing Wuu (武東星) pointed out that, at six students, the university's female softball players make up nearly one-third of Taiwan's national softball team training for the 2022 Asian Games. With generous support from the Sports Administration of the Ministry of Education, NCNU is also constructing the country's only sports field tailored for women's softball to train more world-class players and coaches.
2021-04-29From fruit peels to fragrant beverage: NCNU uncovers the secrets of coffee cherry tea
National Chi Nan University's USR Hub has developed a tidy new caffeinated drink by upcycling the flesh of the coffee fruit, which was previously discarded as industrial waste. This byproduct of the coffee sector's bean-focused manufacturing can, in fact, be used to make a fragrant and stimulating beverage. Known in Spanish as Cascara, meaning "skin" or "membrane," coffee cherry tea is made by brewing sun-dried coffee peels — whole berry husks that puff up like little cherries upon re-encountering water.
Faculty, Student & Alumni Stories
National Chi Nan University's Department of International and Comparative Education (DICE) is a true cradle of global talent and mobility, and accredited scholar Fu Po-wei is proud to call it his academic home. He spent nine years here, after all, progressing from undergraduate to doctoral studies — all in comparative education — and capturing a research grant from the Ministry of Education during the process.
Mahua, or the Sinophone literature of Malaysia, has been the focal point of studies from establishments such as Guangzhou's Jinan University since the 1990s to international academia such as American sinologists after 2005. In fact, their research often congregate on the literary output coming from a small Mahua community in Taiwan, from which novels are most popular but other creative forms and critiques flourish as well, and Ng is known for them all.
Dr. Yuhlong Oliver Su has served as president of National Chi Nan University since 2012. He is also a professor of applied chemistry who specializes in electroanalytical and porphyrin chemistry. Under Su's leadership, NCNU has been blossoming along the three axis of sophistication, specificity, and internationalization. Sophistication refers to the pursuit of refinement, a mindset of aiming for excellence in all aspects. “This has been my approach towards school governance and deepening the foundational roots of NCNU,” he explains. Specificity refers to the unique merits of each school, for “we are not just another public university.” Next up is internationalization, which has always been one of the university's founding values based on the intrinsic qualities of NCNU, in which the school name means “Southbound.”