Welcome to UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF TAIWAN

Brain Research Center │ Center for Nano Science and Technology

　　Brain research is one of the frontier research areas of this century. Brain research is
recognized explicitly as having become an interdisciplinary scientific endeavor. The complexity of the problems involved requires the participation of the best intellects in many diverse fields: mathematicians, physicists, chemists, information scientists, engineers, philosophers, artists and humanists, in addition to the biologists and physicians. It is inherently a multi-disciplinary activity that benefits from the input of every intellectual enterprise practiced by humanity (see figure below). The small and isolated nature of academic departments in Taiwan makes this endeavor difficult using our existing research infrastructure. To circumvent this problem of insufficient critical mass, the UST establishes the Brain Research Center (BRC) to draw on the complementary resources of the best research groups already working in this area on the four participating campuses. The goal of BRC is to integrate and strengthen existing biomedical, biophysical, and biochemical collaborations among the four universities, to encourage interdisciplinary research activities by inviting the participation of UST's mathematicians, information scientists, and engineers who are interested in the development of theoretical and computational neuroscience, and to recruit aggressively outstanding scientists to join our effort.

Objectives

　　1. To enable Taiwan to compete at the international level in brain research.

　　2. To serve as a model of how to conduct multi-disciplinary research and education in Taiwan.

　　3. To stimulate interactions among scientists with diverse backgrounds to work on problems of common interest that have a
　　　grand scope.

　　4. To attempt to shorten the time from basic biomedical research, to useful clinical applications through better coordination.

　　5. To help to establish a vibrant biotechnology industry that will benefit the mental and physical health of the society as
　　　 well as the economy of Taiwan.

Administration and Committees

　　The BRC is composed of a Management Office, Steering Committee, Advisory Committee, Research Programs, and Education and Clinical Training Programs. ACenter Director will manage the administrative business of the center through a Management Office. The Management Office has been established at National Yang - Ming University. Dr. Te-Chang Lee has been appointed as acting director of the Brain Research Center from June 1, 2003.

Steering and Advisory Committees

　　A panel of international experts will serve as members of the steering committee. They will give advice on research directions and strategies for the Center. Together with the Director, this panel will assist the MOE and the UST Steering Committee in their periodic evaluations of the Center's research progress and operational efficiency. A group of the members of the steering committee forms the Advisory committee. Before the Director is recruited, the Advisory committee will assist the acting director to manage the BRC office.

　　　Table. List of Members of the BRC Steering Committee (in alphabetical order)

　　　* Members of BRC Advisory Committee.

Research Themes

　　BRC is organized according to the current research activities in the clinical,cognitive, imaging, molecular, and cellular neurosciences at the National Yang-Ming University/Veteran 's General Hospital, National Central University and National Tsing Hua University and in neuroengineering at the National Chiao Tung University. The strength of BRC derives from its cross-disciplinary approach to the important problems in the field, and it has a vertically and horizontally integrated attack that aims to carry emerging paradigms in basic research quickly to concrete applications in clinical practice and biomedical technology. Current l y, the four major themes of BRC research are: cognitive neuroscience, neuroengineering, mapping gene expression in brain circuits, and basic and clinical research on brain diseases.

Education Programs

　　A program at the forefront of education is essential for an adequate future supply of medical and scientific staff for clinical neurology and brain/neuroscience research. We will develop a comprehensive education program that will include graduate programs to train basic neuroscientists and medical fellows. To attract students with diverse backgrounds into the various exciting fields of neuroscience, we will revamp our undergraduate curricula and also institute novel summer courses and workshops.

Collaboration with Other Institutions

　　The BRC will share facilities and human resources with other related research centers and research laboratories that exist in the UST. The BRC will establish extensive collaborations with other national and international research institutions.