Presidential Science Prize of Taiwan

Eligibility and Selection Process

1. Statement of Purpose

Towards promoting Taiwan’s position in the international scientific community, the Office of the President of the Republic of China has established the Presidential Science Prize to recognize innovative researchers who have made monumental contributions to international research in the fields of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, Social Sciences, and Applied Sciences, especially those scholars whose works have had major impact on the development and applications of these fields in Taiwan. In principle, the Prize will be awarded in each of the four fields once every two years.

1. “Presidential Science Prize” Steering Committee

• To implement the selection and award of the Presidential Science Prize, the President of Academia Sinica has convened a steering committee of fifteen distinguished scientists and scholars. The Committee will include five permanent members (President of Academia Sinica, Deputy Secretary General of the Office of the President, Minister of Science and Technology, Minister of Education, and President of the National Health Research Institutes), five University Presidents, and five outstanding scientists/scholars from within the Taiwan community. The President of Academia Sinica will chair the Committee, and the Minister of Science and Technology will serve as co-chair. The Executive Secretary of the Academic Advisory Committee of Academia Sinica, and the Deputy Minister in-charge-of Academic Affairs of the Ministry of Science and Technology, will provide secretarial assistance to the Committee.
• The members of the Steering Committee will serve for a term of two years, and will be eligible for renewal of membership upon expiration of each term. Exceptions will be made in cases of a permanent member whose membership comes with his/her professional appointment, where the term follows accordingly. Changes in the professional appointment of a non-permanent member will not obligate him/her to abbreviate the term. A member of the Steering Committee is not eligible for nomination as a candidate during the term of office, and cannot resign from the Committee so as to qualify as a nominee. A Committee member who resigns for other reasons will remain ineligible for nomination until the expiration of the original term. If a Committee member resigns or departs for any reason, a new Committee member will be appointed in accordance with stipulations in Article II(A) to serve out the remaining term of the vacating member.
• Steering Committee members are expected to attend scheduled meetings. Should a member finds himself/herself in a position that he/she is unable to be present at a certain meeting, he/she should so inform the Chair of the Steering Committee in writing, explaining the circumstances, and designate another member of the Committee as his/her proxy, with all the rights and privileges to represent him/her during the discussion and disposition of all agenda items as well as any unscheduled business that might ensue.

III. Nomination of Candidates (Please see the instructions to service of the nomination information required under the Presidential Science Prize of Taiwan, Directions on Eligibility and Selection Process as shown in Attachment 1 hereto.)

(A)Nominees for the Presidential Science Prize will only be enlisted into consideration, when:

• The individual is nominated by the academicians of Academia Sinica or previous Presidential Science Prize awardees;
• The individual is nominated by academic and R&D institutions or associations and community leaders or social elites invited by the Presidential Science Prize Steering Committee.

(B)The nominator shall submit the following information:

• The Presidential Science Prize Nomination Forms filled out in Chinese as well as in English (see Attachment 2, one electronic file);
• Representative publications of the nominee, either in Chinese or English, or both (3-5 publications in an electronic form); otherwise, the original publications shall be mailed separately;
• A brief biographical profile describing the nominee’s background, education and professional experiences (one electronic file);

(C)Three to five letters of recommendations in support of the nominee from any local and foreign scholars, other than the nominator, which shall be sent by the scholars via E-mail directly to psp@most.gov.tw, the E-mail box of the Ministry of Science and Technology, during the acceptance period.

1. Selection Process

• Selection Committees
• A selection committee will be formed to screen the nominees in each of the four categories of the award and to provide an in-depth evaluation of each of the candidates. The Presidential Science Prize Steering Committee will appoint nine to eleven experts to each selection committee. The selection committee will elect a group leader to serve as spokesperson.
• Members of the four selection committees are appointed without remuneration.
• Selection Procedure
• The selection committees will review each individual nomination and prepare a written in-depth evaluation of the suitability of each of the nominees for the award in the four categories of the Prize.
• If for some reason, the chair of a selection committee is not able to convene a formal meeting of the committee, he/she should, with cause, obtain explicit permission from the Chair of the Presidential Science Prize Steering Committee to conduct the evaluation and selection process by mail.
• Each selection committee will recommend a short list of candidates for further consideration by the Presidential Science Prize Steering Committee.
• The Presidential Science Prize Steering Committee will make the final selection of the Prizewinners in a joint meeting with the group leaders of the four selection committees.
• If a group leader of a selection committee is unable to attend a joint meeting of the Presidential Science Prize Steering Committee with the group leaders of the four selection committees, he/she should so inform the Chair of the Presidential Science Prize Steering Committee in writing and designate a member of his/her selection committee as his/her substitute and proxy, with all the rights and privileges to act on his/her behalf during the joint meeting. If during a joint meeting, a committee member must leave prematurely for cause, he/she must forfeit his/her right to vote. He/she will not be allowed to designate a proxy in attendance to exercise his/her voting right.
• All meetings of the selection committees as well as the joint meetings of the Presidential Science Steering Committee with the group leaders of the four selection committees must have at least two-thirds of the members present to satisfy the quorum. The decision(s) resulting from meetings conducted without a quorum are otherwise non-binding.
• In the final selection process, the short list or the finalist(s) must be based on a vote of better than three-quarters majority of all the members in attendance at the joint meeting. At the joint meeting described above, except for the group leaders of selection committees, no other committee member may designate a substitute to attend on his/her behalf.
• Members of the Presidential Science Prize Steering Committee as well as the four selection committees must avoid situations of conflicts of interest and absent themselves from the meetings and deliberations when such conflicts emerge.
• When no appropriate candidate has been identified for a category of the Presidential Science Prize, an award will not be made in that category.

1. Awarding of the Presidential Science Prize

• The Presidential Science Prize will be presented every two years, with, in principle, no more than four winners on each occasion (without preference to category).
• The Presidential Science Prize in each of the four categories includes a monetary award of Two Million NT dollars and a plaque.
• Presentation of the Presidential Science Prizes will be made in a prestigious award ceremony presided by the President of the Republic of China.
• Each of the Prizewinners will present a public lecture on the award-winning work as part of the award; otherwise, other arrangements will be made to introduce the awardee(s) to the community at large, as deemed appropriate.

1. Financial Source

The expense of the selection process of The Presidential Science Prize should be arranged by the Ministry of Science and Technology in the annual budget.