José Manuel Barroso (2012 Nobel Peace Laureate)
Dr. Chien-Jen Chen, President of Academia Sinica
October 19, 2026, Monday, 14:00
International Conference Hall (3F), Humanities and Social Sciences Building, Academia Sinica
https://forms.gle/e6Vk1xyVikh1fEmUA
Government employees participating in the lecture will receive certification for lifelong learning and 2 hours of study credit.
Mr. Chang, Department of International Affairs, Academia Sinica Tel: (02) 2789-9895
A reformed global health architecture should focus on four priorities: First, protecting global public goods: These are functions that no country can efficiently deliver alone, including disease surveillance, outbreak preparedness, vaccine market shaping, research and innovation, emergency financing mechanisms, and global standards and regulatory frameworks. These functions protect all countries and remain essential to global health security. Second, enabling large-scale country impact: Institutions such as Gavi and the Global Fund have demonstrated the power of pooled procurement, innovative financing and partnership models to deliver results at scale. These capabilities remain indispensable, but they must increasingly be aligned around country priorities and support long-term sustainability. Third, reducing fragmentation at the last mile: The people and communities we seek to serve should experience a coherent system, not a collection of institutions. Greater coordination through joint planning, harmonized reporting, aligned grant cycles and shared country support mechanisms can reduce administrative burden while improving delivery. Fourth, strengthening support for fragile and humanitarian settings: Any reform agenda must ensure that the most vulnerable populations remain protected. This requires agile delivery models, stronger coordination and differentiated approaches tailored to fragile contexts.
Dr. Surya Ganguli (Associate Professor of Applied Physics, Stanford University)
Dr. Miranda C. N. Cheng (Research Fellow, Institute of Mathematics, Academia Sinica)
July 17, 2026, Friday, 14:00
Conference Room 1, 2F, Academic Activity Center, Academia Sinica
Government employees participating in the lecture will receive certification for lifelong learning and 2 hours of study credit.
Mr. Chang, Department of International Affairs, Academia Sinica Tel: (02) 2789-9895
All of your thoughts and actions emerge from about 100 billion neurons connected by about 100 trillion synapses. This biological network has given rise to all of engineering and science, including the neuroscience of how we look inwards to understand how our brains work. At the same time it has given rise to artificial intelligence (AI), which is capable of reproducing many feats of human reasoning and imagination. We will explore the latest knowledge regarding how intelligence emerges from networks of neurons, whether biological or artificial. This will include explaining how animals see and act, and how AI learns, reasons and imagines. It will also include how we can meld minds and machines so that machines can learn the language of the brain and speak directly back to it, thereby writing thoughts directly into the brain.