The Tang Prize Foundation is delighted to be one of the sponsors of this year’s AAS-in-Asia conference. Founded in Taiwan in 2012, the biannual Tang Prize aims to draw urgent attention to the most critical issues facing humanity in the 21st century. To accomplish this goal, since 2014, it has been awarding remarkable achievements in the fields of sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science, Sinology, and the rule of law that have led to significant improvement on the fronts of environment, health, culture and justice—four among the important aspects of human life and society.
Though this year’s award ceremony and banquet have been cancelled due to the pandemic, and subsequently the Foundation revised the original plan to hold the masters’ forum in the normal fashion, which will see our 2020 laureates gather in Taiwan to share their views and exchange ideas with people from different sectors of society, we were also afforded an opportunity to bring this momentous event to a wider, international audience.
On September 21 and 22, four forums will take place on-site, in four universities in Taiwan, and online, in the form of webinars, allowing people around the globe to participate in person or via the internet and join some of the world’s finest visionaries to explore topics pertinent to the current situation we are in.
Dr. Jane Goodall, recipient of this year’s prize in Sustainable Development, will be talking about COVID-19’s impact on ecological conservation and the sustainable development of human society; three acclaimed scientists, Drs. Charles Dinarello, Marc Feldmann, and Tadamitsu Kishimoto, who were jointly awarded the prize in Biopharmaceutical Science, will take us through their lifelong research on cytokines, explain how their groundbreaking discoveries transformed the way we treat inflammatory diseases, as well as discuss cytokine storm syndromes; doyen of Chinese overseas studies and the latest winner in Sinology, Prof. Wang Gungwu will examine the many possibilities for a pluralist approach to Sinology; and the three organizations that share the 2020 prize in Rule of Law, the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, Dejusticia: The Center for Law, Justice and Society, and The Legal Agenda, will give their perspectives on the role non-governmental organizations play in contemporary civil society. Several former Tang Prize laureates and eminent scholars in Taiwan will also take part to offer their professional opinions.
There has never been a time more critical than this very moment, when a global health emergency threatens to undermine the foundation of human civilization, for us to listen to the voices of the wise, seek a route out of this crisis, ponder a feasible way forward, and develop a vision for a sustainable future. We therefore cordially invite you to join us in these forums and equip yourself with the knowledge and courage required to respond to major challenges lying ahead.
For all the latest updates, please stay tuned to our official website: www.tang-prize.org
To learn more about the Tang Prize, simply click on the videos below: