Staff Writer, with CNA
The French Office in Taipei is to launch a series of science talks across Taiwan with the first event set to be held in Hsinchu City next week with the theme of “women in science.”
The event, the sixth edition of a program called “Science Bubble Tea,” will be held at Hsinchu Railway Art Village on Wednesday evening, the first time such a talk has been held outside Taipei, according to French Representative to Taiwan Franck Paris.
Two female scientists, Maud Vinet from France and Zan Hsiao-wen (冉曉雯) from Taiwan, have been invited to talk about their research and share their experience working in the science and technology sectors, Paris said on Wednesday.
Photo: CNA
According to the office, Vinet is a quantum physicist who last year cofounded Quobly, a company that develops quantum computers based on silicon spin qubits.
The company raised 19 million euros (US$20.88 million) in its seed funding round that year, the office said, which represents the Elysee Palace’s interests in Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic relations.
Meanwhile, Zan, a photonic physics researcher at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University based in Hsinchu, won the Franco-Taiwanese Scientific Grand Prize in Paris last year and holds nearly 80 patents, the office said.
Through the sharing of such role models as Vinet and Zan, hopefully, attendees, especially female students, will be encouraged to pursue studies in science, Paris said, adding that women are “under-represented” in science in Taiwan and France.
The event is also part of the office’s effort to “scale up” scientific links between Taiwan and France, said the envoy, who has pledged to make science and innovation “the focus of the relationship between France and Taiwan.”
The two sides share “a taste for creativity and innovation” and both have “a long-standing history of cooperation in science,” he said.
France has developed partnerships with democracies such as the US, Japan and other EU nations, he said, adding that his office aims to bring its scientific ties with Taiwan to “at least the same level as we have with these partners.”
Speaking of its plans for future Science Bubble Tea events, Paris said the office is looking to organize a talk once every three months in different cities next year, with the hope of making the scientific development of France “more visible” to people across Taiwan.
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