NTU HIGHLIGHTS

On November 10, 2025, the Taiwan Bridges Program officially commenced with an opening ceremony and inaugural lecture. Its first distinguished speaker was 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics recipient Prof. Sir Andre Geim of the University of Manchester, whose visit marked the beginning of this international initiative for scientific and academic exchange. President Ching-te Lai, who serves as the program’s honorary chair, emphasized that truly transformative technological innovation emerges from not only advances in technical capability but also a deeper understanding of and response to human life, society, and global responsibility. He urged students and scholars to actively participate in global academic dialogue and expressed hope that the program’s series of discussions would foster enduring and meaningful international collaborations. Besides hosting Nobel laureates on campus to deliver lectures, engage with students, and share their experiences, National Taiwan University and the Swedish Office in Taipei jointly presented a special exhibition titled “Conversations with Nobel: Echoes and Origins of the Nobel Prize.” This exhibition sought to deepen students’ understanding of the historical legacy and enduring spirit behind the Nobel Prize, with the hope of inspiring young scholars to draw motivation from these ideals in their respective pursuits of research and academic excellence.

Professor Sir Andre Geim: A Nobel Laureate Renowned for Scientific Excellence and Creativity

Professor Geim is internationally recognized for discovering graphene, a revolutionary material composed of a single layer of carbon atoms. With its combination of exceptional strength and outstanding electrical conductivity, graphene ushered in a new era of nanotechnology and has found multiple applications in electronics, energy, and medicine. This groundbreaking achievement earned Geim and colleague Konstantin Novoselov the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics. Professor Geim is also renowned for his humor and creativity, having been awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for an experiment that used magnetic fields to levitate a frog—an unconventional yet ingenious example of his imaginative approach to scientific inquiry.

The lecture attracted a full audience of faculty members and students, who enthusiastically participated in the discussion and Q&A session. Beyond the public lecture, Professor Geim also joined a small-group seminar with National Taiwan University’s Department of Physics, where he engaged in in-depth conversations with young scholars on research innovation and scientific discovery. By sharing his experiences and insights, he encouraged participants to adopt a cross-disciplinary mindset and broaden their perspectives on international scientific research.

Passing on the Values and Spirit of the Nobel Prize

By vividly portraying Sweden’s Nobel Week ceremonies, Helena Reitberger, representative of the Swedish Office in Taipei, offered participants a deeper appreciation of this elegant tradition. She described how laureates deliver lectures, participate in educational activities, receive their medals from the king of Sweden in a formal concert hall ceremony, and later share one of the world’s most elaborate banquets alongside the royal family. Ms. Reitberger further stated that even children experiencing adversity can be profoundly inspired when exposed to the Nobel spirit, discovering renewed vitality and hope. “That is the power of the Nobel Prize,” she remarked, highlighting the enduring value of this distinguished honor. She hoped that audiovisual materials from Sweden to Taiwan, along with rare artifacts and interactive exhibition designs, would motivate visitors to engage in a dialogue with the Nobel spirit—inviting them to take part in a cross-temporal exchange of knowledge and experience and feel the enduring and ever-relevant “Nobel spirit.”