Overview

Academia Sinica is Taiwan’s premier government-supported academic research institution, with 33 institutes and centers representing a wide range of disciplines in the sciences and humanities. It is located in the Nankang district, on the outskirts of metropolitan Taipei. One of the Life Sciences Institutes, The Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology (IPMB) has 23 fellows (professor equivalents) whose research follows one of two central themes: the mechanisms of plant functioning or plant-microbial interactions. Some 300 support staff consisting of specialists, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, Research Assistant and administrative personnel work under the research fellows. IPMB has modern infrastructure and equipment.

An active education program is also set up, with Ph.D. students from the Taiwan International Graduate Program, Academia Sinica, or from their adjunct programs with National Taiwan University and National Central University. IPMB research fellows have previously made landmark discoveries in such areas as rice breeding and genomics, regeneration via tissue culture, virus satellite RNA, microbial circadian rhythm, etc. For a long time goal, we aim to improve the quality and quantity of research performance and achieve visibility in international scientific community. Over the past decade, IPMB has undergone a major reorganization and rejuvenation, and has added a number of outstanding junior fellows.