A Landmark Year: NCKU Wins 2 Top, 5 Model, and 1 Merit Award in the 2025 6th Global Views USR Awards
Written by Hsu Tsu-Yueh. Image credit to NCKU News Center.
At the 2025 6th Global Views University Social Responsibility (USR) Awards, National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) emerged as the top performer for the fourth consecutive year, earning two top awards, five model awards, and one merit award. In addition to leading in the number of shortlisted projects, NCKU also achieved its highest award count to date. Among the accolades, National Cheng Kung University's inaugural officially verified sustainability report was recognized with a Model Award.
A Landmark Year: NCKU Wins 2 Winner, 5 Excellence Award, and 1 Distinction Award in the 2025 6th Global Views USR Awards
In this year, NCKU submitted 14 projects, with eight making the shortlist, the highest number of shortlisted entries among all universities. Remarkably, all eight entries went on to win awards, setting a new record for the awards. NCKU received top awards in two categories: the Sustainable Curriculum category for the project “CO Together: NCKU Exploring Tainan and Building a New Knowledge-Based University with Tainan” and the Ecological Co-existence category for “Whale Tale Tainan 2.0: A Sustainable Initiative for Marine Wildlife Conservation and Education in Taiwan and the Western Pacific”.
The five projects that received model awards are as follows: in the Ecological Co-existence category, “Carbon Monitoring—AI for Net Zero in Chiayi”; in the Well-being and Co-existence category, “Technology for Pandemic Prevention: AI-based Dengue Fever Early Warning and Prevention System” and “Dementia-Friendly Communities—NCKU Good Neighbor Project in Pingtung”; in the Industry Co-creation category, “Hydrogen for Carbon: Academia-Industry Alliance Supporting Taiwan’s Carbon Neutrality”; in the Sustainability Report category, “2023–2024 National Cheng Kung University Sustainability Report”; and in the Local Engagement category, “Go Together 2026: Intersubjective, Mutualism, Recreation of Cultural Heritage”.
The award ceremony for the 2025 6th Global Views USR Awards was held on the afternoon of April 8 in Taipei, bringing together more than 30 university leaders, including presidents, vice presidents, and chief sustainability officers from the winning institutions. According to Global Views, this year saw 215 entries from 67 universities across Taiwan, marking a 25.7% increase from the previous year. Among the entries, general universities were more active than technical and vocational schools, accounting for 70% of the shortlisted projects. Of the 86 shortlisted entries, 56% came from public universities.
Winner/ Sustainable Curriculum Category / CO Together: NCKU Exploring Tainan and Building a New Knowledge-Based University with Tainan
Winner / Sustainable Curriculum Category / CO Together: NCKU Exploring Tainan and Building a New Knowledge-Based University with Tainan
Executive Vice President Yuh-Neu Chen accepted the award on behalf of the university, highlighting that the Exploring Tainan general education program—launched in 2017 and now in its third phase—has become a model for sustainable university-community collaboration. Patented in 2018 and widely recognized for its social impact, the program also inspired the founding of CHEiTO Company to meet increasing demand. “Like capillaries, it flows through every part of Tainan, bringing local features into view,” she remarked.
She extended her thanks to the dedicated teaching team—more than 80 NCKU faculty members and over 120 community mentors—as well as to former President Huey-Jen Jenny Su for her visionary leadership in initiating the program and to current President Meng-Ru Shen for his continued support and commitment to sustainability. She also expressed gratitude to the citizens of Tainan for their ongoing support and participation.
Co-led by Vice President Chen and Dean Shin-Mei Kao of the College of Liberal Arts, Exploring Tainan is a required, cross-disciplinary general education course for all first-year students. Since 2017, it has engaged over 24,000 students and partnered with 97 communities and 125 mentors across all 33 administrative districts of Tainan. With communities serving as classrooms, the course fosters mutual learning: students co-design solutions to local challenges while residents benefit from new ideas and youthful energy.
Through this approach, the program helps NCKU fulfill its social responsibility and sustain meaningful connections with the society and environment in which its teachers, students, and the university are rooted.
Winner / Ecological Co-existence category / Whale Tale Tainan 2.0: A Sustainable Initiative for Marine Wildlife Conservation and Education in Taiwan and the Western Pacific
Winner / Ecological Co-existence category / Whale Tale Tainan 2.0: A Sustainable Initiative for Marine Wildlife Conservation and Education in Taiwan and the Western Pacific
Professor Hao-Ven Wang, head of the project, professor in the Department of Life Sciences, and director of the Marine Biology & Cetacean Research Center, accepted the award on behalf of the team and expressed gratitude to the judges for their recognition. He emphasized that not even a second can be wasted when it comes to rescuing cetaceans. They want to investigate the cause death of the deceased cetaceans and no details can be spared in the necropsy. He particular thanked Professors Jyh-Wei Shin and Professor Chung-Ching Huang for establishing a new leadership team for the project. In addition to strengthening the educational component, they even brought their conservation ideas to Tsukuba University in Japan. Professor Wang said he hopes that winning this award will raise awareness and inspire new directions for the future.
Professor Wang further explained that since 1992, NCKU faculty and students have been the pioneers in responding to whale and dolphin strandings in Taiwan, with continuous involvement over the decades. In 2004, in collaboration with the Tainan City Government and the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, a cetacean rescue facility was established in Sicao, Tainan. Then in 2009, the Marine Biology and Cetacean Research Center was officially established at NCKU’s An-Nan Campus. The center has developed a rescue system for assisting stranded marine wildlife, from first response, rescue, medical treatment, and rehabilitation, to release. It also conducts pathological necropsies. While helping the nation progressively build a database specific to Taiwan’s section of the Western Pacific, the center continues to fulfill its academic and educational missions. It selects meaningful research topics, produces innovative findings, and serves as both a professional marine conservation education center and a nationwide special environmental education site. By partnering with citizens, community groups, schools, government, and international universities, the team promotes marine education through a practical and scientific approach.
Excellence Award / Ecological Co-existence Category / Carbon Monitoring—AI for Net Zero in Chiayi
Excellence Award / Ecological Co-existence Category / Carbon Monitoring—AI for Net Zero in Chiayi
Professor Chih-Da Wu from the Department of Geomatics, who led the project and accepted the award on behalf of the team, expressed his gratitude towards NCKU President Meng-Ru Shen for providing an excellent opportunity to engage in sustainability research, as well as the Chiayi City Government and the city’s Environmental Protection Bureau Director Chia-Ho Li for their strong support that enabled the application of AI and drone-based survey methods in real-world carbon monitoring in Chiayi. He also acknowledged the team members: Professors Yu-Liang Hsu and Tzu-Ping Lin from the Department of Architecture at NCKU, Distinguished Professor Wan-Yu Liu from the Department of Forestry at National Chung Hsing University, Associate Researcher Jo-Pin Hung from the Agricultural Engineering Research Center, and postdoctoral researcher Chien-Hao Sung. He expressed hope that NCKU’s energy will continue to contribute to Taiwan’s journey toward sustainability and net-zero carbon emissions and conducting Carbon Footprint Verification.
Professor Wu explained that achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 is a key global environmental goal. Urban green spaces play a vital role as carbon sinks, and accurately quantifying their value is a major challenge. Building on NCKU’s experience in campus-based carbon sink investigation, the team applied cutting-edge Geo-AI algorithms in Chiayi City, which is known for its rich green spaces and cultural heritage as a “city of wood.” Their goal was to estimate the carbon sink capacity of urban green areas. Through joint efforts with the Chiayi Environmental Protection Bureau, the team has completed carbon sink assessments for seven urban green areas and the Chiayi Experimental Forest. Chiayi has thus become the first city in Taiwan to conduct urban green space carbon assessments using Geo-AI in combination with drone-based multispectral aerial imaging. The project was co-led by Professor Chih-Da Wu, Assistant Professor Yu-Liang Hsu, and Director Chia-Ho Li. The research team also included Distinguished Professors Tzu-Ping Lin and Wan-Yu Liu, Associate Researcher Jo-Pin Hung, and a postdoctoral researcher Chien-Hao Sung. The project is a successful cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Excellence Award / Well-being and Co-existence Category / Technology for Pandemic Prevention: AI-based Dengue Fever Early Warning and Prevention System
Excellence Award / Well-being and Co-existence Category / Technology for Pandemic Prevention: AI-based Dengue Fever Early Warning and Prevention System
Professor Hsun-Ping Hsieh from the Department of Electrical Engineering, who accepted the award on behalf of the team, shared that the project began as a simple initiative with his students, aiming to tackle local issues one step at a time using advanced AI technology. People often assume electrical engineering students should head straight to high-tech industries and make a lot of money, often more than their professors. But what’s most rewarding about this project is that the students are learning during their time at university how to care about society and work toward solving real-world problems.
The project was led by Professor Hsun-Ping Hsieh, in collaboration with Associate Professor Tzu-Chang Lee, from the Department of Urban Planning. Together, they guided NCKU students and Tainan City government personnel in forming a co-learning team to jointly develop an AI-based early warning system aimed at addressing the city’s dengue fever control efforts, thereby creating significant social impact. The AI system integrates information on weather, environment, health, disease outbreaks, and geographic information, as well as other open government data, to conduct real-time dengue risk analysis across Tainan. It provides accurate and comprehensive forecasts to assist government agencies and schools in implementing more effective prevention measures. Between 2021 and 2025, the system helped Tainan achieve zero cases of dengue infection in elementary and junior high schools, protecting the health and safety thousands of students and faculty each year. The project also raised awareness about public health and strengthened healthy behaviors across the community. Combining international research impact with local practical application, the project has received several global research awards. It also led to the launch of the “Community-Based Mosquito Control Education Program” in Tainan, bringing experiment-based courses into schools and inspiring innovative, interdisciplinary teaching strategies.
Excellence Award / Well-being and Co-existence Category / Dementia-Friendly Communities—NCKU Good Neighbor Project in Pingtung
Excellence Award / Well-being and Co-existence Category / Dementia-Friendly Communities—NCKU Good Neighbor Project in Pingtung
Associate Professor Ling-Hui Chang from the Department of Occupational Therapy, who accepted the award on behalf of the team, remarked that the creation of a dementia-friendly community is built on the collective efforts of many people. She expressed her gratitude to the Pingtung County Government for their consistent trust and collaboration, to Executive Vice President Yuh-Neu Chen for her leadership, and to all the teachers and assistants on the team for their dedication that enabled the opportunity to turn ideals into action and tangible outcomes. Looking forward, she hopes to continue refining their experiences and share them through various channels, so that the positive impact developed in Pingtung can reach more communities. She expressed expectations that "one day, the value of being dementia-friendly will not require deliberate advocacy. Dementia friendliness will be a natural and expected part of how every community lives." “A community where everyone, regardless of disability or dementia, can live with comfort and dignity is something we can all work together to achieve.”
Executive Vice President Yuh-Neu Chen, the project leader, explained that as Taiwan faces an aging society and an increasing number of persons with dementia, stereotypes and stigma surrounding dementia continue to persist and public understanding remains limited. While “aging in place” is widely promoted, neighborhoods still grapple with how to support people with dementia to live comfortably and with dignity. In response, since 2018, NCKU has partnered with the Pingtung County Government to establish the first Dementia-Friendly Village that integrates technology, an open, inclusive care model, local schools, and local business in Xishi Village, Zhutian Township. With the experiences of Xishi Village transformation, the team has expanded their experiences into helping more communities and strengthening the capacity of the local government to effect the transformation.
Excellence Award / Sustainability Report Category / 2023–2024 National Cheng Kung University Sustainability Report
Excellence Award / Sustainability Report Category / 2023–2024 National Cheng Kung University Sustainability Report
Chair Professor Chuan-Pu Liu, Executive Director of the NCKU Committee for Sustainable Development Promotion and Vice President for Research & Development, accepted the award on behalf of the university. In his remarks, he shared that President Meng-Ru Shen, from the very beginning of his term, responded to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by proposing five major objectives for university development. With over two years of dedicated effort, NCKU has already undergone a significant upgrade. In terms of research, education, and sustainable service, NCKU’s work spans a wide range of settings, from the university to hospitals, from students to the elderly, from urban communities to remote rural areas, and covers Taiwan’s mountains, oceans, animals, and plants, enabling the university to achieve such outstanding results.
Professor Liu further explained that NCKU’s key areas of university governance include: innovative governance, humanistic values, health and well-being, net-zero carbon emissions, and disaster resilience. Highlights of their performance include exceptional international rankings: in the UK Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, NCKU ranks among the top nationally and globally for SDG-related indicators; in academia–industry collaboration, NCKU was ranked first globally and nationally in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024. The university has also demonstrated outstanding sustainability performance with notable achievements in carbon reduction and energy-saving efforts, and sustainable investments reaching 92.2%. Additionally, NKCU has impressive record in social responsibility, having repeatedly won first places in the University Social Responsibility (USR) awards.
Excellence Award / Industry Co-creation Category / Hydrogen for Carbon: Academia-Industry Alliance Supporting Taiwan’s Carbon Neutrality
Excellence Award / Industry Co-creation Category / Hydrogen for Carbon: Academia-Industry Alliance Supporting Taiwan’s Carbon Neutrality
Professor Shih-kang Lin from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, who served as the project’s principal investigator, accepted the award on behalf of the team. In his remarks, he emphasized that NCKU’s model of industry co-creation represents the joint effort of faculty, students, and alumni working together to build a better future. This project addresses the challenge of carbon neutrality, which is not only environmental or technological, but also a political and economic issue. By leveraging the expertise of NCKU’s academic community and its alumni working in industry, the team developed an innovative approach to sustainable metallurgy, representing a new industrial revolution and embodying the university’s commitment to social responsibility through industry–academia collaboration. He expressed gratitude to the faculty and student team, including the "National Carbon Reduction Team" led by NCKU, in partnership with ten other universities and research centers, and China Steel Corporation. Together, they are tackling this grand challenge.
Professor Lin further explained that in response to the global climate change crisis that has intensified since the Industrial Revolution, as well as the recent geopolitical and economic battles over international carbon rights, Taiwan has pledged to align with the UN’s “2050 Net Zero Emissions” goal. In Taiwan, the manufacturing sector accounts for about half of total carbon emissions, with the steel industry alone contributing 19.4% of all industrial emissions, which is similar to figures seen in advanced countries. Taiwan’s steel industry alone emits 10% of the nation's total carbon emissions, making it a critical focus in the country’s carbon neutrality strategy. NCKU, home to the nation’s oldest Metallurgy Department (now the Department of Materials Science and Engineering) and a full range of interdisciplinary engineering programs, has trained generations of top metallurgical talent who now serve as pillars of Taiwan’s industrial base. This project formed a national academic team for low-carbon metallurgy and partnered with leading industry player China Steel Corporation to launch a “Hydrogen for Carbon” green industrial revolution. The initiative integrates academic research, talent cultivation, international collaboration, and industrial application. So far, it has achieved a reduction of 1.55 million metric tons of carbon emissions per year, equivalent to the carbon sequestration capacity of about one-fifth of Taiwan’s forest area.
Distinction Award / Local Engagement Category / Go Together 2026: Intersubjective, Mutualism, Recreation of Cultural Heritage
Distinction Award / Local Engagement Category / Go Together 2026: Intersubjective, Mutualism, Recreation of Cultural Heritage
Professor Yuk-Ying Tung from the Institute of Education, who serves as the project’s principal investigator, stated that studies from Japan, Europe, and the U.S. have shown that strong interpersonal relationships are the foundation of a healthy and fulfilling life. This understanding served as the starting point for the "Go Together 2026" project. As Taiwan approaches a super-aged society, the project aspires to guide older adults into a meaningful “second life” through healthy community relationships, highlighting their life value and wisdom, and developing new models for aging. The initiative also emphasizes the connection between older adults and the local cultural context, aiming to not only foster independent, healthy aging but also to preserve regional history and shared cultural memory. Across nine urban and rural communities in Tainan, the project operates as a platform where 16 faculty members lead students into these local settings to deeply engage with and accompany older residents through collaborative learning and co-creation. Together, they explore the possibilities of vibrant elderly community life. So far, 14 micro-communities have been developed, each with its own relevant focus area. The project has yielded various tangible outcomes, including illustrated books, podcast programs, and environmental renovation efforts.
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NCKU News Center
Date:
2025-05-08
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