In the programme’s first year, Professor Grimes says, the UK government will spend £200,000 (NT$8 million) to strengthen UK-Taiwan collaboration in key areas such as biotechnology, AI, robotics, clean energy and autonomous vehicles. The bulk of the funding will go to supporting Taiwanese researchers that want to conduct research at UK universities and R&D institutes, with additional funding for sector analysis and bilateral visits.

“Taiwanese researchers traditionally have gone to the US or Japan for post-graduate studies and maintain links with the science communities in those countries. We have designed UKTW I2P to help Taiwanese researchers connect with UK excellence in science and innovation because we believe international collaboration is vital to cutting-edge R&D”, said by British Representative in Taiwan Catherine Nettleton.

The British Office Taipei is working closely with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), which is UKTW I2P’s key delivery partner. ITRI Executive Vice President C.T. Liu states that as the global economy is moving rapidly and massively toward individualized applications with solutions that demand deep and broad integration between business partners, the UK-TW Innovative Industries Programme signifies an exciting milestone. “Thanks to the efforts of the British Office Taipei, the UK-Taiwan partnership has made enormous progress over the past half year,” he said.

Other important partners include the Ministry of Science and Technology and Academia Sinica.

“The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and UK science and technology research institutes have already established a long-term relationship. We support all UK-TW science research bilateral cooperation activities in the hope of facilitating further innovative science research cooperation projects”, says MOST Vice Minister Tsou Yu-Han.

Academia Sinica President James Liao, who visited the UK last August, emphasises that “we want to strengthen the ties between the UK and Taiwan, particularly in scientific fields. [UKTW I2P] may serve as a platform for scientific exchanges and discussions. We hope to further expand the opportunities of cooperation in areas of mutual benefit that takes advantage of our respective strengths.”

British industry has been supporting Taiwanese innovation for many years, taking Oxford Instruments as one of the best example. Jonathan Bryon, Vice President of Oxford Instruments, also the main supporter of the launch event said: “Oxford Instruments has had a direct presence in Taiwan for over 17 years and is focussed on driving the adoption of nanotechnology through close partnerships with leading industrial research and academic groups. Innovation has been the driving force behind Oxford Instruments growth and success for over 50 years and we are delighted to be able to support the initiative to strengthen UK-Taiwan innovation relations.”

Professor Grimes has visited Taiwan three times in the last two years and finds that “there is huge opportunity for the UK and Taiwan to work together, given the wide range of our complementary strengths. For instance, the UK and Taiwan are both working on driverless vehicle technology. We could increase the speed and quality of our efforts by collaborating on e-drive train and battery technologies.”

UKTW I2P is open to Taiwanese researchers from universities, Research and Technology Organisations such as ITRI, and Academia Sinica. The programme funds 50% of the mobility costs for up to 12 months. The first deadline for applications is 30 April 2018.