A Jump-Start of Astronomy Education in Taiwan

Wen-Ping Chen

Graduate Institute of Astronomy and Dept. of Physics

National Central University, Taiwan

Spurred by the leaping developments of research activities (e.g., SMA, TON, TAOS, AMiBA, GRAB), Taiwan is catching up its education in astronomy in virtually every aspect. The Academia Sinica established the first astronomy research institute about 10 years ago, which catalyzed within 2 years the first graduate program of astronomy, as well as an elaborative astronomy museum. Since then the astronomy education at all levels, from college to primary school, has been booming. More than a dozen universities now offer courses related to astronomy or astrophysics, for science and non-science majors, and two more graduate programs will soon be instituted. Textbooks get written, and books on popular sciences, either translated or composed by local authors, have mushroomed on the market. I will outline these ongoing activities along with plans in the horizon.

Taiwan has seen active astronomy research in recent years. This prompts the need of steady supply of high-quality young scientists, and arose the general public the interest in the sky. Any successful education program must be bolstered ultimately with outstanding research. All the above projects involve graduate students, or college/high-school students as observers or in data analysis to have hand-on experience. Research groups from various institutes have either participated in international collaborations or have initiated projects such as

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- TON (Taiwan Oscillation Network): a global network of telescopes for helioseismology.

- TAOS (Taiwan-America Occultation Survey): A collaboration of Lawrence Livermore Lab, Academia Sinica, Central University, and other institutes to set up an array of telescopes to monitor chance stellar occultation event so as to estimate the number of Kuiper-belt objects.

- AMiBA (Array for Microwave Background Anisotropy):
A collaboration of Taiwan University and the Academia Sinica to build an interferometric array of small antennas to detect the polarization of the CMB fluctuations and to conduct a blank survey of clusters of galaxies through the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect.

- GRAB (Gamma-Ray Binoculars):
optical identification and follow-up spectroscopy of gamma-ray bursters.

The first astronomy research institute was established by the Academia Sinica (Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics) about 10 years ago.

Within 2 years the first graduate program of astronomy was set up (National Central University), and an elaborative astronomy museum inaugurated in Taipei.

NCU builds its own 76 cm reflector atop Mt. Lulin (elevation 2880 m) amid the central mountain ranges on the island. This research and educational facility will start operational in the fall of year 2000.

Outreach programs are prosperous and active in Taiwan.

Since then astronomy education on the island has been booming at all levels, from primary schools to colleges.

Textbooks get written, and books on popular sciences, either composed by local authors or translated, have mushroomed on the market. School teachers participate actively in curricular design and outreach programs.

There are summer schools for college students and study groups for teachers throughout the year.

Publication on astronomy (actually popular science in general) finds popular market. Best-sellers get to translate into Chinese version within months.

More than a dozen universities are offering introductory astronomy courses, some to non-science majors. Physics and math-based courses should be competitive at the highest international standards. One example of the curriculum follows,

Core courses of the graduate program of the NCU include: Radiative Processes in Astrophysics, Solar System Astrophysics, Stellar Atmosphere and Structure, Stellar Formation and Evolution, Interstellar Medium, Galactic Astrophysics, Large-Scale Structure and Cosmology, Observational Astrophysics.

Two more graduate programs will soon be instituted (Tsing-Hua University and Taiwan University), demanding at least a few dozens of astronomy PhD positions. Students with astronomy background find advantage when they look for jobs as teachers, museum curators, or journalists. Interdisciplinary training, e.g., astronomy/science with literature, and astronomy with life sciences, is being devised. Taiwan must be one of the fortunate places worldwide in terms of demand for astronomers.

In conclusion, development of astronomy education in Taiwan is progressing in a comprehensive fashion. We still have a long way to go, but are catching up rapidly. We look forward to collaboration or exchange of ideas --- research to education programs alike --- with international institution.