Higher Education SPROUT Project

Achievement Summary and Highlights 2025

This project encompasses initiatives in enhancing teaching innovation, fulfilling social responsibility, fostering industry–academia collaboration, increasing publicness in higher education, advancing international administrative support systems, and promoting international key research areas. Major achievements in 2025 include the following:

1. Teaching Innovation and Refinement: (1) Developed 25 interdisciplinary mini-programs, ensuring that all undergraduate students complete at least one　mini- program prior to graduation. (2) Established an intelligent virtual hospital system to enrich medical education, enabling students to gain early exposure to clinical practice. (3) Enrolled four colleges in the TOEIC College Program to cultivate globally competitive talent. (4) Launched the “Bachelor’s Program in Interdisciplinary Smart Healthcare,” scheduled to begin in the 2026–2027 academic year.
   【Figure 1. Incorporation of the Virtual Hospital System into the curriculum】
2. Fulfilling Social Responsibility: (1) Consistently ranked within the 101–200 range in the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings for three consecutive years, achieved 18th place globally in SDG 3 in 2025, and in the same year, received 24 awards recognizing social responsibility and sustainable development efforts, including the Silver Award from the Ministry of Environment National Enterprise Environmental Protection Award and accolades from the Asia-Pacific Sustainability Action Awards & Taiwan Sustainability Action Awards (APSAA & TSAA). (2) Obtained certification for ISO 14064 Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Verification and ISO 50001 Energy Management System. (3) Published an annual sustainability report regularly since 2022. (4) Provided medical services and talent cultivation for Taiwan’s rural and outlying island regions, as well as for Taiwan’s diplomatic allies.
   【Figure 2. Taipei Medical University and Shuang Ho Hospital receiving the Silver Award at the 7th National Enterprise Environmental Protection Awards】
3. Industry-Academia Cooperation: (1) Steadily advanced innovation and entrepreneurship education in 2025, with 14 teams entering the incubator. Among the incubated teams, nine teams earned one Gold Award, one Silver Award, one Merit Award, two Second Prizes, one Third Prize, one Honorable Mention, and one Special Award that year. (2) The TMU–Taipei Tech cross-university QUICKER team also earned a Gold Medal at a Tokyo invention exhibition and an iCAN Special Award from the Toronto International Society of Innovation and Advanced Skills. (3) Acquired NT$778 million in funding for industry–academia collaboration, accompanied by 71 newly granted patents and NT$47.1 million in technology licensing revenue (including equity-based agreements), and established three additional spin-off startup companies, raising the cumulative total to 32 companies. (4) In 2025, secured approval for two precision health projects, four STEM interdisciplinary talent cultivation projects, and one project approved under the Smart Rainforest Industry Innovation Talent Cultivation Program. 
   【Figure 3. Award-Winning Photo of the TMU–Taipei Tech QUICKER Team】
4. Increasing Publicness in Higher Education: (1) Supported economically disadvantaged students by providing additional scholarships beyond tuition and fee waivers and financial aid. Low-income and lower-middle-income students received annual supplementary awards of NT$180,000 and NT$120,000, respectively, with a 100% award rate for all applicants. (2) Broadened priority admission criteria for students facing economic or cultural disadvantage, allocating 35 admission slots for economically disadvantaged students and 88 for culturally disadvantaged students in the 2025–2026 academic year. (3) Strengthened the Indigenous Student Resource Center to provide individualized support and counseling, resulting in an 8% improvement in annual academic performance ranking.
5. Section of the Main Framework—Internationalized Administrative Support System: (1) Established a dedicated international administrative service desk covering 96.97% of first-level administrative units, and developed English-language administrative instructional videos to enhance bilingual services and international communication capacity. (2) Offered more than 130 short-term study topics in 2025, attracting over 200 incoming international students.
6. International Key Research Areas: (1) Focused on translational medicine, promoting distinctive research areas such as cancer translational medicine, neuroscience, smart medical devices, and thoracic medicine. Positioned as an innovation-driven university, TMU plans to expand into advanced research areas such as cardio-renal-metabolic syndromes, transplant immunology, and rare diseases, strengthening both research capacity and clinical integration. (2) Engaged in bilateral collaborations with multiple top-tier universities to cultivate young scholars. For example, Assistant Professor Wu Si-han conducted research on mRNA vaccines in the laboratory of Nobel laureate Drew Weissman at the University of Pennsylvania. (3) Maintained global influence and brand visibility: the university continues to rank among the top 30 worldwide in Nursing in both the 2024 and 2025 QS World University Rankings by Subject. (4) In 2025, a total of 61 scholars from the TMU system were listed among the World’s Top 2% Scientists. (5) Outstanding researchers received national-level recognition, including Associate Professor Lo Wei-cheng and Assistant Professor Wu Jen-Chieh, who were awarded the National Science and Technology Council Wu Ta-You Memorial Award in 2025.