ACADEMIA SINICA

Their core work

Academia Sinica is Taiwan's premier national research academy, operating across natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Within H2020, they contribute specialized expertise in post-quantum cryptography, mathematical analysis, and interdisciplinary studies of human migration and linguistics in the Asia-Pacific region. They also serve as an international computing node for European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) infrastructure, bridging European and Asian research networks.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early period (2015-2018), Academia Sinica focused on applied mathematics and cybersecurity — post-quantum cryptography, harmonic analysis, and cloud security for IoT. From 2018 onward, their involvement shifted decisively toward research infrastructure (EOSC-hub, EGI-ACE) and interdisciplinary humanities-science work tracing human migration across the Pacific. This represents a move from contributing narrow technical expertise toward providing computing infrastructure and leading in Asia-Pacific cultural and genetic research.

Academia Sinica is positioning itself as the key Asia-Pacific gateway for European research infrastructure and as a hub for interdisciplinary studies bridging genetics, linguistics, and archaeology in Oceania and Southeast Asia.

How they like to work

Academia Sinica never coordinates H2020 projects — they join as participant, partner, or international third party, reflecting their non-EU status. They work exclusively in large consortia (191 unique partners across 46 countries), contributing specialized capabilities rather than driving project direction. This makes them a reliable specialist contributor who brings unique Asia-Pacific resources and perspectives to European-led initiatives.

With 191 unique consortium partners across 46 countries, Academia Sinica has one of the broadest international networks of any non-EU participant, spanning nearly every European research nation plus Asia-Pacific connections. Their network is wide rather than deep — built through large infrastructure consortia rather than repeated bilateral partnerships.

What sets them apart

As Taiwan's top research institution, Academia Sinica offers something few European partners can: deep expertise in Asia-Pacific linguistics, genetics, and archaeology combined with federated computing resources outside the EU. For consortium builders, they provide genuine international reach and a bridge to Asian research ecosystems. Their rare combination of hard science (cryptography, mathematics) and humanities (migration, linguistics) makes them versatile across very different project types.

Highlights from their portfolio

• OCSEAN
  A rare interdisciplinary project combining linguistics, archaeology, and medical genetics to trace Austronesian migration — showcasing Academia Sinica's unique Asia-Pacific expertise.
• PQCRYPTO
  A forward-looking cryptography project addressing quantum computing threats, where Academia Sinica contributed expertise in lattice-based and code-based encryption schemes.
• EGI-ACE
  Academia Sinica's most recent infrastructure project, where they served as an international partner providing federated computing for the European Open Science Cloud.