Introduction
In Academia Sinica, there are more than thirty labs with research interests in or related to neuroscience. These labs are located in several institutes throughout the campus addressing diverse topics, ranging from neurodegeneration diseases, neural stem cells, development, plasticity and physiology to interdisciplinary studies such as brain imaging and computational biology.
As one of the scientific frontiers, neuroscience is seeing fascinating progress and at the same time facing daunting challenges with the need to combine different disciplines ranging from chemistry and molecular biology to cellular and systems neuroscience, to elucidate the cause of diseases and to explore efficacious treatments for neurological and psychiatric diseases. Neuroscience Program of Academia Sinica (NPAS) was established at Dec. 2008 according to this demand. Dr. Cheng-Ting Chien, Distinguished Research Fellow in Institute of Molecular Biology, was the coordinator from 2008-2020. Dr. Chih-Cheng Chen, Research Fellow in Institute of Biomedical Sciences, has assumed the coordinator from 2021.
The goal of NPAS is to perform excellent research in neuroscience with the following aims: (1) promote the interaction among neuroscientists on campus; (2) promote the integration of multidisciplines; (3) facilitate neuroscience education; (4) better utilize neuroscience research resources; (5) promote the quality and enhance the visibility of neuroscience research in Academia Sinica.