Dr. Yang-Yih Chen, the Senior Vice President and the Distinguished Professor of the Marine Environment and Engineering Department successfully experimented with power generation from Kuroshio Current on the east coast of Taiwan in 2016. An average value of 26.31 kW was reached at the current speed of 1.27 m/s. The research result attracted global attention as the worldĄŚs first ocean current power generation demonstration test.

NSYSU established the DARS as the portal for South China Sea research in 2012, the research focus includes marine biogeochemistry and biodiversity, marine drugs and biotechnology, as well as marine affairs and governance. It provides a variety of research facilities to attract visiting scientists from more than 20 countries in the world.

Professor Yu-Huai Wang and his team at the Department of Oceanography studied the South China Sea Internal Waves for over 10 years since 2006. They collaborated with international researchers, and part of the results were published in Nature (521, 07 May 2015). The research examined the mechanism of generation of internal gravity waves, variability and energy budget. The findings are beneficial to related researche on air-sea heat transfer, submarine navigation, carbon cycle and global warming. For example, internal solitons can trap and transport phytoplankton, providing a plentiful food source that benefits the growth of soft corals at Dongsha Atoll.

Chair Professor Chen-Tung Arthur Chen and Dr. Hon-Kit Lui, postdoctoral researcher of the Department of Oceanography, conducted research on the Carbon Cycle and Global Warming as well as Ocean Acidification, and their findings were published respectively in Nature Climate Change and Scientific Reports. Among their findings as that global warming fosters ocean acidification which could have a great impact for the ecology system.

NSYSU cooperates with Taiwan Ocean Research Institute (TORI), Chung Cheng Institute of Technology of National Defense University, Jong Shyn Shipbuilding Corp., and Taiwan Shipbuilding Corp. to develop TaiwanĄŚs first manned submersible in five years for better underwater research. The funding for the project has reached 250 million NT dollars, and it is expected to foster the capability of TaiwanĄŚs Marine Science Research.

Professors Jyh-Horng Sheu and Chih-Chuang Liaw led a team at the Department of Marine Biotechnology and Resources to pioneer the study of marine natural products in Taiwan since the 1990ĄŚs. It is impressive that the researchers in this field in Taiwan are all graduates from NSYSU. They discovered bioactive marine natural products as candidates of active pharmaceutical ingredients to be used in medication to treat human diseases like cancers, inflammatory responses, skin-related diseases, neuropathic pain, neurodegenerative diseases, osteoarthritis, and cardiovascular diseases. Their outstanding performance in the field of Marine Natural Products made the leading journal, Natural Products Reports, ranking Taiwan in the top four countries in the world for numbers of publications and citations.

Biodiversity generally refers to the diversity of lifeforms at the genetic, species, and ecosystem level. The College of Marine Sciences, NSYSU, studies marine biodiversity of the western Pacific with special focuses on the South China Sea and Kuroshio Current. Studies on phylogeography, population genetics and taxonomy are conducted with collaborators from China, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam. Specimens, mostly fish, are collected through the collaborations and are accommodated in the Department of Oceanography under the care of Dr. Te-Yu Liao. Those specimens are collected not only for the ongoing DNA barcoding bilateral projects but also for future studies on phylogeography, connectivity and taxonomy.