Planning and Promotion of the Research in Social Medicine Discipline

Social Medicine Discipline in Department of Life Sciences covers multiple and diverse aspects on health issues. Studies using quantitative and qualitative methods have been executed to focus on not only disease prevention but health promotion. Through translation of empirical evidences into the implementation and planning of health and welfare policy, it is hoped that issues on subjects of Public Health and Environmental Medicine, Psychological Medicine, Family Medicine, Geriatrics, Nursing and Food Safety can be well addressed with our nation’s health improved. In addition, arising attention has been paid on significant and contemporary public health topics, including aging society with fewer children, long-term care, and food safety. For instance, building innovative strategies for active aging, developing information technology (IT)-oriented services for health promotion, implementing integrative and sustainable long-term care model for improved quality, and promoting risk communication and food inspection on food safety are imperative areas for future research development. Meanwhile, more and more intensive cooperation and interaction with Southern Asian counties have provided new opportunities for public health promotion. These are all challenging research topics for different disciplines to explore and collaborate in the future. For review of research projects application, due to high heterogeneity of the disciplines, this project will recruit scholars from six subjects in an advisory board to reach a consensus and establish review criteria for both individual and long-term projects. The consensus on review criteria will be announced to all reviewers to avoid unfair scoring and repetitive reviews. In addition, the coordinator, together with the co-coordinator, will comply to the regulation of Ministry of Technology and Science and is responsible for the following affairs: 1) assists in promoting and reviewing application documents of research projects, 2) reviews application documents for attending international conferences, inviting oversea scholars for lectures and short-term instructions, and recruiting research personnel, and etc., 3) reviews application documents of international cooperation/bilateral science and technology cooperation (such as planning of cooperation area, suggesting the priority of projects, researchers exchange and visit, and etc.), grants for international symposiums, grants for the participation of international academic organization conferences, and grants for international academic-industry cooperation and professional training, 4) attends meetings for discipline coordinators and supports business promoting campaign of the Ministry of Science and Technology, 5) assists in collecting research results, composing annual research reports, and providing academic data related to the discipline, 6) hosts meetings, conferences, seminars, announcement campaigns, and etc., 7) provides other related disciplines with assistance in planning, organizing and executing events or performances, and 8) explores prospective study or promote international academic exchanges.