Prof. Hsieh named an NTU Chen-Yung Outstanding Scholar (臺大勇源拔萃學者) for 2020–2023

In November 2020, just months after joining National Taiwan University, Assistant Professor I-Yun Lisa Hsieh was named an NTU Outstanding Scholar (臺大拔萃學者) for the 2020 academic year, awarded as a Chen-Yung Outstanding Scholar (勇源拔萃學者) for the term of August 2020 through July 2023. The Department of Civil Engineering announced the honor on November 2, 2020.

Recognition at the Starting Line

Prof. Hsieh arrived at NTU in autumn 2020, fresh from completing her PhD in Chemical Engineering at MIT, where her work on China's transition to electric vehicles had already drawn international attention. Selection for the Outstanding Scholar program in her very first semester was an early institutional bet on the research agenda she brought with her — integrated, quantitative analysis of energy systems, transportation, and environmental policy — and on the group that would grow into the E3 Center.

About the Program

National Taiwan University established the Chair Professorships and Outstanding Scholars program in 2019 to strengthen its academic standing, pairing the university's most promising scholars with endowments from its philanthropic partners — including the Fubon, Chen-Yung, and Tsung Cho-Chang educational foundations. Outstanding Scholar appointments run for up to three years and carry research funding alongside the title.

The bet paid off. Over the award term the group won national research grants, published in leading journals — including the paper later honored with the 2022 ES&T Best Paper Award — and built the student community that became the E3 Center. And when the first term ended, the university renewed its endorsement: Prof. Hsieh was selected again in 2024 as a Tsung Cho-Chang Outstanding Scholar, making her one of only a handful of two-time recipients on the university's all-time list.

Read more: the NTU Chair Professorships program page and the official list of recipients (in Chinese)