TAP — Local innovation in the dynamics of global megatrends
Welcome to TAPHub! TAPHub is a user-friendly digital platform to network Taiwan Studies researchers and share research and teaching materials. TAPHub makes the interdisciplinary research findings from the joint research project "Taiwan as a Pioneer" (TAP) available to the academic community and the general public on a sustainable, open-access basis.
To date, no comparable scientific database containing research materials from diverse academic disciplines or network profiles has existed in this field. TAPHub fills this gap and offers a dual added value.
„TAP Transfer establishes a Taiwan studies portal within the University of Trier's digital infrastructure: TAPHub data shares the research and teaching material from TAP; TAP activity presents current and past activities related to Taiwan and Taiwan Studies, and, TAPHub network is a who-is-who like a Taiwan Studies Research Forum to provide data and results while facilitating professional exchange."2
The initial database was developed during the main phase of the joint research project under the lead of Trier University; the material was uploaded and shared via EasyDB. TAP started as an interdisciplinary and interregional postdoctoral research project, aimed at strengthening the structural foundations of Taiwan studies within Sinology while fostering academic networks. The research explored Taiwan's role as an innovator in the dynamics of global megatrends.
The research project was established as a cross-institutional network among three universities. The Department of Sinology at Trier University, led by Prof Dr Christian Soffel, served as the coordinating institution for TAP, with Dr Josie-Marie Perkuhn as the project leader. It was institutionally linked to the European Research Center for Contemporary Taiwan (ERCCT) at Tübingen University and the Research Unit for Taiwanese Culture and Literature at Ruhr University Bochum.
TAP was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for a period of four years (February 2022 to January 2026). Since spring 2025, the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) has continued funding for the main research period and granted the project "Taiwan as a Pioneer – Transfer" one additional year of support under the supervision of Dr Josie-Marie Perkuhn.1
- Project description and news coverage of TAP, Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), 2025 (German): geistes-und-sozialwissenschaften-bmftr.de/…/3457.
- Project description and news coverage of TAP Transfer, Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), 2026 (German): geistes-und-sozialwissenschaften-bmftr.de/…/3760.