A talent training program launched by the Ministry of Science and Technology has helped 265 people with doctorates find employment, mostly in firms related to pharmaceuticals, medical devices or biotechnology, the ministry said yesterday.
To narrow the gap between higher education institutions and businesses, the ministry in December last year launched a three-year program named Rebuild After PhDs’ Industrial Skill and Expertise (RAISE), with the aim of sending 1,000 doctorate holders to intern at businesses, and help them find jobs or start their own firms.
Program participants receive a monthly subsidy of NT$60,000 during their one-year internship, the ministry said.
The ministry this year sent 357 doctorate holders for training before their internships, Minister of Science and Technology Chen Liang-gee (陳良基) said during a ceremony in Taipei for program participants to receive training completion certificates.
Of those, 265 have found employment, while the other 92 have returned to schools to work as teachers or researchers, ministry data showed.
Chang Yi-pin (張逸品), who graduated from National Cheng Kung University’s Department of Chinese Literature and did her postdoctoral studies at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, said that she has been recruited by a firm promoting creative cultural projects.
She is making six short films about fishers at Nanfangao Fishing Port (南方澳漁港) in Yilan County’s Suao Township (蘇澳), Chang said, adding that she aims to explore gender politics and the ethnic composition of local fishers.
Tom Liao (廖執善), who graduated from National Dong Hwa University’s Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, said he has helped develop chatbots at UbeStream Inc and plans to continue working at the company.
The program would accept 360 participants in its second phase, the ministry said, adding that it has a list of 249 applicants, but applications are still open.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai