The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), which allocated NT$1 billion (US$31 million) last year to subsidizing international research talent exchanges, has said it plans to put extra effort into recruiting talent from Central and Eastern European, and Southeast Asian countries.
Human resources are fundamental to scientific research and development, which is why the council has been promoting international exchanges of scientific research talent for years, and as a result, the number of incoming foreign researchers has increased over the past decade, the council said.
Incoming foreign science and technology researchers rose to 768 people last year, costing about NT$700 million, the council said.
Photo: CNA
The number of Taiwanese researchers who visited other countries rose to 318 people, costing about NT$300 million, it added.
About 30 years ago, Taiwan was a technology-importing country, but over the years, many Taiwanese who studied in the US returned to the nation to contribute, NSTC Department of International Cooperation and Science Education director-general Tom Yeh (葉至誠) said.
The nation has become a technology-exporting country, and with many young people studying locally, domestic industries are recruiting locals, but a problem of “a lack of international perspective” might emerge, he said.
The council encourages students to study overseas, but at the same time the nation needs to recruit foreign experts for further exchanges and cooperation, he added.
Taiwan faces a low birthrate problem, Yeh said.
Many Southeast Asian countries have cultures that are similar to Taiwan’s, and they attract Taiwanese investments, he said, adding that as a result, more doctoral and postdoctoral researchers from New Southbound Policy countries have been coming to Taiwan over the past few years.
To expand doctoral students’ international experience, the NSTC is to provide funding for 200 students focusing on key scientific research fields to study in Central and Eastern European countries that have cooperation projects with Taiwan, he said.
To stabilize the nation’s research capability, the council would also increase the number of subsidized postdoctoral research fellows and their salaries by 10 percent to 2,400 people to attract outstanding scientific research personnel to the nation, he said.
Among the visiting science and technology personnel who have received council funding is 69-year-old Japanese academic Hikaru Kawai, who is an expert in particle physics and had retired from Kyoto University. Kawai received NSTC funding last year and was recruited as distinguished chair professor at National Taiwan University’s (NTU) Department of Physics.
Kawai said he had been interacting with researchers in Taiwan when he was at Kyoto University, so he is happy to be invited to the nation.
Japan has continued to prioritize expanding bilateral exchanges last year to achieve comprehensive exchanges, he said, adding that the teaching and research quality in Taiwan are as good as at top universities in Japan.
International exchanges are key to the academic development of researchers and students, he said, adding that the government’s support is very helpful to them.
Lin Yung-hsiang (林泳詳), a researcher from Chiayi who received his doctorate from the NTU Graduate Institute of Photonics and Optoelectronics, received the council’s approval for his funding proposal in 2015 and became a postdoctoral fellow at University of California, Berkeley.
Lin was later hired by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and he is in charge of developing advanced optical critical dimension measurement systems.
Lin said that receiving the council’s support had broadened his horizons, allowing him to bring his research from the lab to the real world, so he hoped the NSTC’s program could continue to support more people.
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