Academia Sinica is to trial an expedited acceptance program for doctorate students, complete with subsidies, to attract Taiwanese to stay and study in Taiwan, as well as attract international experts, Academia Sinica President James Liao (廖俊智) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday.
In response to a question from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) about the organization’s plans to attract talent in the light of US tariffs, Liao mentioned the trial program, citing Taiwanese doctoral students who could not realize their dreams of pursuing advanced studies overseas due to the tariff situation.
Academia Sinica hopes to implement the system as soon as possible to help retain academic talent in Taiwan, Liao said, adding that the program could be expanded to include international students whose plans to study in the US have changed.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
Academia Sinica Department of International Affairs Director Meng Tzu-ching (孟子青) said that participants in the program are to start in the next academic year.
The students are to choose one of 13 doctorate programs — taught entirely in English — under Academia Sinica’s Taiwan International Graduate Programs (TIGP), Meng said.
Qualification criteria state that applicants must be Taiwanese, have applied to study in doctorate programs abroad between the end of last year and the beginning of this year, and that their chosen area of study matches those provided by the TIGP.
Applicants can also apply for scholarships, which are to provide a NT$40,000 monthly stipend for the first two years if granted, and applicants would be eligible to receive NT$50,000 per month starting in the third year if they pass their doctoral qualification exams.
If applicants have been accepted by top-tier doctorate programs abroad and can provide relevant proof, they would be eligible for a monthly stipend of NT$6,000 on top of the scholarship.
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