Taiwan and KU Leuven co-sponsor five PhD students from Taiwan

More than 130 students from Taiwan are currently studying in Belgium, with the vast majority at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven). This is the top university in the country, ranked 40th in the Times Higher Education 2017 rankings, and named the most innovative university in Europe by Reuters in 2016, and again in 2017. About one third of the students from Taiwan at KU Leuven are exchange students, who spend only a semester or a year at this prestigious university.
In a bid to encourage more students from Taiwan to pursue advanced studies at one of Belgium’s leading academic institutions, Taiwan’s Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven) are co-sponsoring the Taiwan KU Leuven Scholarship Programme. This will provide up to five scholarships each year for students from Taiwan to undertake PhD studies at KU Leuven, and also get a better understanding of Belgium and the EU.
After a rigorous selection procedure by KU Leuven’s three doctoral schools, the university recommended five excellent students to the MOE for approval. The newly arrived scholarship recipients recently commenced their studies in a variety of fields: biology, biomedical sciences, psychology, and Sinology.
One of the scholarship recipients is Ma Tien-Yang who is currently doing a PhD in the Faculty of Science. His research is focused on the molecular pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease. He considers working at KU Leuven to be a wonderful experience. He is highly impressed with the good quality management of his laboratory, the close international collaboration, and the professional attitude and integrity of researchers there. It seems hard for him to imagine that he could be living and commuting through the oldest Catholic University in the world every day, but he has immersed himself in its cultured environment. Leuven is one of the most peaceful places he has ever been and he is looking forward to exploring more of the city.
Another scholarship recipient, Lee Che-Jui, is studying medical oncology and doing research at the Laboratory of Experimental Oncology (LEO). He feels honored to be sponsored by the MOE and KU Leuven. He has found the Taiwan KU Leuven scholarship quite generous, and that it provides a wide range of opportunities to scholarship recipients. He is mostly enjoying life in Leuven, which “includes great beer, nice fries, lots of parties and social activities, intriguing cultural things, but complex administration.” He also commented that KU Leuven has a very active, helpful, and friendly Taiwanese Student Association that enables all students from Taiwan to find a sense of belonging in Leuven. And that’s the reason he was able to fit into his new environment in a relatively short amount of time.