Taiwan’s Ministry of Education signs a cooperation agreement for the Taiwan–University of Toronto Scholarship
The University of Toronto is one of the top universities in the world, consistently ranking among the top 30, and it is considered the most prestigious educational institution in Canada. It is renowned for its excellent teaching and research in many fields, including social sciences, medicine, engineering, and computer science, and Professor Emeritus Geoffrey Hinton in the Department of Computer Science, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in October 2024 for his contributions to neural network technology.
This world-class university has maintained close ties with academic institutions in Taiwan for a long time. It values the importance of Taiwan Studies highly and has been collaborating with the MOE since 2011 when the Global Taiwan Studies Initiative began. It also has the highest number of students from Taiwan undertaking a PhD program on a Taiwan Ministry of Education scholarship of any of the universities in Canada. Tracy Lang, the Director of the Education Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada, initiated discussions with the university about establishing jointly funded PhD scholarships. The Ministry has a 100 Top Universities Scholarship Program. to establish such scholarships with the world’s top universities, those ranking among the top 100 in the world.
The University of Toronto agreed and a cooperation agreement to establish the Taiwan–University of Toronto Scholarships for outstanding Taiwanese students to undertake a PhD there was signed on November 12, 2024 in Taipei. Dr. Lee Yu-Jiuan 李毓娟, Director-General of the Department of International and Cross-Strait Education signed the agreement on behalf of the Ministry, and Prof. Joseph Wong, Vice President - International, a professor in the Department of Political Science and in the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy signed on behalf of the university. Prof. Wong served for nine years as the Director of the Asian Institute at the Munk School and has conducted extensive research on democratic transitions in Asia. The signing ceremony was attended by Jim Nickel, Executive Director of the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei, and by Political Deputy Minister of Education Dr. Yeh Ping-Cheng 葉丙成.
Between 2026 and 2030, this new scholarship program will provide funding for five students each year to begin a PhD program, and each scholarship recipient will receive support for up to four years. The Ministry handles the scholarship application process; students must apply for admission to the university independently.
This is the first time a Canadian university has partnered with the MOE on the 100 Top Universities Scholarship Program. The University of Toronto will be one of 22 of the world’s top universities in one of nine countries—Australia, Belgium, France, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Switzerland, the UK, and the US—offering such jointly funded scholarships in 2025. Outstanding Taiwanese students aspiring to study at top global institutions are encouraged to visit the application website each year from early November to early December.
