For expanding international presence for Taiwan’s talents, the “Top University Strategic Alliance” (TUSA) of the Republic of China (Taiwan) relaxed restrictions on qualifications of recommending and dispatching talented individuals to Ph.D. programs at cooperative top overseas universities -Ministry of Education Republic of China (Taiwan)

For expanding international presence for Taiwan’s talents, the “Top University Strategic Alliance” (TUSA) of the Republic of China (Taiwan) relaxed restrictions on qualifications of recommending and dispatching talented individuals to Ph.D. programs at cooperative top overseas universities

Date: 2013-03-29

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In order to increase the chances of selection for talented individuals who intend to pursue further education abroad, TUSA has amended and relaxed the restrictions for recommendation and dispatch qualification of the doctoral scholarship application for cooperating top overseas universities. The qualification has been changed from “either current students or recent graduates at one of TUSA’s 12 member universities” to “alumni of TUSA’s 12 member universities, but those alumni who have graduated within the past 5 years receive top priority”. TUSA also relaxed the restrictions on the policy that students who get the scholarship can’t apply for grants or subsidies from other groups at the same time. It is hoped in this way that more TUSA students or alumni will be recruited for advanced study at top overseas universities, and cultivate Taiwan’s outstanding new academic talents.

There were 12 Taiwanese universities, by which TUSA was formed, getting subsidies from Development Plan for World Class Universities and Research Centers of Excellence. On March 19th, 2013, TUSA announced an amendment of regulations regarding the recommendation and dispatch of talents from top ROC universities to Ph.D. programs of cooperating top overseas universities for advanced study. The amendment would relax restrictions on the qualification of Ph.D. applicants for TUSA’s cooperating top overseas universities, in the hope to expand international presence for Taiwan’s academic talents.

This cooperation project originated from the MOE’s Academic Cooperation Pilot Program between Universities in the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Top Overseas Universities for the purpose of increasing Taiwanese talents’ global vision, cultivating new talents with international mobility, mainly in the humanities and sociology, and establishing a long term cooperative relationship with top overseas universities. Via the academic cooperation, the MOE recommended and dispatched talented individuals from top TUSA universities to top overseas universities to visit, conduct advanced study, and hold activities relevant to academic exchange. Through these activities, Taiwan could learn from advanced countries and establish overseas academic R&D bases to increase the international visibility of Taiwan’s top universities.

As of 2011, TUSA had signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Academic Cooperation Programs with 5 overseas universities, including the University of California, Berkeley (with National Cheng-Chi University), the University of Chicago (with National Cheng Kung University), Imperial College London (with National Yang-Ming University), Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (both with National Taiwan University). According to the MOU, TUSA can recommend and dispatch up to 24 talented individuals to the Ph.D. programs of top overseas universities for advanced study every year. Each person gets a scholarship ranging from USD 5000 to USD 7000 per year for three years.

Until now, the TUSA has recommended and dispatched 10 talented people from Taiwan to study at the Ph.D. programs of top overseas universities for conducting study. According to the previous regulation, the qualification was limited to either current students or the recent graduates at one of TUSA’s 12 member universities. However, considering that cultivating talents in the field of Humanities & Social Sciences is a long term process, the TUSA has announced that they will modify the qualification and cultivate more talents.

For further information and details of the qualification, please visit the website for Memorandum of Understanding for Academic Cooperation Program at http://140.119.108.209/topleague, or contact TUSA’s Overseas Cooperation Project Office. Tel: (02) 29393091 #62878, E-mail：vernachu@nccu.edu.tw.