Study in Taiwan Webinar in Vienna
On April 14, 2021, the Education Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vienna held an online presentation about the scholarships available for studying in Taiwan in the 2021–22 academic year. It attracted great interest and the virtual format allowed students who live further away from Vienna to also participate, including one from Innsbruck. Dr. Christoph Steinhardt and Stefanie Yu, who both work at the Institute of East Asian Studies/Sinology at the University of Vienna also took part.
Dr. Elisa Hsiang-Yueh Wang, the Director of the Education Division, welcomed the 48 student participants and encouraged all of them to seriously consider studying in Taiwan. She expressed her hope that many students would do so and have great success in their studies in Taiwan, and she wished everybody good health during these trying times.
Most of the participants are studying Sinology, and Dr. Christoph Steinhardt then said a few words to encourage them to study in Taiwan. He emphasized that Taiwan is currently very different from Austria, with life going on as normal and classes being held on campus - with mask-wearing and temperature checks, of course. He also said that students would benefit a great deal from studying Chinese in Taiwan’s free, democratic, modern environment.
Staff from the Education Division then outlined the scholarships to study in Taiwan offered by the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Austrian, Slovenian and Croatian students can apply for three Ministry of Education Taiwan Scholarships to study for a degree, and for Huayu Enrichment Scholarships for Mandarin Chinese language studies for two months in summer or for a period of up to twelve months. The normal summer courses had to be canceled this year, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has provided funding and helped to organize special entry permits for students to participate in a summer language course at National Sun Yat-Sen University in Kaohsiung. The students were delighted to hear about this chance to go to Taiwan this summer and the Education Division received a number of applications the very next day.
At the end of the presentation, the Education Division played a video about studying in Taiwan including the experiences of a student who spent a year there. The German language video can be viewed here. There are currently many restrictions on entering Taiwan, and the students were concerned about the current entrance measures and visa issues. But they were also excited and interested in the scholarships and asked many questions. The Education Division did its best to answer their questions and ease their concerns.