Since 2011, the Ministry of Education has collaborated with some of the universities ranked among the world's top 100 to establish scholarships that will provide the fullest benefits for outstanding Taiwanese students. The Ministry and the partner university jointly fund scholarships for selected students to undertake doctoral programs. These leading world universities include the University of Oxford and Cambridge University in the UK; UC Berkeley, the University of Southern California, California Institute of Technology, and Washington University in St. Louis in the United States; Sydney University, the Australian National University, and many others.
In August 2023, the Ministry of Education and Kyoto University signed a memorandum of understanding to establish the Taiwan Kyoto University Scholarship program. This is the first PhD scholarship program jointly established with a university in Japan. Kyoto University ranks 46th in the QS World University Rankings 2024 , and 55th in the THE (Times Higher Education) World University Rankings 2024. It is a leading research-oriented university that has produced 13 Nobel prize laureates and excels in research in fields such as physics, chemistry, and medical physiology.
The memorandum of understanding was signed by Dr. Nicole Yen-Yi Lee, Director General of the Department of International and Cross-strait Education of the Ministry of Education, and by Dr. Nagahiro Minato, the president of Kyoto University. The scholarships will be awarded annually each year of an initial five-year term.