Political Deputy Minister of Education Dr. Liu Kuo-wei speaking at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York

Meet Talent, Meet Taiwan is an initiative of Taiwan’s Ministry of Education to bring together overseas scholars and representatives of Taiwan’s leading universities to discuss details of opportunities to engage in academic and research work in Taiwan and with Taiwan.

A delegation of presidents and vice presidents of 11 national universities, led by Political Deputy Minister of Education Dr. Liu Kuo-wei 劉國偉 began the East Coast leg of the Meet Talent, Meet Taiwan initiative with an information session at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York on February 28. It was attended by more than 100 people: officials from U.S. education institutions—including the University of Pennsylvania, Stevens Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, the State University of New York, and the University of Rochester—and postdoctoral researchers, scholars, and PhD students from the greater New York area.

Tom Chih-Chiang Lee 李志強, Director-General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, welcomed the delegation and attendees. He told them that this office will continue to serve as a bridge connecting outstanding academics and researchers in the northeastern area of the United States with opportunities to work in Taiwan.

Dr. Liu spoke about Taiwan’s growing demand for high-level academic personnel as universities face a wave of faculty retirements. Taiwan continues to play a key role in semiconductors and other global high-tech industries. Taiwan’s higher education system welcomes outstanding scholars of all nationalities and he outlined some of the supportive career development opportunities being offered. Jonathan Liao, Managing Director of the International Talent Taiwan Office, later gave details of Taiwan’s Employment Gold Card, a four-in-one permit for foreign professionals that combines visa, residency, work authorization, and re-entry.

Officials from leading universities in Taiwan spoke about their own university’s academic programs and research strengths. This was followed by opportunities for people considering teaching or doing research in Taiwan to have one-on-one consultations with university leaders.

The attendees found the information session very informative about Taiwan’s higher education environment, and related policies, and some expressed interest in teaching or research work in Taiwan.