Ceremony Presenting 2017 Taiwan Fellowship Awards Held in the Representative’s Office at the Taipei-Moscow Economic and Cultural Coordination Commission to Publicize the Taiwan Fellowship Award Program -Ministry of Education Republic of China (Taiwan)

Ceremony Presenting 2017 Taiwan Fellowship Awards Held in the Representative’s Office at the Taipei-Moscow Economic and Cultural Coordination Commission to Publicize the Taiwan Fellowship Award Program

Date: 2016-12-16

The Education Division of the Representative Office in Moscow for the Taipei-Moscow Economic and Cultural Coordination Commission (TMECC) organized an award ceremony at the beginning of December 2015, for the five candidates from Russia and the CIS region who have been awarded the 2017 Taiwan Fellowship, to congratulate them on their outstanding performance among the tough global competition. The successful candidates were: Professor Vladimir Kurdyumov from Moscow City University; Tatyana Khomyakova, a researcher at the Russian Center for Strategic Research, Professor Viktoriya Levchenko from Samara State University in Russia; Professor Dordzhi Kukeev from Kalmyk State University; and Professor Olga Khomenko from Kiev National Economic University in Ukraine.

The Taiwan Fellowship Program was established by the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in 2010 to assist foreign experts and scholars interested in undertaking research studies related to Taiwan, cross-strait relations, mainland China, the Asia-Pacific region, and/or Chinese studies to conduct advanced research at universities or academic institutions in Taiwan. Since the program began, a total of 693 scholars from 68 countries over the world have been awarded a Taiwan Fellowship. Among them are 18 scholars from Russia and the CIS region, and this has served as a key channel for bilateral academic exchanges between Russia and Taiwan. TMECC hopes that holding this award ceremony will help publicize the program and attract more applicants.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Education, at the end of December 2016, 102 Russian universities and 68 universities in Taiwan have signed a total of 187 academic exchange and/or cooperation agreements. Since 2014, Russia has replaced the U.S. and become the country that enjoys the most scientific research projects with Taiwan, and in 2016 eleven Mandarin Chinese teachers from Taiwan were sent to teach Chinese in various universities in Russia, such as Moscow State University, and Moscow State Linguistic University. This is a record number, almost double the six teachers in 2015. TMECC looks forward to boosting more bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields with the help of the Taiwan Fellowship candidates.