MOE Short Term Research Awards

The Ministry of Education Short Term Research Awards (STRA) are offered to international scholars (not including scholars from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macao) to encourage them to undertake short term research in Taiwan, and at the same time increase their understanding of Taiwan’s culture and society, and promote mutual understanding and interaction between Taiwan and the international community. 

MOE Short Term Research Awards are available for a period of between 2 and 6 months.

Financial Assistance

Each award provides:

1. a monthly research allowance of NTD $25,000 for a Ph.D. student.
2. a monthly research allowance of NTD $40,000 for a postdoctoral fellow.
3. an economy class round-trip airfare for the most direct route between their place of residence and Taiwan.

Eligibility

An international scholar who satisfies the following criteria is eligible to apply for an STRA. An applicant must:

1. be a Ph.D. student at an overseas government approved and registered public or private university or tertiary college; or
2. be a postdoctoral research fellow awarded a Ph.D. by any government approved and registered public or private university or tertiary college, in Taiwan or overseas, who is now undertaking a research project at an overseas university, tertiary college, or institution of higher education;
3. not hold an R.O.C. (Taiwanese) passport;
4. not be currently visiting, residing, studying, doing an internship, teaching, or undertaking research activity in Taiwan;
5. not be currently receiving other financial assistance from a government agency or an educational institution in Taiwan, to undertake a research project;
6. not be an exchange student under any academic co-operation agreement signed between a university or tertiary college in Taiwan and an overseas university or college, during the period of the proposed research in Taiwan; and
7. have not received an STRA award within the last 5 years.  

Research Topic Area

The research topic area must be related to Taiwan in a humanities discipline, the social sciences, a culture and/or arts field and/or related comparative research.

Application Procedure & Timeline

Applications for an STRA to undertake a research project in Taiwan in the following year must be submitted to a university, or tertiary college in Taiwan, or a research organization affiliated with the MOE—such as the Center for Chinese Studies, or the National Academy for Educational Research—at which the applicant would like to undertake research (referred to below as “the host institution”).

Applications must arrive at the host institution no later than September 30 each year.

For more details about the STRA, please see the Directions Governing Ministry of Education Subsidies for Short Term Research Awards