A government-sponsored personnel cultivation program implemented since 2018 has successfully enriched Taiwan’s research prowess in humanities and social sciences, according to the National Science and Technology Council.
Titled “Taiwanese Overseas Pioneers Grants,” the project sponsors local students pursuing doctoral degrees at universities overseas or young academics working for tertiary institutions or research organizations abroad, the council said.
Through promoting links between local experts and their global counterparts, the project lays a firm foundation for research in the two disciplines, the council said. A total of 85 doctoral candidates and 20 young academics have benefited from the initiative so far, it added.
During a press conference Dec. 21 in Taipei City, Hsu Lin-fang, a Ph.D. candidate at University College, London, said she is combining evolutionary economic geography and smart city development in her graduate study on urban economic and social development.
An assistant professor at Texas State University, Chan Yun-wen specializes in applying deliberative democracy to discuss local sustainability issues. She is writing a book for U.S. classrooms on developing a teaching approach derived from a case study in Taiwan.
The NSTC said 25 Ph.D. candidates and five academics have been selected for this year’s project, with each of the two groups set to receive NT$900,000 (US$29,335) and NT$800,000 in grants, respectively. (SFC-E)
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