Subsidies for higher education would be increased by NT$1.5 billion (US$46.83 million) to provide more funding for research to doctoral and post-doctoral students, according to the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). The Semicon Taiwan event last week highlighted Taiwan's semiconductor industry's competitiveness, but the country must not become complacent, according to NSTC Minister Wu Tsung-tsong. According to Wu, the council is increasing the number of students eligible for subsidies from 300 to 1,000 per year, and they will receive NT$40,000 per month for the first three years of their doctoral studies. However, he stated that students must choose between the NSTC's and the Ministry of Education's subsidies. According to NSTC Department of International Cooperation and Science Education Director Yeh Chih-cheng, the program's funding this year is NT$4.94 billion, with a total of NT$6.509 billion expected next year.
Postdoctoral researchers will be paid NT$62,400 per month beginning next year, according to Yeh. According to him, the council has increased the number of postdoctoral researchers who can be hired from 2,300 to 2,400. Tung Yi-hsien, a postdoctoral researcher at Academia Sinica's Institute of Statistical Science, said the grants would influence students' willingness to continue studying because they would relieve financial pressures. Pan Tse-an, a National Central University Institute of Material Science and Engineering student, said the subsidies would encourage students in his field to continue their studies because the industrial sector pays well for graduates in his field. Lee Sin-jin, a graduate of National Taiwan University's Department of Animal Science and Technology, explained that the subsidy program allowed her to continue her studies in mitochondrion research.
