Taiwan's Aim for the Top University Program - Innovation, internationalisation and opportunity (May 2008)

With a population roughly the same size as Australia, Taiwan has about the same number of students in their university system. With more than four times as many universities as Australia, individual universities in Taiwan have found it difficult to rank highly in well-known international rankings such as the Shanghai Jiao Tong Index. To help lift the international profile of the Taiwanese university system, the Taiwanese Ministry of Education has engaged in an ambitious program to elevate at least one Taiwanese university into the top 100 universities in the world, and to develop elite departments or research centres in different areas of specialisation. Taiwanese universities receiving funding under this program are using it to invest heavily in infrastructure, upgrade teaching and research, and engage in international cooperation. This increased investment in high calibre Taiwanese universities, and the increasingly outward looking focus creates opportunities for Australian universities to form lasting, successful links with top class Taiwanese universities.