On 28 of November 2016, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop announced that three of Australia’s most talented undergraduate students have won prestigious New Colombo Plan scholarships to live, study and work in Taiwan.
Congratulations to Abigail Slater, Daniel de Waard and Cameron Hee, they will be joined by over 118 NCP mobility students, who will come to Taiwan for a range of short courses, exchanges, practicums and internships.
Of four NCP Taiwan Scholars for the 2016 round, Anna Vaughan, has also been appointed as first NCP Fellow to Taiwan and completed her 6-months study at the National Taiwan University. In addition, she undertook a research based internship in the Physics Department of Academia Sinica, the highest academic institution in Taiwan.
On 29 of November, Anna along with the 2017 NCP Taiwan Scholars Abigail Slater and Cameron Hee visited the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Australia for a briefing of studying in Taiwan.
Taiwan Representative to Australia Elliott Charng along with Executive Director Andy Bi met NCP scholars and congratulated them for their achievements. On behalf of Taiwan’s Ministry of Education, Mr Bi encouraged NCP scholars to explore learning opportunities as well as immerse into Mandarin-speaking environment in Taiwan.
Abigail Slater, who is studying a Bachelor of Philosophy at the Australian National University, was named Taiwan Fellow this year. She plans to study Neuroscience and Chinese language at National Taiwan University as well as undertake a research internship with a neuroscience institute in Taiwan.
Cameron Hee is a Bachelor of Commerce student at the University of Western Australia. He will spend one year at the National University of Taiwan focus on Asian studies, economics and finance at National Taiwan University. He also plans to undertake several internships with finance or trade firms in Taiwan.
Daniel de Waard, currently studying Electrical and Computer System Engineering and Commence at Monash University, will undertake Electronics and Chinese at National Taiwan University. He intends to intern with a Taiwan electronics company.
The New Colombo Plan is a signature initiative of the Australian Government which is promoting student mobility by encouraging more Australian students to undertake study and internships in locations across the Indo-Pacific region. Since the NCP was introduced by the Australian Government, Taiwan has had a positive result in hosting more than 300 Australian students who have come to Taiwan to live, study and undertake work-based experiences.
3 New Colombo Plan Taiwan Scholars, Anna Vaughan, Abigail Slater and Cameron Hee, met with the Representative of Taiwan to Australia, Elliott Charng, at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Australia, Canberra, 29 November 2016.