Can you do a PhD at Academia Sinica? How the TIGP programme works

What TIGP is

Academia Sinica is a research academy rather than a university. To train doctoral students, it launched the Taiwan International Graduate Program in 2002. In 2023 the academy described it as 13 PhD programmes run together with ten collaborating institutions: National Tsing Hua University, National Taiwan University, National Central University, National Chung Hsing University, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, National Defense Medical Center, National Taiwan Normal University, National Cheng Kung University, National Chengchi University and Tunghai University.

The partner university awards the diploma, and Academia Sinica adds a TIGP certificate. In December 2023 the programme had 577 students from 48 countries, and 771 students had received TIGP certificates since its launch. At that year’s graduation ceremony, graduates came from Taiwan, the Philippines, India, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Egypt, Nepal and Tanzania. What else the academy does is described on Academia Sinica.

Which fields, including the Earth sciences

TIGP’s website currently lists 14 PhD programmes: Biodiversity; Chemical Biology and Molecular Biophysics; Molecular and Cell Biology; Molecular and Biological Agricultural Sciences; Molecular Medicine; Interdisciplinary Neuroscience; Artificial Intelligence of Things; Bioinformatics; Earth System Science; Nano Science and Technology; Molecular Science and Technology; Sustainable Chemical Science and Technology; Social Networks and Human-Centered Computing; and East Asia and the Making of the Modern World, the newest addition to the 13 listed in 2023.

For readers of this site, the Earth System Science programme is the closest fit. It studies how the water cycle, the atmosphere, the solid Earth, living systems and human activity interact. Its research areas include atmospheric physics and chemistry, climate change and air pollution, Earth’s interior and surface processes, seismic studies and natural hazards, and ocean carbon cycling. In 2021 the College of Science of National Taiwan University joined the programme, and its students currently come from 15 countries. The hazards those researchers study are described on Earthquakes and Typhoons.

How to apply

TIGP accepts applications every year from November to February through its online portal, and successful applicants start in the following autumn semester. There is no application fee. Applicants may hold a Bachelor’s degree, a Master’s degree or both; most programmes accept applicants with only a Bachelor’s degree, but each programme sets its own requirements, so they need to be checked programme by programme. Final-year students can apply and submit their diploma later.

TIGP does not usually expect applicants to have found a supervisor first. Applications are reviewed by a group of professors and research fellows, and students choose their thesis adviser before the end of their first year. Research experience is not required, though documented research can strengthen an application. Requirements for English tests such as TOEFL or IELTS, and for GRE subject tests, differ between programmes; applicants whose degree was taught mainly in English may be exempted if their university’s registrar confirms it officially.

What it pays and what it costs

Every admitted student receives a fellowship through Academia Sinica. The Earth System Science programme gives the first-year stipend as NT$40,000 a month, made up of NT$34,000 tax-free and NT$6,000 before tax. With evidence of satisfactory progress it can be extended for two more years, up to three in total; after that, support comes from the thesis adviser, at the adviser’s discretion.

Doctoral candidates who pass their qualifying examinations with distinction can apply for a Research Performance Fellowship: an extra NT$6,000 a month for one year, on top of a stipend of at least NT$34,000 a month that the adviser must provide. Students pay tuition at registration each semester; the amount depends on the partner university. Living and housing costs come on top, and TIGP’s frequently asked questions give no figures for them.

A scholarship for Polish students: the Taiwan Scholarship

Taiwan’s Ministry of Education also funds foreign students through the Taiwan Scholarship. In Poland the call is run by the Education Division of the Taipei Representative Office together with NAWA, the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange; the office accepts applications from Polish and Ukrainian citizens. For 2026/2027 it covered Bachelor’s, Master’s and doctoral studies. Most candidates first registered in NAWA’s system, by 29 January 2026, and then sent their documents by post to the Education Division by 28 February 2026; some groups, such as graduates of foreign universities, applied to the office directly.

The scholarship covers tuition up to a set amount and pays NT$20,000 a month for Master’s and doctoral students (NT$15,000 for Bachelor’s students). Under the rules of the 2024 call, the tuition cap was NT$40,000 per semester, a doctorate could be funded for up to four years and no one could receive the scholarship for more than five years in total. Mandarin-taught programmes require a TOCFL certificate at level 3 or above; English-taught programmes must be accredited by the ministry or confirmed in an official letter from the university. Candidates who pass the first review are interviewed online, and results usually come in late April or early May.

One rule matters for anyone also applying to TIGP: according to the office’s FAQ, a student can hold only one scholarship at a time and must choose if offered several, so it is worth checking how a TIGP fellowship and a Taiwan Scholarship would interact before accepting either. Life in Taipei, home to Academia Sinica’s main campus, is described on City & Region.