Program Mission Statement

The J. Yang Scholarship program at UC San Diego will enable students and faculty from partner institutions in Taiwan and UC San Diego to participate in scholastic exchange, academic networking, and experiential learning opportunities. These experiences will educate and inspire the next generation of leaders who can synergize the cultures and virtues of the East and the West to excel intellectually, socially, and professionally for the betterment of human life and society.

Award Details

The funding from the J. Yang & Family Foundation will support and expand international exchange with our partners in Taiwan. Each year the foundation will provide $300,000 to underwrite a network of bilateral programs, including graduate and undergraduate scholarships, summer research internships, travel awards, and an annual bilateral symposium that will advance collaborative scholarship on a global scale. Paired with an equal match from UC San Diego that will increase the amount of funding we can award to our scholars, we will be able to develop a program for effective trans-Pacific collaboration and exchange of art, science, and scholarship. 

The primary purpose of the scholarship is to increase the number of Taiwanese students enrolled in graduate programs at UC San Diego. The selection process is managed by the Institute of Engineering in Medicine (IEM) at UC San Diego. Scholarship awards are intended to cover tuition and fees and must be matched by the graduate student's home academic department (the Department). Annually, a list of incoming and continuing master's and PhD Taiwanese students will be provided to IEM by the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) Admissions unit, which then will be forwarded by IEM to relevant departments. A department representative is asked to provide up to 3 nominations per Department.  The scholarships require a 100% Departmental match. PhD students will be awarded up to $25k with a qualified departmental match. Master's students will be awarded scholarships up to the amount of qualified departmental matching funds available, but not to exceed $10k. Departmental matching support may consist of any variety of sources such as scholarships/fellowships, block grants, or employment (such as instructional assistant TA roles or Graduate Student Researcher appointments). The Department will be asked to provide a chart string source (for reference only) so that IEM can document the cost-share.

Nomination Process

Nominations should be Taiwanese graduate students with identified departmental matching support. As the main goal of the scholarships is recruitment, the first priority for nominees should be given to incoming students, followed by early-year continuing students. It is recommended that department Graduate Coordinators work with their departmental Graduate Studies Committee or Department Chair to develop criteria for nominating students. Departments may only nominate up to three (3) students. If you know of a Taiwanese student who may be eligible but is not on our list, please include them in your nomination process.  

After the nomination window closes, a faculty steering committee of the J. Yang Foundation scholarship will select semifinalists from the nominees.  The IEM office will ask grad coordinators to provide bio-sketches and (optional) reference letters on these semifinalists to forward to the steering committee.  The faculty steering committee will then make final selections, prioritizing incoming students, followed by earliest year candidates who are high-performing students.

Upon award, Departments will be asked for matching support reference and provided with a chart string for which tuition and fee expenses can be directed to.

Deadline:

Annually Spring Quarter 2023

If you have any questions please send an email to Philip Godfrey at phgodfrey@ucsd.edu

To view past awardees, and more awards information please visit https://iem.ucsd.edu/programs/j-yang-scholarship/index.html

Annual Symposium

There will be an Annual Symposium of J. Yang Scholars at UC San Diego more information is available here: https://iem.ucsd.edu/programs/j-yang-scholarship/symposiums.html