The scholarship awards for outstanding master theses provided by the Asia Pacific Research Foundation of Academic Sinica were announced yesterday. Shiu Pei-der and Chuang Yun-hui from the Graduate School of Southeast Asian Studies of TKU have been awarded the scholarship after submitting their respective proposals for a master thesis. The foundation has awarded 10 graduate students from various universities and colleges this year. Shiu Pei-der won with first class honors; his research interest focuses on Muslim group identity in Indonesia. Chuang Yun-hui, on the other hand, won the fifth place with her research topic, which investigates the migration of village women to big cities in Thailand and their eventual participation in the labor force. Shiu 's award contains NT$120,000 to subsidize his field work and research. The amount awarded to the other students varies from 20,000 to 100,000 NT dollars subject to the topics and contents of their research proposals.

Shiu is very grateful for the scholarship and the opportunity of conducting his research without financial worries so that he can concentrate on writing his thesis. Similarly, Chuang expresses her gratitude to her thesis supervisor, Kung I-chun, whose high standard has enabled her to win this scholarship.