NTU will host the Global Initiatives Symposium (GIS) from July 6th to July 12th this year. For this event, NTU will invite 80 college students from Taiwan and from abroad to participate in a 7-day international conference. The theme of the Symposium is "Challenges and Opportunities-The Global Economy in the Transition Phase," under which there are three sub-topics, and for each sub-topic an essay competition will be openly held. Candidates who intend to participate in the essay competition need to submit an essay written in English relating to each sub-topic. In addition to inviting expert scholars to deliver speeches on the sub-topics, NTU will also hold several panel discussions and essay study sessions, allowing all attendants to participate in in-depth and broad scope discussions. The Conference will also organize cultural visitation tours to provide delegates a chance to better appreciate the beauty of Taiwan. As the agenda of this conference is very informative and exciting, students who participate in it are expected to have a rewarding and extraordinary summer.

During the term of this Conference, NTU will subsidize all room and board expenses for the participants. Students who are interested in joining this Conference need to write an essay relating to the sub-topics in English and no longer than 2000 words. As the Conference host, NTU will invite scholars and professors to select 80 candidates from the submitted entries to participate in the Symposium. To encourage university students from all over the world to participate in the Conference, NTU will provide U.S. $900 in cash prize as part of the stimulus package to the winners of the essay competition.

GIS Taiwan has started to accept on-line registrations for this upcoming Symposium. Candidates who wish to participate can either register online, or register while they submit their essays. The deadline for on line submittal of essays is March 15th, 2009, and the results will be announced on April 25th, 2009. For relevant information regarding this Conference and the titles of the sub-topics please log onto the event website at: http://gis-taiwan.netu.edu.tw, or write gis-taiwan@gis-taiwan.ntu.edu.tw. All NTU students are welcome to participate in the GIS essay competition for a chance to win USD 900!