The Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) announced it will select 100 Korean students who will receive about 60,000 dollars each to study information technology (IT) at leading universities in foreign countries. Korea is aiming to become a global centerpiece of the information technology era by launching next-generation services well ahead of its high-tech competitors. The MIC has been at the forefront of such efforts, with the ministry setting its sights on new growth engines for Korea. This scholarship program is specifically designed to develop IT professionals endowed with technological expertise that the industry demands. The MIC will offer two types of scholarships - a two-year scholarship for students aiming for a master
s degree or a doctor
s degree and a two-year aid for those admitted to postdoctoral programs. Based on the program named \"2004 Scholarship for Overseas IT Education\", fifty degree seeking students and fifty postdoctoral fellows to study at overseas universities will be selected. About 50 percent of the total will be selected among applicants from local universities. IT scholarships will be given to applicants who will specialize in IT new grow engines, such as embedded softwares, telematics, and intelligent robots, and in IT intellectual property or policy-making. Applicants who have earned a computer-based TOEFL (CBT) score of 237 or higher (in case of a paper-based TOEFL, score of 580 or higher required) and who either are offered an admission from the top 35 ranking institutions in the United States for IT competition or from leading universities in other countries as well will be viewed as having met scholarship application requirements. Scholarships include educational and living expenses for two years at the longest (equivalent to sixty thousand dollars. When the students who have obtained a bachelor
s or master
s degree from an overseas university apply for the advanced study program of the same university, they will be provided ten thousand dollars a year for two years at the longest. Post-doctoral program applicants should be younger than 45 years of age and earn a CBT score of 213 (PBT score of 550) or higher. Those who have received a doctor
s degree in information technology from domestic universities can apply for the scholarship. The selected research fellows will be provided about 40,000 dollars for two years for their research and living expenses. Within six months, when the selection results are announced, they should leave Korea for their postdoctoral fellowships. Application documents can be downloaded from the website of the Institute of Information Technology Assessment at www.ithuman.or.kr. Applications should be submitted by May 17 via mail or by an applicant. Under the program, the ministry has been continuing to support IT students since 1999. A total of 365 students have been selected through this program and 307 of the total have received aids.