Education, Global Giving

How do we recognize and support high-achieving students who are majoring in chemistry and material-related disciplines? Cathy Yan, PPG general manager, corporate and government affairs, Asia Pacific, initially asked this question in 2003, leading to the development of the PPG University Talent Power Program and the Career Intelligence Class program.

Funding Higher Education Science Studies

In China, the program provides financial assistance to help students complete their education and encourages them to explore scientific research. Run in partnership with the nonprofit Give2Asia, in 2019 alone more than 150 students from 10 leading universities across China benefitted from granted scholarships and science and technology innovation funds.

Our PPG scientists, engineers, chemists and more are proud to personally support the students and demonstrate future career possibilities. Through facility tours and open houses, the students have an opportunity to speak directly with our employee volunteers to understand how their course work directly ties to the real-world applications developing at PPG.

"Talent plays a vital role in industrial development," said Cathy Yan, PPG general manager, corporate and government affairs, Asia Pacific. "The scholarship program is our signature initiative to support education in China. Through interaction, we hope to provide students with a deeper understanding of the industry and help them map out the right paths for their future studies and careers."

Hands-on Mentorship and Career Exposure

Our pursuit of inspiring and educating the next-generation of science talent doesn’t stop here. To supplement the University Talent Program, we launched the Career Intelligence Class program in 2015 to empower and prepare more than 9,000 total students at our partner universities with workforce development and soft-skills training.

This aspect of the program is run through a partnership with mentors from Live2Give, who direct seminars on professional development topics such as interpersonal interactions, problem solving, communication, time management, workplace etiquette and more.

The Career Intelligence Class program helps students understand current workplace requirements, clarify career direction based on strengths and interests, and cultivate relevant job skills as they initiate their career paths in STEM.

The 15 Chinese universities involved in the program include:

• Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Beijing University of Chemical Technology
• East China University of Science and Technology
• Jilin University
• Nanjing Tech University
• Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Nanjing University
• Nankai University
• Renmin University of China
• Shanghai Jiaotong  University
• South China University of Technology
• Tianjin University of Finance and Economics
• Tianjin University
• Tsinghua University
• Wuhan University of Technology