Graduate Program in English

• Elective Courses: M: Master  D: Doctorate 

The above courses include all English classes.

M.S. Program

1. The guideline is governed by the MOE Enforcement Rules of Degree Conferral Law and related University rules concerning examinations for graduate degrees.
2. Selecting a Supervisor
   • A graduate student should choose a thesis supervisor within the first month in the first semester, of the first study year.
   • Advice of the department chair should be consulted if the student cannot decide on this matter.
   • In general, a supervisor can be either an assistant professor, or an associate professor, or a professor of the Department.
   • It is possible to choose a fellow lecturer from another department of the University as a supervisor, only if the student cannot find an appropriate supervisor candidate for their thesis topic within the Department. However, an assistant professor, an associate professor or a professor of the Department should be listed as the co-supervisor.
   • A student can request to replace the supervisor, subject to the approval of both the current and prospect supervisors, in addition to the department chair. There can be only 1 replacement, and the replacement should be made 1 semester before the thesis oral examination.
   • Every supervisor is governed by the department rules concerning guiding graduate students.

3. Course Selection and Degree Requirements

Course selection should be approved by the student’s supervisor prior to submission.

• The supervisor will decide on whether a student without related backgrounds or applied through academic qualifications equivalency, should take undergraduate-level courses to reinforce professional knowledge.
• A total of 31 credits are necessary for graduation. Selection of professional electives should be approved by the supervisor and the department chair. 21 credits of professional electives should be from courses offered by the Department.
• The “Academic Research Ethics Education” online course is mandatory; the student should pass its final exam before writing the thesis.
• Part-time students should take at most 6 credits per semester, excepting seminars.
• Courses instructed by the student’s supervisor can be recognized for a maximum of 12 credits toward the degree. The student should take no more than 18 credits per semester.
• International students are allowed a maximum of 3 credits from English-taught mechatronic engineering or computer science and information engineering courses, subject to the approval of the supervisor and the department chair.

4. Requirements for Taking Credits of Educational Course

• Students are not allowed to take credits of educational course in their first year, and a maximum of 8 credits in the second year per semester.
• Students who take credits of educational course are governed by relavant regulations of the school.

5. Rules for Course Credit Waiver

• Course credit waiver should be governed by the relavant rules of the school.
• Course credit waiver is limited to 9 credits.
• Compulsory courses cannot be waived.
• The course of waived credit should be approved by the course instructor.

6. The Oral Thesis Examination

• Qualification: students who meet the regulations of course selection and degree requirements.
• Time: the first semester by the end of November, or the second semester by the end of April.
• Documents: application for thesis oral examination, certificate of Academic Research Ethics Education and Study, a printed draft of the thesis
• Degree examination time: it should be held in accordance with the school calendar.
• The oral thesis examination committee should be governed by relavant rules of school.

7. Graduation Requirements

• Students must meet the regulations of course selection and degree requirements and pass the oral thesis examination.
• During the period of studying in the master’s program, one of the following five graduation qualifications must also be met, and relevant certification documents must be issued. Only after the approval of the advisor and the department chair can they meet the graduation qualifications:

(1)       Submit one or more SCI, SCIE, SSCI or SCOPUS journal papers related to the master’s thesis with formal review. The paper must be approved by the supervisor and published as the first author of the student except the supervisor. (2)       Publish one or more academic dissertations related to the master’s thesis in English at a seminar with a formal review. The thesis must be approved by the supervisor to be the author himself/herself, and publised as the first author except the supervisor.

• Obtain a license in the elcetroic category and electrical category of “Technician Skills Test” orgranized by the Council of Labor Affairs, Excutive Yuan.

(4)     Participate in international competitions, thematic competitions held by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Industrial Technology Research Institute or the Ministry of Economic Affairs and other government units, and win excellent works (inclusive) or above. For each award, it is presumed that two graduate students of the department in the team are eligible for the thesis oral examination. To apply for this, the supervisor must provide the list of students who meet the requirements of oral examination of the thesis before the competition.(5)       Those who have won awards in electronic technology-related competitions held by other private enterprises, and the cumulative amount of winnings is more than NT$50,000 (inclusive), it is presumed that two graduate students of the department in the team are eligible for the thesis oral examination.

8. School-leaving Procedures

(1)         Application time for leaving school: according to the time specified by the school.(2)  Documents for leaving school：a copy of the application certificate of graduation eligibility, a copy of the originality report of the thesis that has passed the online plagiarism system recognized by the supervisor, a copy of the transcripts of study, a hardcover copy of the master’s thesis (the inner page should be attached with 1. Signature Form 2. Thesis Power of Attorney 3. Autobiography 4. Academic Achievement), a statement of academic ethics for the dissertation, application form of leaving school.9. The master’s degree awarded by the department: Master of Science (M.S.)10. Matters not covered in these regulations shall be handled in accordance with the MOE Enforcement Rules of Degree Conferral Law and related University rules.11. The regulations concerning graduation requirements shall be sent and approved by the department, the college and the Academic Affairs Conference, new adjustments of the regulations are not exceptional.

• Elective Courses: M: Master  D: Doctorate 

The above courses include all English classes.

Ph.D Program

The Period of Study

1. The policy is in line with University’s Measures for Degree Awarding and Graduate Degree Examination.
2. The prescribed period of study for a PhD programme is limited from two years to seven years, excluding enrollment deferral and temporarily leave.
3. Students who have not completed the required courses and credits before the prescribed period of study, or have not pass the doctoral degree examination, shall be withdrawn from school.

Admissions and Course Requirements

1. Course selection must be approved by the dissertation advisor before admission. If a dissertation advisor is not decided yet, program director will take over one’s duty including adding and dropping courses. Elective courses from other departments and universities must be approved by both the dissertation advisor and program director.
2. The total course selection should not exceed 12 credits per semester.
3. Student should complete total thesis credits according to the doctoral course framework of the program. The requirements are as follow:
   • Compulsory credits：graduate students are required to take Seminar course every semester, 1 credit for each, for a total of 4 credits.
   • Program elective credits：18 credits should be taken before graduation (at least 12 credits from the program.
   • Candidates who wish to pursue a doctoral degree should have completed at least 36 credits of program elective credits from master and doctoral programs (at least 24 credits from the program. Students are required to take Seminar course for four semesters during their doctoral studies.

1. Students are required to pass one of the following English proficiency tests for enrollment examination:

• CBT computer TOEFL score of 197 (inclusive) or above
• IBT computer TOEFL score of 71 (inclusive) or above
• TOEIC score of 750 (inclusive) or above
• IELTS International English Test of 5.5 (inclusive) or above

5. The evaluation of the degree adopts ranking system, take B- for a pass, those who do not reach B- will not be counted for credits.

1. All subjects and course credits must be recognized by the curriculum committee. Additional courses from a bachelor program are excluded from the total thesis credits.
2. For courses already offered by the department, students are not allowed to take courses in other departments or universities and apply for credit.
3. To improve the research ethics of graduate and PhD students, the academic research ethics education must be completed and students must pass the test before writing the dissertation.

Rules for Course Credit Waiver

1. Course credit waiver should be governed by the relevant rules of the school.
2. For the master’s and doctoral courses, the grades of B- or above are not included in the graduation credits of the previous degree, and the credit waiver is limited to 6 credits.
3. Students who have dropped out of the doctoral program of the National Taiwan University Alliance for personal reasons, and re-entered the doctoral program of the department within five years of dropping out. The credits of the degree could be waived to 6 credits. Special cases are allowed to shortened the study period, one year at most.

Dissertation Advisor

1. Students should select a dissertation advisor from the program who is an associate professor or above within a semester after enrollment. The decision on a dissertation advisor shall be reported to the program director, special cases may be reported to the Academic Committee for further discussion.
2. The Role of the Dissertation Advisor:
   • direct students’ course selection
   • provide appropriate guidance on students’ academic journal publication
   • assist students’ dissertation and oral defense

3. Students are required to file an application form if dissertation advisor change is needed. The application should be valid after both professors’ approval.

PhD Qualifying Examination

1. Applicants must pass the qualifying examination to be a doctoral candidate.
2. Applicants’ published papers must meet one of the following conditions to take the qualifying examination:

    (1) At least one published journal article indexed by SCI, SCIE or SSCI

    (2) Published at least 2 EI-indexed journals or international symposium papers, as well as international conference papers sponsored by IEEE (the conference name must include IEEE)

3. The qualifying examination would be the oral examination of the thesis plan. Those who fail the qualifying examination are not allowed to apply for the oral defense of a dissertation.
4. The composition of the qualifying examination committee should be governed by the doctoral degree examination committee.
5. There is no limit to the number of times you can apply for the qualifying examination, those who fail must apply again to retake the examination. Those who fail to pass the qualifying examination within three years after enrollment would be withdrawn from school.
6. The following materials should be attached to the program office to apply for the qualifying examination:

    (1) a copy of your academic and work experience

    (2) a copy of your dissertation plan

    (3) an official copy of transcripts

    (4) a list of your publication

    (5) a copy of your published paper

Paper Publication

1. Students must publish two academic journal article indexed by SCI, SCIE or SSCI during their studies (including accepted but unpublished papers). The published journal should be related to your dissertation, and the student must be the first author or corresponding author except their dissertation advisor. The journal must state that it belongs to Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan Normal University. Students are allowed to apply for thesis defense with the consent of the dissertation advisor.
2. If students have dropped out of the doctoral program and consider to enroll again with another dissertation advisor, the previous published dissertation will not be recognized.
3. If the submission or publication of a work violates academic integrity (such as multiple journal submissions, plagiarism, falsification, etc.), once the circumstances are found to be true and be determined by the academic committee, the published dissertation will not be recognized.

Doctoral Degree Examination

1. Please submit the application of doctoral degree at the end of April or November to the program office. Those who have reached the period of study are not subject to this with the consent of your dissertation advisor and program director. Application must meet the following requirements: 6 months after passing the qualifying examination, the number of published papers reaches the graduation requirement, and pass the English test proficiency of the department, the consent of the supervisor, then submit the following materials to the academic committee for review and approval.

• a copy of the oral defense of a dissertation
• a copy of your academic and work experience
• a certificate of English proficiency test
• an official copy of transcripts
• a list of recommended doctoral candidates
• a list of your publication including all the published journal articles during your studies
• a copy of your dissertation plan
• submit a report on the originality of the paper on the online anti-plagiarism system
• submit a copy of affidavit of the dissertation examination application

2. Degree examination is held in the form of open oral examination. The examination time, place and title should be announced seven days before it starts.
3. The doctoral examination committee shall provide a reference list of at least 8 members by the dissertation advisor. The committee is composed of 5 to 7 members selected by the program director, and one-third of the members should be external members. The convener shall be someone external and be appointed by the program director. The dissertation advisor must not be the convener.
4. The first draft of the dissertation should be submitted to the degree examination committee for review seven days before the examination date.
5. The degree examination committee members must meet the qualifications of the university’s regulations.
6. The doctoral program awards the degree: Doctor of Philosophy, Ph.D.

If there are any uncovered matters in the statement, it will be reported in accordance with the relevant regulations of the Ministry of Education and the university, or be reported to the academic program meeting for further discussion.

This statement has been approved by the academic preparatory meeting and the department meeting, and has been submitted to the academic affairs meeting for deliberation, the process remains the same for future adjustment.