National Tsing Hua University
Institute of Communications Engineering
Regulations for the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Degree Program (effective as of Fall 2015)
Approved by the Institute Administrative Affairs Meeting dated Sep. 29, 1999
Amendment by the Institute Administrative Affairs Meeting dated Mar. 29, 2002
Amendment by the Institute Administrative Affairs Meeting dated Jun. 3, 2003
Amendment by the Institute Administrative Affairs Meeting dated Dec. 8, 2003
Amendment by the Institute Administrative Affairs Meeting dated Mar. 17, 2004
Amendment by the Institute Administrative Affairs Meeting dated Jan. 12, 2006
Amendment by the Institute Administrative Affairs Meeting dated Mar. 2, 2006
Amendment by the Institute Administrative Affairs Meeting dated Sep. 28, 2006
Amendment by the Institute Administrative Affairs Meeting dated Aug. 20, 2008
Amendment by the Institute Administrative Affairs Meeting dated Sep. 10, 2008
Amendment by the Institute Administrative Affairs Meeting dated Dec. 06, 2010
Amendment by the Institute Administrative Affairs Meeting dated May 2, 2012
Amendment by the Institute Administrative Affairs Meeting dated May 20, 2013
Amendment by the Institute Administrative Affairs Meeting dated Jun. 6, 2013
Amendment by the Institute Administrative Affairs Meeting dated Mar. 5, 2015
I. Admission
1. Individuals who passed the entrance examination for admission to the doctoral programs of the university may pursue a doctoral degree in the degree program of the institute.
2. Students who graduated straight from a bachelor degree or graduate students in a master’s degree program of this university or of the University System of Taiwan who meet the criteria for direct pursuit of doctoral program may proceed to the study in a doctoral program with approval of this institute. The detail of the procedure shall be established separately.
3. Ph.D. students from other departments of this university or of the University System of Taiwan meet the criteria for “University System of Taiwan Regulation Regarding inter-institution transfer”, may be admitted to the doctoral program after approval of this institute.
4. Foreign students may apply for admission to a degree program for pursuit of the master or doctoral degrees of the university in accordance with the “Regulation Governing the Admission of Foreign Students” of the university approved by the Ministry of Education on record. The applicants are admitted upon the approval from this institute.
5. Overseas Chinese Students and students from Hong Kong or Macao following “Joint Overseas Recruitment Regulation”, may be admitted to the doctoral program after their applications approved by this institute.
6. Mainland Chinese Students following “Regulations Regarding Mainland Chinese Students Undertaking Studies at Institutions of Higher Education in Taiwan”, may be admitted to the doctoral program after their applications approved by this institute.
II. Terms of Study
1. Full-time Ph.D. Candidates : a minimum of 2 years and a maximum of 7 years.
2. Part-time Ph.D. Candidates in the Employee Degree Program (EDP)：a minimum of 3 years and a maximum of 9 years.
III. Course Requirements
1. The required courses of Ph.D. Program
a. Academic Research Ethics Education Course (online course, 0 credit): All Ph.D. students must complete this course during the first year of Ph.D. program and pass the exams.
b. Seminar (COM 5010/5020)：4 semesters are required, 1 credit for each semester.
c. Thesis (COM 7010/7020)
2. Students who were admitted through the entrance examination must complete at least 18 credits of courses from the Communication Engineering course category.
3. Students who were admitted directly from the undergraduate program or were transferred from the Master’s degree program must complete 30 credits of courses from the Communication Engineering course category.
IV. Qualifying Examination and English Proficiency
1. All Ph.D. students may take the qualifying exam after enrollment. Details are given in the “Code of Practice for Qualifying Evaluation” issued by this institute.
2. All Ph.D. student must pass the qualifying exam by the end of the second academic year (excluding suspension time) after enrollment, otherwise the student will be dismissed from the Ph.D. program.
3. Before applying for the Ph.D. dissertation defense examination, each student must provide a proof of English proficiency that is recognized by this institute. Details are given in the “Requirements for English Proficiency” issued by this institute.
V. Dissertation Advisor
1. Each student should select a dissertation advisor by the end of the second academic year, to supervise the academic and research activities conducted by the student. If an advisor is not selected at the end of the second academic year, the director of this institute can assign two faculty members to determine whether or not the student should continue his/her studies at this institute. If not, the student shall be expelled from the university.
2. The dissertation advisor must be a full-time assistant professor or higher position of this institute; otherwise, a faculty of the above-mentioned criterion must serve as a co-advisor to the student.
3. If the student wishes to change his/her dissertation advisor, he/she must submit a petition to this institute.
4. After passing the qualifying examination and before taking the Ph.D. dissertation defense examination, the student must apply for a review of his/her dissertation proposal.
a. The review will be an oral presentation administered by the Dissertation Advisory Committee. To pass the reviewing process, 2/3 (two-third’s) of the committee must approve of the proposal. If the proposal was not approved, the student cannot apply for re-review within three months.
b. The dissertation advisor and the director of this institute shall jointly appoint four to five faculty members, who are then formally engaged by the director, to form the Dissertation Advisory Committee. The chair of the committee is appointed by the director of this institute. The advisor is a default member of the committee.
c. The dissertation proposal must be approved within 2 tries.
VI. Content and Quality of the Dissertation
1. The dissertation must contain original research work conducted by the student under supervision of his/her advisor and completed during his/her period of study at this institute.
2. The research work completed under the support of research projects or under the supervision of faculty members may not be published or included in the dissertation without the approval of the principle investigators or the respective faculty members.
VII. Application of Dissertation Defense Examination
The following documents should be submitted when applying for the Ph.D. degree examination:
1. Official transcript for all semesters;
2. Proof of passing the qualifying exam;
3. Proof of English Proficiency;
4. Proof of approval of the dissertation proposal;
5. Draft of the dissertation approved by the Dissertation Advisory Committee.
The applicant may proceed with the degree examination after the above-mentioned documents are verified by the director of this institute.
VIII. Dissertation Defense Exam
The Ph.D. degree examination shall be governed by the “Rules for Doctoral Degree Examination” of the university approved by the Ministry of Education on record.
IX. Degree Revocation
Each individual, after Ph.D. degree is conferred, shall be revoked of his/her Ph.D. degree diploma and withdraw from the university if serious plagiarism, fraudulence or fabricated data is found in the dissertation and is confirmed by the investigating committee of the university.
X. These regulations are effective now, and will be when amended after approval of instituteadministrative affairs meeting.
(These regulations are adopted in Chinese, which shall prevail in case of any discrepancy between the English translation and the Chinese original.)