National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University Regulations for Conferral of Graduate Degrees

Adopted at the 1st Academic Affairs Meeting of Academic Year 2020 on March 3, 2021

Filed by Letter Tai-Jiao-Gao-(II)-Zhi No. 1100046638 for record

Article 9 amended at the 2nd Academic Affairs Meeting of Academic Year 2020 on May 26, 2021

Article 9 filed by Letter Tai-Jiao-Gao-(II)-Zhi No. 1100076555 for record on June 8, 2021

Article 1

These Regulations are provided in accordance with the University Act and the Enforcement Rules of the University Act, the Degree Conferral Act, and other applicable regulations.

Article 2

All teaching institutes of the University must draw out postgraduate study regulations fully based on these Regulations unless otherwise required by the laws. The college curricular committee and university curricular committee in proper order must review these postgraduate study regulations. Prior to implementation, these regulations must be submitted to the council of Academic Affairs for approval. The postgraduate study regulations must include the following rules.

(1) Admission eligibility and relevant requirements: Such requirements shall include at least the eligibility of master’s students for direct admission to the PhD program and the requirements for students applying for transfer of department (program)/graduate institute.

(2) Period of study: The period of study must at least include the minimum and maximum periods of study for full-time and on-job graduate students.

(3) The number of credits required and the requirements for credit transfer/waiver, including specifying whether the credits required for master’s students who are directly admitted to the PhD program include credits earned before direct admission to the PhD program.

(4) Setting the deadline for requesting a thesis advisor.

(5) Establishment of rules for changing and coordinating with the thesis advisor in accordance with the “NYCU Guidelines for the Interaction between Thesis Advisors and Graduate Students.”

(6) PhD candidate qualifying examination (comprehensive test) requirements. (7) Requirements and procedures for a degree examination (including the number of attempts for a degree examination).(8) Processes for graduation and leaving．

Article 3

The study period of the master’s program shall be one to four years, and the study period of the PhD program shall be two to seven years. For on-job graduate students, the study period may be extended for one year for the master’s program and two years for the PhD program. Each academic unit may, based on the needs of its nature, establish its own minimum study period.

Article 4

Any master’s student who has fulfilled the following requirements and submitted a thesis may apply for a degree examination, and will be granted a master’s degree after passing the degree examination conducted by an examination committee:

(1) The student’s study period in the master’s program has exceeded one semester.

(2) The student has completed the required courses and earned the required credits specified by each academic unit and has passed other examinations required for a master’s degree.

(3) However, a student who has submitted his/her thesis and who is recommended by the supervisor may apply for an early oral defense even if he/she will not complete the required courses, credit hours, and other evaluations until the end of the semester. The master’s degree will be conferred after the courses are completed and the required credits are earned by the student. If any required course is not completed during that semester, the oral defense will not be recognized. A master’s student in art or applied technology may submit his/her work, a certificate of achievements and a written report or technical report as his/her thesis. A master’s student in any field of professional practice may submit a professional practice report as his/her thesis. The criteria for determination of a program in art, applied technology or any field of professional practice shall be implemented after such criteria are submitted by each academic unit to and approved by a college-level meeting and an academic affairs meeting. The guidelines regarding the scope of determination, types of materials, contents and relevant matters of any program area under the preceding paragraph for which a master’s student may submit his/her work, a certificate of achievements and a written report, technical report or professional practice report as his/her thesis shall be in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Education.

Any thesis, work, certificate of achievements, written report, technical report or professional practice report for which a domestic or foreign degree has been granted may not be submitted again by a master’s student for oral defense, except where degrees are granted separately through joint supervision of thesis under an academic cooperation arrangement between NYCU and a foreign college or university.

Article 5

The oral defense includes thesis examinations and thesis review.

Article 6

The Examination Committee of each master’s candidate must consist of three to five members recommended to the president by the teaching institute from among the scholars and experts inside and outside of NYCU specializing in the area of research or study of the applicant. These members must fulfill at least one of the following requirements. The organization of the committee shall be subject to the president’s decision.

(1) The member is or was a professor, associate professor or assistant professor.

(2) Is a research fellow, or is or was a researcher, associate researcher, or assistant researcher of Academia Sinica.

(3) The member holds a PhD degree and has outstanding academic achievements.

(4) The member’s area of study concerns a rare or special subject or a professional practice, and the member has outstanding academic or professional achievements. The criteria for determination of the requirements in subparagraphs 3 and 4 of the preceding paragraph shall be established by each degree-conferring academic unit. The current or former spouse of a master’s student or any of his/her relatives by blood or marriage within the third degree may not serve as a member of the examination committee for his/her oral defense.

Article 7

Any PhD student who has fulfilled the following requirements may become a PhD candidate:

(1) The student has completed the required courses and earned the required credits for a PhD degree.

(2) A PhD student who has passed the PhD candidate qualifying examination and other examinations required by the relevant academic unit for a PhD candidate. Any PhD student who has submitted a thesis and fulfilled the requirements of the relevant academic unit may apply for a degree examination (the candidate’s study period in the PhD program must exceed three semesters; for any candidate who has been directly admitted to the PhD program, his/her study period in the PhD program must exceed three semesters), and will be granted a PhD degree after passing the degree examination conducted by an examination committee. A PhD student in art or applied technology may submit his/her work, a certificate of achievements and a written report or technical report as his/her thesis. The criteria for determination of any program area under the preceding paragraph shall be implemented after such criteria are submitted by each academic unit to and approved by a college-level meeting and an academic affairs meeting. The guidelines regarding the scope of determination, types of materials, contents and relevant matters of any program area under the preceding paragraph for which a PhD student may submit his/her work, a certificate of achievements and a written report or technical report as his/her thesis shall be in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Education. Any thesis, work, certificate of achievements, written report or technical report for which a domestic or foreign degree has been granted may not be submitted again by a PhD student for oral defense, except where degrees are granted separately through joint supervision of thesis under an academic cooperation arrangement between NYCU and a foreign college or university.

Article 8

The Examination Committee of each PhD candidate must consist of five to nine members recommended to the president by the teaching institute from among the scholars and experts inside and outside of NYCU specializing in the area of research or study of the applicant. These members must fulfill at least one of the following requirements. The organization of the committee shall be subject to the president’s decision. The number of members from inside and outside of NYCU must be no less than a third of the total number of members.

(1) The member is or was a professor or associate professor.

(2) Is a research fellow, or is or was a researcher or associate researcher of Academia Sinica.

(3) The member holds a PhD degree, and has outstanding academic achievements.

(4) The member’s area of study concerns a rare or specific subject, and the member has outstanding academic or professional achievements. The criteria for determination of the requirements in subparagraphs 3 and 4 of the preceding paragraph shall be established by each degree-conferring academic unit. The current or former spouse of a PhD student or any of his/her relatives by blood or marriage within the third degree may not serve as a member of the examination committee for his/her oral defense.

Article 9

Examination of the thesis of a master’s student or PhD candidate shall be conducted orally or, if necessary, in the form of a written or experimental examination or by video conferencing, in accordance with the following requirements:

(1) A master’s student or PhD candidate shall apply for a degree examination at least seven days prior to the date of examination, and approval must be given for the examination to be conducted.

(2) Prior to a thesis examination, a “thesis originality check” report shall be completed and submitted to the members of the examination committee for reference. After completion of the thesis examination, the thesis advisor shall sign the Degree Examination Grade Sheet for confirmation.

(3) An oral examination shall in principle be conducted publicly. The time and place of the oral examination and the title of the thesis shall be announced prior to the examination.

(4) All members of the degree examination committee shall attend in person. Attendance by proxy is not permitted. A master’s degree examination requires the attendance of at least three members of the examination committee. A PhD degree examination requires the attendance of at least five members of the examination committee with non-NYCU members accounting for at least one-third of the attending members. Any examination not meeting the requirements of this subparagraph may not be conducted, and the grade of any such examination will not be recognized.

(5) The head of the relevant academic unit shall appoint one of the members of the examination committee as its convener, who may not be a thesis advisor.

(6) The passing grade shall be B- (70/100), with A+ (100/100) as the maximum grade. The grade shall be determined by the average of the grades given by the attending members of the examination committee. If at least half of the members attending a master’s degree examination or at least one-third of the members attending a PhD degree examination have given failing grades, the degree examination grade shall be deemed as failing without averaging the given grades.

(7) The examination committee shall check whether the title and contents of the thesis of a student or candidate are consistent with the area of study in which the academic unit of the student or candidate is specialized, and the convener of the committee shall sign the Degree Examination Grade Sheet for confirmation.

(8) If the examination committee reviewing a thesis has found and confirmed any fraud, alternation, plagiarism, ghostwriting or other fraudulent practice regarding the thesis, the degree examination grade will be recorded as zero, and the examination will not be reconducted.

(9) Each academic unit shall specify other related requirements in its regulations for graduate programs.

Article 10

For any student or candidate whose thesis has passed the oral examination, the oral examination committee will provide directions and instructions as the basis for revision of the student or candidate’s thesis. After the student or candidate has revised his/her thesis, he/she shall submit the thesis for review. The thesis will pass review only if approved by at least two-thirds of the members of the oral examination committee. No separate grade will be given for the thesis review. Where the thesis has passed review, the attending members of the oral examination committee shall sign a “Letter of Approval from the Thesis Oral Examination Committee.” For any student or candidate whose thesis has been approved, the thesis examination grade will be his/her degree examination grade.

Article 11

Any student who has passed the degree examination shall submit the “Degree Examination Grade Sheet” to the Division of the Registrar during the semester in which the examination is conducted. The deadline for its submission shall be January 31 in the first semester or July 31 in the second semester. The deadline for submission of a printed thesis shall be the final working day before the start of the following semester to the one in which the degree examination is conducted. Any student who has failed to submit a printed thesis by the deadline and whose study period has not expired shall still register in the next semester. Any student whose study period has expired and who has failed to submit the Degree Examination Grade Sheet within the semester when his/her study period expires or submit a printed thesis by the final working day before the start of the next semester shall withdraw from NYCU.

Article 12

Where any graduate student who has applied for a degree examination is unable to complete the degree examination within the semester, regardless of the reason, the relevant academic unit shall submit a list of graduate students for whom the degree examination has not been conducted to the Registration Section on the first working day of the next semester.  

Article 13

Where any graduate student who has been directly admitted to the PhD program has passed the PhD candidate qualifying examination but failed to pass the PhD degree examination, he/she may be granted a master’s degree if his/her thesis, work, certificate of achievements and written or technical report have been determined by the PhD degree examination committee to be fulfilling the requirements for a master’s degree. If the circumstance in the preceding paragraph does not apply, the graduate student may apply for transfer back to the original academic unit to continue his/her study in the master’s program or for transfer to a relevant academic unit for study in the master’s program in accordance with the “NYCU Regulations for Direct Pursuit of PhD Degree.”

Article 14

Any master’s or PhD student who has failed to pass the degree examination or complete the required courses within the specified study period shall withdraw from NYCU.

Article 15

A master’s or PhD thesis (including its abstract) shall in principle be written in Chinese or English and shall meet the requirements for the format of a degree thesis of NYCU. Any graduate student who has passed the degree examination shall upload an electronic file of the abstract and full text of his/her thesis online (in accordance with the NCYU Guide for Submitting Electronic Theses & Dissertations (ETD)) and submit two copies of his/her thesis (one shall be displayed in the NYCU Library and one shall be provided to the National Central Library for collection). Each academic unit shall determine the number of copies for its collection. The preservation or provision of a degree thesis shall be in accordance with Article 16 of the Degree Conferral Act. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any degree thesis involving confidential or patent information or the provision of which is prohibited by law shall be subject to the “NYCU Regulations for Embargo of Degree Thesis/Dissertation.”

Article 16

If any of the following circumstances applies to any student who has been granted a master’s or PhD degree, his/her degree shall be revoked, and the degree certificate awarded shall be canceled by announcement:

(1) His/Her admission eligibility or course of study involves misrepresentation or fraud.

(2) His/Her thesis, work, certificate of achievements or written, technical or professional practice report involves fraud, alternation, plagiarism, ghostwriting or other fraudulent practice. After the degree has been revoked in accordance with the preceding paragraph, a notice shall be given to require the student to return his/her degree certificate, and other junior colleges, universities and competent authorities shall be informed of such revocation and cancellation.

Article 17

Matters not provided herein must be subject to the University Act and the Enforcement Rules　of the University Act, the Degree Conferral Act, and other education-related laws and regulations.

Article 18

These Regulations and any amendment thereof shall be implemented after being approved by the Council of Academic Affairs, and filed with the Ministry of Education.

These Regulations are adopted in Chinese, which shall prevail in case of any discrepancy between the English translation and the Chinese original.