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Promoting Academic Excellence & Developing World Class Research Centers at NCKU. Academician Michael M. C. Lai, President of NCKU October 21, 2008. History of NCKU. 1931 Founded as the “Tainan District School for Higher Industrial Education”
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Promoting Academic Excellence & Developing World Class Research Centers at NCKU Academician Michael M. C. Lai, President of NCKUOctober 21, 2008
History of NCKU • 1931 Founded as the “Tainan District School for Higher Industrial Education” • 1946 Upgraded to “Taiwan Provincial College of Engineering” • 1956 Expanded to “Taiwan Provincial Cheng Kung University” • 1971 Renamed as “National Cheng Kung University”
Colleges • Engineering • Electrical Engineering & Information Science • Planning & Design • Liberal Arts • Sciences • Management • Medicine • Social Sciences • Bioscience and Biotechnology • With 40 departments and 52 graduate institutes.
Size • Students:20,538 (10,462 undergraduates; 6,948 students in master programs; 3,128 students in doctorate programs) • Faculty:1,789 (722 professors; 403 associate professors; 341 assistant professors; 231 lecturers ; 92 other ) • Staff:3,673 (1,520 University employees, 2,153 University Hospital employees) • Campus:183 hectares. (Main campus 83 hectares, An-Nan campus 73 hectares, Kuei-Jen campus 22 hectares, Dou-Liu campus 5 hectares)
Annual Budget –Income MOE Special fund
Education Philosophy of NCKU • Balanced humanity and science education • Well-rounded cross-disciplinary knowledge • Global awareness • Personal integrity and community involvement • Professional competency
Fields Ranking for NCKU Essential Science Indicators was updated on March 1, 2007 to cover an 11-year period, January 1, 1996-December 31, 2006.
Special Fund “5-year, 50-billion” Project • to develop First-class Universities and Top-level Research Centers • 2 comprehensive universities: -National Taiwan University (100 million USD/y) -National Cheng Kung University (51.6 million USD/y) • 10 specialty universities: -To establish top-level research centers First phase: 2006-2007 Second phase: 2008-2010 Third phase?
Funds Distribution Million NTD(Million USD)
Goals • Improve teaching • 2. Upgrade research • 3. Promote internationalization • 4. Improve research and education infrastructure
Administrative Structure Advisory Board Teaching Research Headquarters Internationalization Infrastructure Secretarial Affairs
Improving Teaching • Recruitment of top students • -Elite student program • -Early admission policy • NCKU English Eagle Project • Balancing humanity with science education • Improving general education • Consolidating courses and encouraging interdisciplinary studies • Faculty development and evaluation
Upgrading Research • General improvement of faculty output • Department-based research awards (first phase) • Landmark research projects (Second phase) • Top-down research projects (e.g., Medical device) • Humanity and social science initiative • Focus on 8 integrated research centers • Research performance awards • -Overall contributions awards (Top 5%, 15%, 25%, 40%) • -Publications awards (top 5% journals) (Top Journal e.g. Science, Nature, Cell) • -Improvement awards • Landmark Project grants • Industry-academia cooperation • Recruitment of distinguished scholars – flexible salary
Numbers of papers published and cited • Essential Science Indicators was updated on March 1, 2007 to cover an 11-year period, January 1, 1996-December 31, 2006.
Internationalization • Increasing the number of foreign students • Exchanging students • Hosting international conferences and visitors • Collaboration with Asian-Pacific universities • Institute of Innovations and Advanced Studies ( IIAS )
Profiles of international students at NCKU • Top countries: Vietnam, Malaysia, Canada? • Exchange students: (which countries?)
International activities • Da-Hsuan Feng (UT Dallas) as SEVP for R&D • SATU (Southeast and South Asia and Taiwan University Presidents’ Forum): NCKU is the permanent host • UMAP (University Mobility in Asia and Pacific): NCKU is the Secretariat of Taiwan • Sister universities: totaling 106 universities • Dual degree programs: Case Western Reserve, Temple, Texas Tech, • Active research collaboration: U. Washington, Ohio State, Purdue, etc. • J. Exp. Biol. & Med. Editorial office at NCKU • Texas High-Speed Rail Transportation Agency • T3 alliance: NCKU, National Chung-Hsing University and National Chung-San University (Research Triangle)
International visitors • Congressman S. Ortiz (Texas), Y. Apeloig (Technion, Israel), Britton Chance
Improving Infrastructure • Library investment • 2. Computer network • 3. Shared equipment • 4. Research buildings • 5. Student and faculty housing • 6. Campus beautification
Infrastructure Completed/under construction (I) Infrastructure Yun-hsuan Ecological Science and Technology Building Clinical Medical Building Chi Mei Building Joint Shared Facility Center Historic Monuments Dormitory & Alumni Hall
Infrastructure Completed/under construction (II) Infrastructure Library Computer Network Campus Geographic Information System Shared equipment Arts Center Museum
Advisory Board Purpose: - To advise and evaluate on the planning and execution of the project - To link the university with other world class universities for interaction and connections. Membership: Invite the presidents of the universities and distinguished scholars. Meeting: Regular meetings of the Advisory Board shall be held twice a year
Target University • Nagoya University (first phase) • Kyoto University (Second phase) • Similar in size between NCKU and KU • Relative position to Tokyo University • Historical cultural city
NCKU in world university rankings • 301-400 in Shanghai Chao-Tung ranking • 354 in London Times • ? In
Challenges facing NCKU • Research productivity reaching a plateau (especially quality) • Failures to recruit top faculty scholars • International visibility low • Low student diversity (mostly regional students)