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Doctoral Program

Doctoral Program Admissions

National Tsing Hua University Statistics Institute
Doctoral Degree Regulations
Applicable to Doctoral students admitted in 2022
(Revised and passed on 1/11/1996)
(Revised and passed by the academic committee on 15/09/1996)
1. Length of Study
The allowed length of study is 2-7 years. Doctoral students who work at the same time may extend the maximum length of study to 9 years. In principle, the cumulative leave of absence is at most 2 years.
2. Credits
In accordance with National Tsing Hua University’s Academic Regulations, Doctoral students must complete at least 26 credits of courses (not including the Doctoral Thesis and Colloquium),at least 12 credits must be from Doctoral courses in the Institute of Statistics.
Doctoral students who transferred from the Master’s program must complete at least 32 credits of courses, at least 26 of which must be graduate courses in the Institute of Statistics or other approved Specialization courses.
Mandatory courses for Doctoral students at the Institute of Statistics are: Statistical Inference, Advanced Probability Theory, and Statistical Practice (students who have taken a course similar to Statistical Practice at other institutions may be exempted from taking this course again).
In addition to the requirements above, Doctoral students must take the course Colloquium every semester and complete the Academic Research Ethics Education Course (0 credits) as required by the university within their first year of study.

3. Qualifying Examinations
There are two types of Qualifying Examinations: 1. Qualifying by Written Examination and 2. Qualifying by Area of Strength Demonstration. Within four semesters of study, each Doctoral student must choose one of these two types of Qualifying Examinations and confirm their decision by signing the Qualifying Examination Declaration Form.
             
              3.1 Scope of the Written Examination
             
              Required subject paper: Statistical Inference
              Optional subjects paper: Students must choose either Advanced Probability Theory or Applied Statistics, but not both (students can take only one of these two subjects each time they attempt the Written Examination)
             
            The Applied Statistics paper covers Linear Models and one other optional subject, the total score for the paper is calculated based on performance on the Linear Models section and the other optional subject section. Optional subjects include: Multivariate Analysis,Design of Experiments, Time Series Analysis, Discrete Data Analysis,Survival Analysis,and Reliability Analysis.
             
              Doctoral students must obtain a passing grade on both papers within 2 years of study,each section may be attempted at most 3 times.The Written Examination is held 2 weeks after the end of each semester.
             
             3.2 Scope of the Area of Strength Demonstration
           
             Doctoral students who choose an Area of Strength Demonstration as their Qualifying Exam mustfind a thesis supervisor before formally declaring their decision to Qualify through an Area of Strength Demonstration. Within one month of the declaration, the supervisor will convene an Area of Strength Demonstration Evaluation Committee (the Committee must consist of at least 5 members, 2 of which — excluding the supervisor themself— must be members of the faculty at the Institute of Statistics), the Committee will consider the Doctoral student’s Area of Strength Demonstration Report and set requirements for Qualifying accordingly, such requirements are usually for the Doctoral student to  take certain courses and pass with certain grades. The Doctoral student must satisfy all requirements set by the Committee before their Oral Examination. Students who choose to qualify through an Area of Strength Demonstration must have had at least one paper accepted for publication in an academic journal indexed by SCI or SSCI. The content of the paper must have been researched during their doctoral study in the Institute of Statistics, and they must be the first author of the paper.
4. Supervisor

Doctoral students must choose a full-time member of faculty at the Institute of Statistics or an external researcher as their thesis supervisor. If a student chooses an external thesis supervisors, the student must obtain consent from the Institute of Statistics.
5. Oral Examination

Doctoral students who choose to qualify by Written Examination must pass the Oral Examination within two years of qualifying (not counting any periods of study suspension). Doctoral students who choose to qualify by Area of Strength Demonstration must pass the Oral Examination within two years of qualifying (not counting any periods of study suspension). The scope of the Oral Examination covers the doctoral student’s research plan and direction as well as the doctoral student’s background knowledge in their area of research. The Oral Examination Committee consists of at least six people, the members of the Committee are decided by the Director of the Institute and the doctoral student’s supervisor, with the supervisor being an ex-officio member. To pass the Oral Examination, more than half of the members of the Committee must judge the doctoral student to have made satisfactory progress in their research and study. Doctoral students who pass the Oral Examination qualify as a Doctoral Candidate. A doctoral student who fails to pass the Oral Examination may make at most one more attempt. Doctoral students who fail their second attempt at passing the Oral Examination will have to discontinue their study at the Institute of Statistics.
6. Foreign Language Requirement

According to the University’s regulations, doctoral students entering after the 79th academic year (1990) must demonstrate standard proficiency in an approved foreign language; approved foreign languages include: Japanese, English, French, Russian, and German. 
Students may demonstrate standard proficiency in English by any of the following ways (proof of passing must be provided to the Institute of Statistics, there are no time limits for the Foreign Language Requirement):
       • Pass the University’s English language test
       • Pass the English writing course offered by the University’s foreign language unit
       • Conduct a presentation on a research topic in English, the research topic must be approved by a review committee (this committee will be convened by the Director of the Institute of Statistics and will consist of at least four  people)
       • Achieve a TOEFL Computer-Based Test (CBT) score of 197 or above or achieve a TOEFL Internet-Based Test (IBT) score of 71 or above
       • Pass the high-intermediate level of the National General English Proficiency Test
7. These regulations come into effect after approval by the academic committee, any amendments must also be approved by the academic committee. These regulations are also sent to the Office of Academic Affairs for future reference.

 

National Tsing Hua University’s Presidential Scholarship
Regulations
Approved by the President of NTHU on 18/06/2004
Approved in the University’s Committee for Academic Affairs fifth meeting on 13/01/2015
Approved by the President of NTHU on 10/03/2015

1. The objective of National Tsing Hua University’s Presidential Scholarship is to support outstanding graduate students with research potential in their study.

2. Scholarship recipients

Doctoral students who have passed the entrance examination and have been admitted to a doctoral program in NTHU and doctoral students who have been admitted to a doctoral program in NTHU via other admission pathways. 

However, individuals who fall under the following two categories are ineligible for this scholarship:
          1.1. Individuals participating in the “Taiwan International Graduate Program” (TIGP) in cooperation with Academia Sinica
          1.2. Individuals engaged in full-time work in the private or public sector
          1.3. Individuals applying as an employed individual
          1.4 Individuals applying as a foreign student or individuals enrolling through the University’s joint admission channel for students from mainland China
          2.1. Individuals who have not completed the registration process for the current academic year.
          2.2. Individuals who have suspended their study program.
          2.3 Individuals who have deferred their admission to a study program.

3. Eligibility criteria
          1. Doctoral students without a Master’s degree are eligible if they rank within the top 30% of their undergraduate cohort.
          2. Doctoral students with a Master’s degree are eligible if they meet one of the following criteria:
              • rank within the top 30% of their undergraduate cohort
              • rank within the top 20% of their Master’s program cohort
          3. Doctoral students are eligible if they are recommended for the scholarship by the department or institute to which they have been admitted.

4. Duration and amount of scholarship

          1. Recipients who meet the first or second eligibility criterion of the “Eligibility criteria”: The scholarship is remitted from the first to the eighth semester after enrollment. The amount per month is at least 25,000 NTD. For the first six semesters, 15,000 NTD is provided by the University, the rest is provided by the student’s department or their supervisor (so the student’s department or their supervisor will provide the full scholarship amount in the seventh and eighth semesters after the student’s enrollment).
          2. Recipients who meet the third eligibility criterion of the “Eligibility criteria”: The scholarship is remitted from the first to the eighth semester after enrollment. The amount per month is at least 20,000 NTD. For the first six semesters, 10,000 NTD is provided by the University, the rest is provided by the student’s department or their supervisor (so the student’s department or their supervisor will provide the full scholarship amount in the seventh and eighth semesters after the student’s enrollment).

5. Scholarship quota and reviewing process

           1. Applicants who meet the first or second eligibility criterion of the “Eligibility criteria”: The list of applicants will be provided by the Office of Academic Affairs
           2. Applicants who meet the third eligibility criterion of the “Eligibility criteria”: Each department recommends applicants. The available scholarship quota is 15% of the enrollment number of that department in the previous year (rounded up to the next highest integer). The lists of recommended applicants for the scholarship are sent to the Scholarship Review Committee for reviewing. The Scholarship Review Committee is chaired by the President of NTHU and consists of a representative from each College.

6. From the second semester after enrollment, recipients of the scholarship must be recommended by their supervisor to be eligible for renewal of the scholarship. If any of the
following occurs, the recipient’s scholarship status shall be revoked:
         
           1. The recipient suspends or leaves their doctoral study or engages in full-time work in a public or private organization
           2. The recipient transfers from a doctoral program to a master’s program 
In case 1., the scholarship is terminated the month following the event; in case 2., the scholarship is terminated the semester after the transfer.

7. The scholarship award funds are classified under university-related expenses.

8. This set of regulations has been approved by the University’s Committee and come into effect after approval by the President of NTHU.

9. If there are any discrepancies between this set of regulations and the Chinese version, the Chinese version takes precedence. Please refer to the Chinese version for the latest version of these regulations.