Ph.D. Degree Requirements

Degree Requirements for Ph.D. Students in the Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology

15th amendment in the Department Affairs Meeting on September 09, 2010

16th amendment in the Department Affairs Meeting on December 14, 2010

17th amendment in the Department Affairs Meeting on September 25, 2012

18th amendment in the Department Affairs Meeting on April 21, 2015

19th amendment in the Department Affairs Meeting on October 18, 2016

20th amendment in the Department Affairs Meeting on March 06, 2018

21st amendment in the Department Affairs Meeting on May 12, 2020

22nd amendment in the Department Affairs Meeting on November 10, 2020

1. Students in the Ph.D. program at the Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST) must complete the program within 2–7 years of study.
    
2. In addition to the doctoral dissertation, Ph.D. students in this department must complete a minimum of 18 credits. Advisors are allowed to increase students’ required credits if necessary.
    
3. Ph.D. students (excluding foreign students) must take seminar courses, and mainland Chinese students and Overseas Chinese students need to take seminar courses.
    
4. Ph.D. students (including mainland Chinese students and Overseas Chinese students, excluding foreign students) must complete 4 credits of English courses (not included in the minimum required credits).Students are allowed to take the English courses in the Language Center open to graduate students (course code is “FE”) or the English courses in the Department of Applied Foreign Languages (course code is “FL”). Students who have passed the intermediate-level writing and speaking tests of the General English Proficiency Test (GEPT) before or after admission can submit the relevant certification for credit exemption when applying for the degree examination.
    
5. To ensure that students have good research ethics and are compliant with academic norms, all students studying in the Ph.D. programs must, by the end of the first academic year, complete the academic ethics course (hereinafter referred to as this course) based on the NTUST Regulation of Academic Research Ethics Course. Those who have completed this course may apply for the degree examination (applicable to students admitted in and after the 2005 academic year).
    
6. NTUST students are allowed to select cross-campus courses in the College of Engineering, National Taiwan University under the permission of their advisors (no more than 5 credits per semester). Credits earned through cross-campus courses will not comprise more than one-third of the student’s total credits counted toward their degree.
    
7. Ph.D. students should select from full-time faculty members in this department (assistant professors and above) as their dissertation advisors or co-advisors, and submit the “Agreement letter of thesis advisor” to department office. If students require co-advisors from outside (assistant professors and above, or experts) for special reasons, students need to submit all the related certificates of the co-advisors, and attach with the agreement letter of the co-advisor to the department office. Agreement letter of the co-advisor should be submitted to the teaching committee meeting for approval at least one year before graduation oral exam.
    
8. Ph.D. students in this department can apply for their Ph.D. candidate qualifying exam only if they have an academic performance score above 80 (inclusive) for their Ph.D. program. They must pass the Ph.D. candidate qualifying exam within two years from enrollment. Those who fail the exam are to be withdrawn from the program. Doctoral students, who a) have fulfilled the requirements of their department /institute, b) passed the Doctoral Qualifying Exam, and c) completed the first draft of their thesis, within the designated period of studies, may apply for the Doctoral Degree Thesis Defense Examination. The Doctoral Degree Thesis Defense Examination must be taken in accordance with the "National Taiwan University of Science and Technology Doctoral Degree Thesis Defense Examination Regulations."
    
9. Each Ph.D. candidate should be assisted by their advisor(s) in establishing a “thesis committee.” At the initial stage of composing a thesis, students must confirm with the advisor that the subject and content of the thesis match the professional fields of the department (graduate institute).
    
10. Students who publish at least one paper related to their doctoral dissertation in an academic journal as a Ph.D. student in this department shall apply for their degree examination. The first and second authors of the paper must be the student and the advisor, or vice versa, and the correspondent author must be either the student or the advisor. Special cases should be submitted to the teaching committee for further decision. One paper can only be used by one student to apply for his or her degree examination, and the journal that publishes the paper should be included in the SCI or SSCI. The Ph.D. student must personally give a brief explanation to and receive inquiries from the teaching committee when applying for the oral defense.
     
11. The list of members comprising the Ph.D. degree examination committee should be suggested by the student’s advisor. The degree examination committee should be jointly selected by the teaching committee and the adviser, approved by the dean, and appointed by the president. The degree examination committee must select a convener from among the members, and the advisor cannot be selected as a convener.
     
12. Students should attach relevant application documents and apply to the department office for their Ph.D. degree examination by the yearly deadlines of Jan. 15 or Jul. 15. The chairman of department shall convene a teaching committee for a qualification review of the student’s degree examination.
     
13. Matters that are not specified in this document shall be handled according to relevant regulations stipulated by NTUST and the Ministry of Education
     
14. The degree requirements and amended regulations are being implemented after being approved in the department affairs meeting.