National Taiwan University Explained

National Taiwan University
Native Name:國立臺灣大學
Native Name Lang:zh-Hant-TW
Motto:Chinese: 敦品勵學,愛國愛人 Dūnpǐn Lìxué, àiguó àirén
Mottoeng:Integrity, Diligence, Fidelity, Compassion[1]
Established:Founded on March 16, 1928[2]
Reorganized on November 15, 1945
Type:Public (National)
Academic Staff:2,029 (2020–2021)[3]
Administrative Staff:6,765 (2020–2021)
Students:32,974 (2020–2021)
Undergrad:16,773 (2020–2021)
Postgrad:12,533 (2020–2021)
Doctoral:3,668 (2020–2021)
Coor: 25.0167°N 153°W
Campus:Urban,
1.6km2 (Greater Taipei combined);
344km2 (Nantou County combined)
Colors:Maroon and gold [4]
Former Names:Taihoku Imperial University
Module:
Child:yes
National Taiwan University
S:国立台湾大学
T:國立臺灣大學
Bpmf:ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄌㄧˋ ㄊㄞˊ ㄨㄢ ㄉㄚˋ ㄒㄩㄝˊ
W:Kuo²-li⁴ T'ai²-wan¹ Ta⁴-hsüeh²
P:Guólì Táiwān Dàxué
Tp:Guólì Táiwan Dàsyué
Mps:Guólì Táiwān Dàshiué
Gr:Gwolih Tair'uan Dahshyue
Poj:Kok-li̍p Tâi-oân Tāi-ha̍k
Tl:Kok-li̍p Tâi-uân Tāi-ha̍k
H:Koet-li̍p Thòi-vân Thai-ho̍k
Showflag:stp
Also Known As:Taihoku Imperial University
S2:台北帝国大学
T2:臺北帝國大學
Bpmf2:ㄊㄞˊ ㄅㄟˇ ㄉㄧˋ ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄉㄚˋ ㄒㄩㄝˊ
W2:T'ai²-pei³ Ti⁴-kuo² Ta⁴-hsüeh²
P2:Táipěi Dìguó Dàxué
Tp2:Táipěi Dìguó Dàsyué
Mps2:Táipěi Dìguó Dàshiué
Gr2:Tairbeei Dihgwo Dahshyue
Poj2:Tâi-pak Tè-kok Tāi-ha̍k
Tl2:Tâi-pak Tè-kok Tāi-ha̍k
H2:Thòi-pet Ti-koet Thai-ho̍k
Kanji2:台北帝国大学
Revhep2:Taihoku Teikoku Daigaku
Collapse:no
Order:st

National Taiwan University (NTU;) is a national comprehensive public research university in Taipei, Taiwan.[11] It has been regarded as the most prestigious university in Taiwan.[12] [13]

The university was founded in 1928 during Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imperial University (臺北帝國大學) and served during the period of Japanese colonization. After World War II, the Nationalist government assumed the administration of the university. The Ministry of Education reorganized and renamed the university to its current name on November 15, 1945, with its roots of liberal tradition from Peking University in Beijing by former NTU President Fu Ssu-nien.[14]

The university consists of 11 colleges, 56 departments, 133 graduate institutes, about 60 research centers, and a school of professional education and continuing studies.[15] [16] [17]

By far, every democratic-elected president of Taiwan are notable NTU alumni, as well as Turing Award laureate Andrew Yao, and Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate Yuan T. Lee. NTU is affiliated with National Taiwan Normal University and National Taiwan University of Science and Technology as part of the NTU System.

History

Imperial University

National Taiwan University has its origins as the Taihoku Imperial University (Japanese: 台北帝国大学|Taihoku Teikoku Daigaku;), founded in 1928 during Japanese rule as a member of the imperial university system administered by the Empire of Japan.

The school's first president was . Taihoku Imperial University began with the faculty of Liberal Arts and Law and the Faculty of Science and Agriculture serving 60 students. The university was intended mainly for Japanese nationals; few Taiwanese students were admitted. The Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Engineering were added in 1935 and 1943, respectively.

National University

After World War II, the Republic of China (Taiwan) government reorganized the school as an institution for Chinese-speaking students. The school was renamed National Taiwan University on November 15, 1945, and Lo Tsung-lo was appointed as its president. The Literature and Politics division was divided into the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Law. Additionally, colleges of Science, Medicine, Engineering, and Agriculture were established. Initially, there were six colleges with 22 departments. In 1945, student enrollment was 585.

In 1960, the night school was initiated on a trial basis, and in 1967 a new night school was established. In 1987, the College of Management was established, followed by the College of Public Health in 1993 and the College of Electrical Engineering in 1997. The College of Electrical Engineering was later reorganized as the College of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. In 1999, the College of Law has renamed the College of Social Sciences, and the Night Division and the Center for Continuing Education were combined to form the School for Professional and Continuing Studies. In 2002, the College of Agriculture has renamed the College of Bio-resources and Agriculture, and in 2002 a College of Life Sciences was added.

NTU selected as the national seven universities in research in 2002 (currently merged into six universities).[18] [19]

Kuan Chung-ming controversy

Kuan Chung-ming, an economist who previously served in the Ma Administration, was named university president-elect in January 2018 but soon became embroiled in allegations related to plagiarism, academic misconduct, and violations of civil code which stipulated that Taiwanese public servants were not permitted to deliver lectures or to be involved in any mainland China-related academic activities due to national security concerns. During the election and the subsequent investigation, Tei-Wei Kuo served as the interim president of the university[20] while the president-elect underwent multiple legal investigations from the ruling DPP government.[21] [22] [23] Though Kuan was eventually cleared of all accusations and officially named as the university president in January 2019[24] (see), this prolonged investigation raised suspicion regarding the intervention from the ruling DPP government. Three Ministers of Education stepped down as a result of this event.[25]

Campuses

NTU has a main campus in Daan District, Taipei City and has additional campuses in Taipei, New Taipei City, Hsinchu County, Yunlin County, and Nantou County. The main campus is home to most college department buildings and administrative buildings. The university governs farms, forests, and hospitals for education and research purposes. The total area of NTU exceeds 340 square kilometers (34,000 hectares), accounting for one percent of Taiwan's total land area.[26]

The five campuses are:

Other university property

Academics

The university comprises 11 colleges: Liberal Arts, Engineering, Science, Social Sciences, Law, Bio-Resources & Agriculture, Management, Public Health, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Medicine, and Life Science.[27] NTU offers bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and doctorate degrees in many disciplines.

NTU requires most of its undergraduate students to take a mandatory core curriculum, comprising Chinese, freshman English, physical education, and public service. The medical school in addition dictates each of its students to take philosophy and sociology classes as well as seminars in ethics and thanatology. Military training is no longer an obligatory course for male students, but it is a prerequisite if they plan to apply to become officers during their compulsory military service.

NTU's programs cover a wide array of disciplines across science, arts, and the humanities, with up to 8,000 courses made available for selection each semester.[28] Students are able to select courses offered by any of the colleges; however, compulsory subjects designated for each major needs to be completed to be awarded a degree. A student must declare a major during college application, some majors are more competitive than others and require a higher national examination score. In recent years, medicine, electrical engineering, law, and finance have been the most selective majors. Most majors take four years to complete while both the dental and the medical degrees take six years to finish.

The International Chinese Language Program (ICLP), founded by Stanford University, is located at National Taiwan University.[29]

NTU is a member of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities, Washington University in St. Louis's McDonnell International Scholars Academy,[30] [31] and the Association of East Asian Research Universities.[32] [33]

NTU also participates in several programs of the Taiwan International Graduate Program of Academia Sinica, Taiwan's most preeminent academic research institution.

In 2021, the "International College" was established, primarily enrolling international students of foreign nationality and offering courses entirely in English.[34]

University rankings

Qs W:68
Qs W Year:2025
Qs W Ref:[35]
Qs Asia:19
Qs Asia Year:2023
Qs Asia Ref:[36]
The W:187
The W Year:2023
The W Ref:[37]
The Asia:=29
The Asia Year:2023
The Asia Ref:[38]
Arwu W:201–300
Arwu W Year:2022
Arwu W Ref:[39]
Usnwr W:=203
Usnwr W Year:2022–23
Usnwr W Ref:[40]
Usnwr Asia:30
Usnwr Asia Year:2022–23
Usnwr Asia Ref:[41]
Cwts W:100
Cwts W Year:2023
Cwts W Ref:[42]
Cwur W:102
Cwur W Year:2023
Cwur W Ref:[43]
The W Reputation Year:2023
The W Reputation Ref:[44]
The W Reputation:126-150

Overall rankings

National Taiwan University is widely considered to be the best university in Taiwan. NTU was ranked 68th worldwide in the QS World University Rankings 2025,[45] 187th worldwide in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023, 203rd worldwide in the US News 2022-2023, and 201-300th worldwide in the ARWU 2022.

The Aggregate Ranking of Top Universities (ARTU), which sorts universities based on their aggregate performance across THE, QS, and ARWU, ranked NTU 135th worldwide in 2022. [46]

With other peering references of academic ranking, NTU also releases NTU World Universities ranking annually on the Double Ten Day, the National Holiday of the Republic of China.[47]

Subject rankings

In the QS and ARWU subject rankings, NTU is ranked first in Taiwan in the majority of subjects.[48] [49] In the THE Subject Rankings, NTU is ranked first in Taiwan in all subjects.[50]

QS Subject Ranking 2023! Subject !! Global !! National
data-sort-value="105"  105data-sort-value="1"  1
Linguisticsdata-sort-value="58" data-sort-value="1"
Art and Designdata-sort-value="101–150" data-sort-value="2"
Classics and Ancient Historydata-sort-value="22" data-sort-value="1"
English Language and Literaturedata-sort-value="77" data-sort-value="1"
Historydata-sort-value="51–100" data-sort-value="1"
Modern Languagesdata-sort-value="53" data-sort-value="1"
Performing Artsdata-sort-value="101–120" data-sort-value="1"
Philosophydata-sort-value="151–200" data-sort-value="1"
data-sort-value="76"  76data-sort-value="1"  1
Engineering – Chemicaldata-sort-value="82" data-sort-value="2"
Engineering – Civil and Structuraldata-sort-value="51–100" data-sort-value="1"
Computer Science and Information Systemsdata-sort-value="80" data-sort-value="1"
Engineering – Electrical and Electronicdata-sort-value="64" data-sort-value="1"
Engineering – Mechanicaldata-sort-value="91" data-sort-value="1"
data-sort-value="85"  85data-sort-value="1"  1
Agriculture and Forestrydata-sort-value="88" data-sort-value="1"
Anatomy and Physiologydata-sort-value="51–100" data-sort-value="1"
Biological Sciencesdata-sort-value="103" data-sort-value="1"
Medicinedata-sort-value="68" data-sort-value="1"
Nursingdata-sort-value="51–100" data-sort-value="2–3"
Pharmacy and Pharmacologydata-sort-value="92" data-sort-value="1"
Psychologydata-sort-value="101–150" data-sort-value="1"
data-sort-value="81"  81data-sort-value="1"  1
Chemistrydata-sort-value="77" data-sort-value="1"
Earth and Marine Sciencesdata-sort-value="51–100" data-sort-value="1"
Environmental Sciencesdata-sort-value="86" data-sort-value="1"
Geographydata-sort-value="51–100" data-sort-value="1"
Geologydata-sort-value="101–150" data-sort-value="1"
Geophysicsdata-sort-value="101–150" data-sort-value="1"
Materials Sciencesdata-sort-value="93" data-sort-value="1"
Mathematicsdata-sort-value="109" data-sort-value="1"
Physics and Astronomydata-sort-value="83" data-sort-value="1"
data-sort-value="75"  75data-sort-value="1"  1
Accounting and Financedata-sort-value="71" data-sort-value="1"
Anthropologydata-sort-value="51–100" data-sort-value="1"
Business and Management Studiesdata-sort-value="107" data-sort-value="1"
Communication and Media Studiesdata-sort-value="101–150" data-sort-value="1"
Economics and Econometricsdata-sort-value="119" data-sort-value="1"
Education and Trainingdata-sort-value="101–150" data-sort-value="2–3"
Law and Legal Studiesdata-sort-value="69" data-sort-value="1"
Library and Information Managementdata-sort-value="51–70" data-sort-value="1"
Politicsdata-sort-value="101–150" data-sort-value="1–2"
Social Policy and Administrationdata-sort-value="46" data-sort-value="1"
Sociologydata-sort-value="55" data-sort-value="1"
Sports–Related Subjectsdata-sort-value="51–100" data-sort-value="1–2"
THE Subject Ranking 2023! Subject !! Global !! National
Arts & humanitiesdata-sort-value="176–200" data-sort-value="1"
Business & economicsdata-sort-value="84" data-sort-value="1"
Social sciencesdata-sort-value="176–200" data-sort-value="1"
Computer sciencedata-sort-value="101–125" data-sort-value="1"
Engineeringdata-sort-value="98" data-sort-value="1"
Clinical & healthdata-sort-value="75" data-sort-value="1"
Life sciencesdata-sort-value="176–200" data-sort-value="1"
Physical sciencesdata-sort-value="301–400" data-sort-value="1"
Psychologydata-sort-value="151–175" data-sort-value="1"
ARWU Subject Ranking 2022! Subject !! Global !! National
Natural Sciences
Mathematicsdata-sort-value="401–500" data-sort-value="4"
Physicsdata-sort-value="151–200" data-sort-value="1–2"
Chemistrydata-sort-value="151–200" data-sort-value="1"
Earth Sciencesdata-sort-value="151–200" data-sort-value="1"
Geographydata-sort-value="201–300" data-sort-value="1"
Ecologydata-sort-value="201–300" data-sort-value="1"
Oceanographydata-sort-value="151–200" data-sort-value="1–2"
Atmospheric Sciencedata-sort-value="201–300" data-sort-value="1"
Engineering
Electrical & Electronic Engineeringdata-sort-value="201–300" data-sort-value="1–2"
Telecommunication Engineeringdata-sort-value="201–300" data-sort-value="3"
Instruments Science & Technologydata-sort-value="101–150" data-sort-value="1"
Biomedical Engineeringdata-sort-value="76–100" data-sort-value="1"
Computer Science & Engineeringdata-sort-value="301–400" data-sort-value="2–3"
Civil Engineeringdata-sort-value="76–100" data-sort-value="1"
Chemical Engineeringdata-sort-value="101–150" data-sort-value="1"
Materials Science & Engineeringdata-sort-value="101–150" data-sort-value="1–2"
Nanoscience & Nanotechnologydata-sort-value="76–100" data-sort-value="1"
Energy Science & Engineeringdata-sort-value="101–150" data-sort-value="1"
Environmental Science & Engineeringdata-sort-value="201–300" data-sort-value="1"
Water Resourcesdata-sort-value="101–150" data-sort-value="1"
Food Science & Technologydata-sort-value="201–300" data-sort-value="2"
Biotechnologydata-sort-value="101–150" data-sort-value="1"
Transportation Science & Technologydata-sort-value="101–150" data-sort-value="1"
Metallurgical Engineeringdata-sort-value="151–200" data-sort-value="2"
Life Sciences
Biological Sciencesdata-sort-value="201–300" data-sort-value="1"
Human Biological Sciencesdata-sort-value="301–400" data-sort-value="1"
Agricultural Sciencesdata-sort-value="101–150" data-sort-value="1"
Veterinary Sciencesdata-sort-value="151–200" data-sort-value="2–3"
Medical Sciences
Clinical Medicinedata-sort-value="151–200" data-sort-value="1"
Public Healthdata-sort-value="101–150" data-sort-value="1"
Dentistry & Oral Sciencesdata-sort-value="76–100" data-sort-value="1"
Nursingdata-sort-value="39" data-sort-value="2"
Medical Technologydata-sort-value="201–300" data-sort-value="1–3"
Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciencesdata-sort-value="101–150" data-sort-value="1"
Social Sciences
Economicsdata-sort-value="301–400" data-sort-value="1"
Political Sciencesdata-sort-value="301–400" data-sort-value="1"
Educationdata-sort-value="401–500" data-sort-value="9–11"
Psychologydata-sort-value="401–500" data-sort-value="1"
Business Administrationdata-sort-value="301–400" data-sort-value="1"
Managementdata-sort-value="201–300" data-sort-value="1"
Hospitality & Tourism Managementdata-sort-value="201–300" data-sort-value="8"

List of presidents

The president heads the university. Each college is headed by a dean and each department by a chairman. Students elect their own representatives each year to attend administrative meetings.

National Taiwan University

8 January 2023 – present

8 January 2019 – 7 January 2023

June 2013 – June 2017

22 June 1993 – June 2005

March 1993 – June 1993

August 1984 – February 1993

August 1981 – July 1984

June 1970 – July 1981

January 1951 – May 1970

December 1950 – January 1951

January 1949 – December 1950

June 1948 – December 1948

August 1946 – May 1948

August 1945 – July 1946

Taihoku Imperial University

April 1941 – March 1945

September 1937 – April 1941

March 1928 – September 1937

Alumni

See also: List of National Taiwan University people.

NTU has produced many notable alumni. Tsai Ing-Wen, the current President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), as well as former presidents Lee Teng-hui, Chen Shui-bian and Ma Ying-jeou, all graduated from NTU. Both Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate Yuan T. Lee and Turing Award laureate Andrew Yao received their Bachelor of Science from the university. Many NTU electrical engineering graduates have gone on to build global companies, including Quanta Computer's Barry Lam, Mediatek's Tsai Ming-kai and Garmin's Min Kao.

See also

Alliance

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: University Motto . National Taiwan University . 24 June 2014.
  2. as Taihoku Imperial University
  3. Web site: About NTU . National Taiwan University . June 27, 2021. June 27, 2021.
  4. Web site: NTU at a Glance . National Taiwan University . 15 March 2015.
  5. News: HYI Partner Institutions in Asia. Harvard-Yenching Institute .
  6. Web site: Members | PACIBER.
  7. Web site: Eurasia Pacific Uninet.
  8. Web site: National Taiwan University.
  9. Web site: News.
  10. Web site: Find a Chapter.
  11. Web site: Archived copy . August 6, 2021 . August 6, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210806181439/http://www.aearu.com/contact.html . dead .
  12. Web site: 2023-08-31 . Taiwanese students get 'mental health days' as suicides rise . 2023-11-09 . Times Higher Education (THE) . en.
  13. Web site: National Taiwan University (NTU) Find Your Opportunity . 2023-11-09 . Cornell University.
  14. Web site: About NTU - About - National Taiwan University. www.ntu.edu.tw. en. 2018-11-20.
  15. Web site: Office of International Affairs, NTU . 2020-11-09 . oia.ntu.edu.tw.
  16. Web site: 國立臺灣大學捐贈網站 . 2018-11-20 . giving.ntu.edu.tw . zh-Hant.
  17. Web site: NTU at a Glance - About NTU - About - National Taiwan University . 2020-11-09 . www.ntu.edu.tw . en.
  18. Book: Huang . Muxuan (黃慕萱) . zh:書目計量與學術評鑑—國內七所研究型大學論文發表概況分析。引文分析與學術評鑑研討會論文集 . Taipei . 2004 . 135 - 152.
  19. The list is: NTU, NTHU, NCTU, Yang-Ming, NCKU, NCU, and NSYSU.
  20. Web site: 歷任校長姓名與任期 - 臺大校史 - 認識臺大 - 國立臺灣大學. www.ntu.edu.tw. zh-tw. 2018-04-26.
  21. News: 管中閔案 台大遴委會:校長遴選不受行政程序法約束. 2018-04-26. zh-Hant-TW.
  22. News: 未利益迴避? 管爺:上任前辭營利職 - 生活 - 自由時報電子報. 2018-04-26.
  23. Web site: 要教育部退出政治干預 管中閔推「挺管連署」不到一天破萬人 -- 上報 / 焦點. www.upmedia.mg.
  24. Web site: 【致詞全文】500多天後管中閔上任了,近35年首位非台大畢業的校長. January 8, 2019. The News Lens 關鍵評論網.
  25. Web site: 教育部長位子有毒? 聘不聘都請辭 管中閔案折損3個部長 | 政治 | 三立新聞網 SETN.COM. December 25, 2018. www.setn.com.
  26. Web site: About NTU . 2024-07-20 . National Taiwan University . en.
  27. Web site: Colleges & Departments - Academics - National Taiwan University . National Taiwan University . 23 February 2017.
  28. Web site: Academics. National Taiwan University.
  29. Web site: About ICLP . ICLP of National Taiwan University . 25 August 2015.
  30. Web site: National Taiwan University. Global. en-US. 2019-08-04.
  31. Web site: McDonnell International Scholars Academy. Global. en-US. 2019-08-04.
  32. Web site: Member Universities - National Taiwan University . Association of Pacific Rim Universities . 28 July 2018.
  33. Web site: 17 Members . The Association of East Asian Research Universities . 28 July 2018.
  34. Web site: International College, NTU 臺大國際學院 . 2024-07-20 . International College, NTU 臺大國際學院 . zh-Hant.
  35. Web site: QS World University Rankings 2024. Top Universities.
  36. Web site: QS Asia University Rankings 2023. Top Universities.
  37. Web site: World University Rankings . October 4, 2022 .
  38. Web site: Asia University Rankings 2023. Times Higher Education (THE). June 13, 2023 .
  39. Web site: ShanghaiRanking's Academic Ranking of World Universities .
  40. Web site: 2022-2023 Best Global Universities Rankings. U.S. News Education.
  41. Web site: 2022-2023 Best Global Universities in Asia. U.S. News Education.
  42. Web site: CWTS Leiden Ranking 2023. 28 July 2023. CWTS Leiden Ranking.
  43. Web site: World University Rankings 2023. 28 July 2023. Center for World University Rankingsg.
  44. Web site: World Reputation Rankings 2023 . 2024 .
  45. Web site: NTU QS World University Rankings 2025. Top Universities.
  46. Web site: Full Rankings Rankings . 2023-01-25 . research.unsw.edu.au.
  47. Web site: 2012 National Taiwan University Ranking (NTU Ranking) . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130830195354/http://nturanking.lis.ntu.edu.tw/Default.aspx . 2013-08-30 . 2017-10-10.
  48. Web site: QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022. 23 March 2023. QS World University Rankings.
  49. Web site: ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2022. Academic Ranking of World Universities2.
  50. Web site: World University Rankings by subject. Times Higher Education World University Rankings.