National Cheng Kung University

National Cheng Kung University (NCKU; ) is a public research university located in Tainan, Taiwan. The university is best known for engineering, computer science, medicine, and planning and design.
As a top university in Taiwan, NCKU has played a vital role in creating the Taiwan Miracle by helping Taiwan to transform from an agriculture-based society to an industrialized economy during the 1960s and 1970s, and further becoming one of the Four Asian Tigers. To this day, NCKU has many successful alumni in various industries in Taiwan. According to LinkedIn data, many of its graduates work in companies including TSMC, MediaTek, UMC, Applied Materials, and more. NCKU has been taking the top spot at the Global Views Monthly (遠見雜誌) Taiwan Graduate Employability Rankings for 6 consecutive years.
In 2005, NCKU was chosen by the Ministry of Education (Taiwan) as one of the seven universities in Taiwan for the Aim for the Top University Project (邁向頂尖大學計畫), which is similar to Top Global University Project in Japan and Universities of Excellence in Germany. Starting from 2006, because of its excellent academic performance and research potential, the Ministry of Education (Taiwan) has offered NCKU NT$1.7 billion annually for five consecutive years, which is the second highest amount received among the universities in the project.
NCKU is a founding member of Taiwan Comprehensive University System, a strategic alliance of four leading research universities in the Southern Taiwan. The university is also a member of AACSB and IEET, and the only member from Taiwan in the Worldwide Universities Network.
History.
National Cheng Kung University was originally established under Japanese colonial government in January 1931 as the Tainan Technical College. After the Japanese handover of Taiwan in October 1945, the school was renamed to Taiwan Provincial Tainan Junior College of Technology in March 1946, and then to Taiwan Provincial College of Engineering in October the same year.
When the government of the Republic of China moved to Taiwan in 1949, it was one of the three existing colleges in Taiwan. As the number of colleges expanded, it was upgraded to a provincial university in 1956 as Provincial Cheng Kung University, named after Koxinga, a Chinese military leader who drove the Dutch East India Company from Taiwan and founded the Kingdom of Tungning. In 1971, the university became a national university and was renamed to National Cheng Kung University.
Former Minister for Education Wu Jin served as the first president of the new National Cheng Kung University.
Campuses.
NCKU is located in Tainan City, Taiwan. The main campus is situated across from the Tainan Railway Station, offering convenient transportation. NCKU has 11 campuses occupying a total of 187 hectares of land in the greater Tainan area, including the Cheng-Kung, Sheng-Li, Kuang-Fu, Cheng-Hsin, Tzu-Chiang, Ching-Yeh, Li-Hsing, Tung-Ning, Kuei-Jen An-Nan and Dou-Liu campuses, and some areas designated for dormitory use.
On January 12, 2011, the Y. S. Sun Green Building Research Center was inaugurated. It is the world's first green educational center as well as Taiwan's first zero carbon building. The -facility cost NT$30 million (US$4.41 million) to construct, far below the original NT$180 million budget. Natural ventilation, limited power usage, reduced window size, and energy efficient lighting all contribute to the building's carbon neutrality.
Organization.
NCKU comprises 9 colleges, 43 departments, and 39 institutes. NCKU is organized into 9 colleges, including Liberal Arts, Sciences, Management, Engineering, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Social Science, Planning & Design, Bioscience & Biotechnology and Medicine, each with its own faculties, departments, and institutes offering programs up to doctoral level. The university currently offers 42 undergraduate programs, 74 master's degree programs, 53 doctoral programs, and 17 master's degree programs for working professionals. While most courses are taught in Mandarine Chinese, many are offered in English.
International programs.
NCKU has 401 cooperation agreements with 251 institutions and universities across the world. Student exchange agreements have been signed with 98 foreign partner universities including University of Southern California, Technical University of Munich, Leiden University, the University of New South Wales, Kyoto University, Seoul National University, National University of Singapore, etc.
In 2018, KU Leuven and IMEC reached dual degree agreement with NCKU. During the same year, NCKU and Purdue University signed the agreement of collaboration for international dual degree program and online courses. TU Darmstadt launched its liaison office in Asia at NCKU on May 21, 2019.
NCKU participates in the Taiwan International Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Neuroscience of Academia Sinica, the national academy of Taiwan.
Rankings.
NCKU is generally considered to be a top tier university in Taiwan, along with National Taiwan University, National Tsing Hua University, and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University. In 2021, the QS World University Rankings ranked NCKU 234th overall in the world, 42nd in Asia, and 3rd in the nation.
According to QS World University Rankings by Subject in 2020, NCKU ranked within the world's top 150 universities in the following fields: Civil and Structural Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science and Information Systems, Chemical Engineering, Engineering and Technology, Materials Sciences, Architecture, Statistics and Operational Research, Art and Design, and Environmental Studies.
The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) ranked NCKU 76-100th in the engineering field in 2016 and 101-150th in computer science in 2015. In 2020, NCKU ranked 218th in the world according to CWTS Leiden Ranking. In 2021 U.S. News & World Report rankings, NCKU is the world's 635th best university.
According to the ESI database, NCKU has published 18,333 papers in the last ten years and has respectively ranked the 24th and the 51st in the list of world top 100 universities respectively in the engineering and computer science fields.
In 2014, the Embassy of Japan in Taiwan listed NCKU as one of the seven well-known Taiwanese universities.