As the second longevity universities in Taiwan, National Cheng Kung University, composed of College of Liberal Arts, College of Sciences, College of Engineering, College of Management, College of Medicine, College of Social Sciences, College of Planning and Design, College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, and College of Electronic Engineering and Information, has caught up the way to National Taiwan University in respect of its research capacity, career competition, and many other indicators. There are currently over fifty academic programs, 1,213 full-time faculties, and over 19,000 students at NCKU. The College of Social Sciences, built in 1997, has five graduate programs: Political Economy, Law, Education, Economics, and Cognitive Science. This College starts to offer undergraduate degrees in economics and political science, beginning in 2001, and in law beginning in 2003. It is estimated the amount of faculty and students in social sciences will reach one thousand by 2008.
Launched in 2001, the Department of Economics offers the first undergraduate program from the School of Social Sciences. The University is widely acknowledged as one of the best in Taiwan, and the Department is committed to achieving the equal status in its profession within next few years. The M.A. program has established in 2006.
The Graduate Institute for Legal Sciences (GILS) was founded in 1995 and began to recruit graduate students in the fall 1996. At that time, GILS had two full-time faculty members, Prof. Dr. jur. Chih-Fang Tsai (also acted as the director of the institute), and Associate Prof. Dr. jur. Li-Jen Kuo. Full-time and part-time faculty members have increased gradually since then. In August 2002, Prof. Dr. jur. Li-Jen Kuo became the director of GILS. The department of Law was founded in the fall 2003. Prof. Dr. Jur. Li-Jen Kuo is also the director of this new department. Because of the national need for interdisciplinary person-power, the Graduate Institute of Technology law, which combines legal research and science & technology research, was founded in August 2004. The new institute is also under the leadership of Prof. Dr. jur. Li-Jen Kuo. Currently, there are 17 full-time professors.
The Department of Psychology was started in 2008. The institute of Cognitive Science will merge into the Department of Psychology 2011. With a unique view of combining interdisciplinary perspectives from social sciences, humanities, medical and engineering sciences in teaching and research, we devote to develop inter-disciplinary experts in different areas, such as basic research, real-life applications and mental health.
The National Cheng Kung University started as an engineering college and has been known for producing numerous good engineers during its 76 years of existence. In order to meet the growing demands in southern Taiwan, and also to move toward the goal of a comprehensive university, the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Management, and the College of Medicine were established at different phases of the University's development. However, social science as a major realm of science was overlooked for decades until the 1990s. The Graduate Institute of Political Economy was the first academic unit set up for the purpose of promoting the education of social sciences, thereby marking a new era in the history of this University. The Institute was formally established in August 1993 and began to admit its first batch of students in the same year. Up to the end of July 2007, over 390 students had been enrolled. Among them, 225 had already completed their degree.
The Institute of Education at National Cheng-Kung University was founded in 1996, offering master degrees. By the 2007 school year, the Institute had produced a total of 154 graduates. In addition, a Ph.D. program was opened in the 2006 school year. There are currently 19 students enrolled in the Ph.D. program, including 2 international students. Moreover, the Institute supports a secondary-level teacher education program. Our Institute is situated within a university complete with various academic disciplines and rich in history and resources. With an acceptance rate of less than 10% and a comprehensive program emphasizing both theoretical and experience-based knowledge in the areas of counseling, educational psychology, instructional technology, educational administration, and educational statistics, upon graduation students are well prepared to serve as instructors and teachers at secondary schools, research assistants at research institutes, or to pursue advance degrees.
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