1. Basis These Regulations were stipulated in accordance with the “National Central University Regulations on Degree Examinations for Postgraduate Students.”

2. Study Period Students may study for between two to seven years.
Postgraduate students enrolled in in-service programs that fail to complete all required courses or their thesis by the end of the stipulated study period may apply for a further extension of one year.

3. Selection and Change of Thesis Advisor

1. At student registration, a brief summary of the faculty’s areas of research will be issued by the Department. The student should arrange for interviews with the professors of this Department within two weeks of registration. The student must then select two professors as their candidate advisors and fill out the advisor preferences form. The Department Affairs Committee will then assign a thesis advisor based on the student’s preferences.
2. The thesis advisor cannot be changed except in special circumstances. Another professor from the Department may however be asked to become the advisor or co-advisor with the consent of the original advisor.
3. If there is a change of thesis advisor then the qualification exam for the new thesis topic must be held again. The stage two oral examination for the “Research Proposal” must be completed within one year of the change.

4. Course and Credit Transfers

1. The student must enroll in and pass at least four of the six following courses offered by the Department: Advanced Transport Phenomena, Advanced Reaction Engineering (Advanced Chemical Reaction Engineering), Advanced Thermodynamics (Advanced Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics), Advanced Material Physics, Material Analysis and Identification, and Soft Matter; the student must also obtain at least 18 credits, complete two semesters of seminars, and four semesters of directed research (direct admissions to the doctoral program must obtain at least 34 credits). If a student has studied and passed the six aforementioned courses during their Masters degree program, they may, within one week from the start of their first semester after enrollment, apply to the Department for a waiver. This clause applies to all currently enrolled students from the 2011 academic year onwards.
2. The Engineering Science Doctoral Program of this Department must study four semesters of the “Industry Directed Research” offered by the College of Engineering.
3. Credit wavers shall be processed in accordance with the Department’s “Doctoral Program Course Credit Waiver Guidelines.”

5. Qualification Examination

1. The student must pass the following two-stage examination before the start of their fifth semester. If the student fails the exam, they will be asked to withdraw and their academic results retained for ten years.
   1. The student must have passed at least three out of the six courses offered by the Department mentioned above. They must have also achieved a passing grade and ranked in the top two-thirds of all students enrolled in that course for the semester. For direct admissions to the doctoral program, the student’s grades from the aforementioned courses during their Master’s (undergraduate) degree program can be counted.
   2. If the student meets the above academic requirements, a three-person oral examination committee composed of their advisor, a professor appointed by the head of the Department, and another person invited by the advisor shall conduct the stage two oral examination of the “Research Proposal.” Those that pass the oral examination have completed the qualification examination. For the Engineering Science Doctoral program, the oral examination committee for the research proposal must include at least one industry expert.
2. If a student passes the qualification examination and has obtained all of the required credits, they now become a doctoral candidate.

6. Degree Examination

1. A doctoral candidate must satisfy the following requirements before they may apply for qualification review and degree examination:
   • Scored at least three points in total from papers published as part of their doctoral research, including at least one paper where they were the first author (not counting the advisor).
   • Scoring method: If the paper was published in a journal whose IF ranking on SCI is in first quartile of the field then this counts as three points. Those in the second quartile counts as two points, while the remainder is one point.
   • Score is halved if not the first author.
   • For the Engineering Science Doctoral Program, any patents obtained while enrolled will count as two points but only once.
   • Theses or patents (all theses whose points are being counted) must be published only in the name of NCU Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering; the only exception is for students in dual degree programs.
   • Must meet at least one of the following English language proficiency requirements:
     • Delivered an oral presentation at an international conference.
     • Achieved the equivalent of the High-Intermediate grade in General English Proficiency Test, or a TOIEC score of over 750. (Applicable to all new students enrolled from 2012 academic year onwards).
2. A student that meets the above conditions may submit an application for the doctoral candidate qualifying examination along with an abstract of their thesis and a letter of recommendation from their advisor; the student’s advisor will then ask the head of the Department to appoint an assistant professor or higher member of the University faculty to form a qualifying examination committee. The committee will review the qualifications of the student and attend the student’s oral presentation of their thesis.
3. Those that meet all of the above requirements may apply for their degree examination in accordance with the “National Central University Regulations on Degree Examinations for Postgraduate Students”; for the Engineering Science Doctoral Program, the degree examination committee must include at least two industry experts who possess qualifications recognized by the NCU Regulations on Degree Examinations for Postgraduate Students.

7. Procedure for Leaving the University Those that pass the degree examination and satisfy the requirements for graduation must receive approval from their thesis advisor and complete all of the school-leaving procedures mandated by NCU regulations before graduation. These include the return of any borrowed books and publications, uploading of their thesis to the National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations, and completing the verification of their thesis.

8. Transitional Provisions Doctoral students that enrolled before these Regulations took effect may still graduate in accordance with these Regulations.

9. Unspecified Matters Matters not specified in these Regulations shall be processed in accordance with other relevant regulations of the MOE and NCU.

10. Implementation and Revision These Regulations were passed by the Department Affairs Committee and submitted to the Academic Affairs Committee for approval before implementation. Revisions shall follow the same procedure.