National Taiwan University (NTU) has approved a proposal to set up an international semiconductor program starting next year.
The university would recruit an initial 25 students from overseas, and after a two-year pilot period, the four-year bachelor’s degree program would be open to 50 foreign students a year, said the proposal, which was approved at a school affairs meeting on Saturday.
NTU said that the program proposed under the Act for National Key Fields Industry-University Cooperation and Skilled Personnel Training (國家重點領域產學合作及人才培育創新條例) aims to introduce more foreign talent to Taiwan’s high-tech industry.
Photo: CNA
Students who graduate — a requirement of which is to pass a Mandarin proficiency test equivalent to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages B1 level — can continue their studies at other research institutes established under the act or at semiconductor-related graduate schools, NTU said.
While the program is expected to incorporate “academic capacity” from the College of Engineering, the College of Science, the College of Bioresources and Agriculture, and the College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, students from those colleges can be assured that the program would not take resources away from them, NTU officials said.
NTU president Chen Wen-chang (陳文章) said concerns would be discussed at the next school affairs meeting, and that a formal application for the program would be submitted to the Ministry of Education.
Taiwan produces 90 percent of the world’s most advanced semiconductors, with the success of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, often coveted by other nations amid global supply chain challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions.
Also at Saturday’s meeting, the university approved a proposal to establish a college of international political economy, despite student and faculty representatives voting in October to shelve plans for it due to concerns about how it would be funded.
The latest motion passed with 111 votes in favor and five against, Chen told reporters after the meeting.
The college could start offering master’s degree programs in 2025 and would feature all-English courses and potentially a dean recruited from an internationally renowned institution, he said.
Multiple enterprises, including Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) and TSMC, have agreed to provide funding for the college, he said.
There were initially concerns that businesses funding the college would try to influence areas such as the hiring of teachers or how courses are taught.
A proposal for a similar college was brought up by former NTU president Yang Pan-chyr (楊泮池) in 2016, but it was eventually abandoned as students opposed its tuition fee of NT$20,000 a year.
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