National Taiwan University facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
National Taiwan University

國立臺灣大學
Seal of the National Taiwan University
Former names	Taihoku Imperial University
Motto	敦品勵學，愛國愛人 Dūnpǐn Lìxué, àiguó àirén
Motto in English	Integrity, Diligence, Fidelity, Compassion
Type	Public (National)
Established	Founded on March 16, 1928 Reorganized on November 15, 1945
Endowment	$16.9 billion NTD
President	Chen Wen-chang
Academic staff	2,029 (2020–2021)
Administrative staff	6,765 (2020–2021)
Students	32,974 (2020–2021)
Undergraduates	16,773 (2020–2021)
Postgraduates	12,533 (2020–2021)
Doctoral students	3,668 (2020–2021)
Location	Taipei ,  Taiwan 25°00′58″N 121°32′10″E / 25.016°N 121.536°E / 25.016; 121.536
Campus	Urban, 1.6 km2 (0.62 sq mi) (Greater Taipei combined); 344 km2 (133 sq mi) (Nantou County combined)
Colors	Maroon and gold
Affiliations	Harvard-Yenching Institute APRU AEARU ASAIHL AACSB-Accredited EUTW National Taiwan University System Global research & industry alliance (Gloria) of National Science and Technology Council (Taiwan) Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research PACIBER AAPBS EPU Washington University in St. Louis McDonnell International Scholars Academy IEEE Association for Computing Machinery Coursera
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	国立台湾大学
Traditional Chinese	國立臺灣大學
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Guólì Táiwān Dàxué Bopomofo ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄌㄧˋ ㄊㄞˊ ㄨㄢ ㄉㄚˋ ㄒㄩㄝˊ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Gwolih Tair'uan Dahshyue Wade–Giles Kuo²-li⁴ T'ai²-wan¹ Ta⁴-hsüeh² Tongyong Pinyin Guólì Táiwan Dàsyué MPS2 Guólì Táiwān Dàshiué Hakka Romanization Koet-li̍p Thòi-vân Thai-ho̍k Southern Min Hokkien POJ Kok-li̍p Tâi-oân Tāi-ha̍k Tâi-lô Kok-li̍p Tâi-uân Tāi-ha̍k
Taihoku Imperial University
Simplified Chinese	台北帝国大学
Traditional Chinese	臺北帝國大學
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Táipěi Dìguó Dàxué Bopomofo ㄊㄞˊ ㄅㄟˇ ㄉㄧˋ ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄉㄚˋ ㄒㄩㄝˊ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Tairbeei Dihgwo Dahshyue Wade–Giles T'ai²-pei³ Ti⁴-kuo² Ta⁴-hsüeh² Tongyong Pinyin Táipěi Dìguó Dàsyué MPS2 Táipěi Dìguó Dàshiué Hakka Romanization Thòi-pet Ti-koet Thai-ho̍k Southern Min Hokkien POJ Tâi-pak Tè-kok Tāi-ha̍k Tâi-lô Tâi-pak Tè-kok Tāi-ha̍k
Alternative Japanese name
Kanji	台北帝国大学
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn Taihoku Teikoku Daigaku

National Taiwan University (NTU; Chinese: 國立臺灣大學; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Kok-li̍p Tâi-oân Tāi-ha̍k) is a national comprehensive public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. It has been regarded as the most prestigious university in Taiwan.

The university was founded in 1928 during Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imperial University 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.

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

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

NTU Central Administration Building

Imperial University

National Taiwan University has its origins as the Taihoku Imperial University (Japanese: 台北帝国大学, romanized: Taihoku Teikoku Daigaku; Chinese: 臺北帝國大學), 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 Taira Shidehara [ja]. 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).

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 five campuses are:

• Main Campus (113 hectares, located in Daan District, Taipei)
• Shuiyuan Campus (7.7 hectares, located in Zhongzheng District, Taipei)
• College of Medicine Campus (located in Zhongzheng District)
• Yunlin Campus (54 hectares, located in Yunlin County)
• Zhubei Campus (22 hectares, located in Hsinchu County)

Other university property

• Visiting professor residences (34 hectares, located on Yangmingshan, Taipei)
• University Farm (19.5 hectares, located in Xindian District, New Taipei City)
• Wenshan Botanical Garden (5 hectares, located in Shiding District, New Taipei City)
• Highland Experimental Farm (1,019 hectares, located in Nantou County)
• Experimental Forest Office (25.9 hectares, located in Nantou County)
• Experimental Forest (33,310 hectares, located in Nantou County)

Academics

The original building housing National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei

National Taiwan University Library

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. 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. 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.

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

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

University rankings

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, 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.

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.

Subject rankings

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

QS Subject Ranking 2023 Subject Global National Arts & Humanities  105  1 Linguistics  58  1 Art and Design  101–150  2 Classics and Ancient History  22  1 English Language and Literature  77  1 History  51–100  1 Modern Languages  53  1 Performing Arts  101–120  1 Philosophy  151–200  1 Engineering and Technology  76  1 Engineering – Chemical  82  2 Engineering – Civil and Structural  51–100  1 Computer Science and Information Systems  80  1 Engineering – Electrical and Electronic  64  1 Engineering – Mechanical  91  1 Life Sciences & Medicine  85  1 Agriculture and Forestry  88  1 Anatomy and Physiology  51–100  1 Biological Sciences  103  1 Medicine  68  1 Nursing  51–100  2–3 Pharmacy and Pharmacology  92  1 Psychology  101–150  1 Natural Sciences  81  1 Chemistry  77  1 Earth and Marine Sciences  51–100  1 Environmental Sciences  86  1 Geography  51–100  1 Geology  101–150  1 Geophysics  101–150  1 Materials Sciences  93  1 Mathematics  109  1 Physics and Astronomy  83  1 Social Sciences & Management  75  1 Accounting and Finance  71  1 Anthropology  51–100  1 Business and Management Studies  107  1 Communication and Media Studies  101–150  1 Economics and Econometrics  119  1 Education and Training  101–150  2–3 Law and Legal Studies  69  1 Library and Information Management  51–70  1 Politics  101–150  1–2 Social Policy and Administration  46  1 Sociology  55  1 Sports–Related Subjects  51–100  1–2 THE Subject Ranking 2023 Subject Global National Arts & humanities  176–200  1 Business & economics  84  1 Social sciences  176–200  1 Computer science  101–125  1 Engineering  98  1 Clinical & health  =75  1 Life sciences  176–200  1 Physical sciences  301–400  1 Psychology  151–175  1

ARWU Subject Ranking 2022 Subject Global National Natural Sciences Mathematics  401–500  4 Physics  151–200  1–2 Chemistry  151–200  1 Earth Sciences  151–200  1 Geography  201–300  1 Ecology  201–300  1 Oceanography  151–200  1–2 Atmospheric Science  201–300  1 Engineering Electrical & Electronic Engineering  201–300  1–2 Telecommunication Engineering  201–300  3 Instruments Science & Technology  101–150  1 Biomedical Engineering  76–100  1 Computer Science & Engineering  301–400  2–3 Civil Engineering  76–100  1 Chemical Engineering  101–150  1 Materials Science & Engineering  101–150  1–2 Nanoscience & Nanotechnology  76–100  1 Energy Science & Engineering  101–150  1 Environmental Science & Engineering  201–300  1 Water Resources  101–150  1 Food Science & Technology  201–300  2 Biotechnology  101–150  1 Transportation Science & Technology  101–150  1 Metallurgical Engineering  151–200  2 Life Sciences Biological Sciences  201–300  1 Human Biological Sciences  301–400  1 Agricultural Sciences  101–150  1 Veterinary Sciences  151–200  2–3 Medical Sciences Clinical Medicine  151–200  1 Public Health  101–150  1 Dentistry & Oral Sciences  76–100  1 Nursing  39  2 Medical Technology  201–300  1–3 Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences  101–150  1 Social Sciences Economics  301–400  1 Political Sciences  301–400  1 Education  401–500  9–11 Psychology  401–500  1 Business Administration  301–400  1 Management  201–300  1 Hospitality & Tourism Management  201–300  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

• Chen Wen-chang: 8 January 2023 – present
• Kuan Chung-ming: 8 January 2019 – 7 January 2023
• Tei-Wei Kuo [zh] (interim): October 2017 – January 2019
• Yang Pan-chyr [zh]: June 2013 – June 2017
• Lee Si-chen : August 2005 – June 2013
• Chen Wei-jao: 22 June 1993 – June 2005
• Kuo Kuang-hsiung [zh]: March 1993 – June 1993
• Sun Chen [zh]: August 1984 – February 1993
• Yu Chao-chung [zh]: August 1981 – July 1984
• Yen Cheng-hsing: June 1970 – July 1981
• Chien Szu-liang: January 1951 – May 1970
• Shen Kang-po [zh]: December 1950 – January 1951
• Fu Szu-nien: January 1949 – December 1950
• Chuang Chang-kung [zh]: June 1948 – December 1948
• Lu Chih-houng: August 1946 – May 1948
• Lo Tsung-lo: August 1945 – July 1946

Taihoku Imperial University

• Kazuo Ando (安藤一雄): March 1945 – August 1945
• Masatsugu Ando [ja]: April 1941 – March 1945
• Sadanori Mita [ja]: September 1937 – April 1941
• Taira Shidehara [ja]: March 1928 – September 1937

Alumni

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

In Spanish: Universidad de Taiwán para niños