International Higher Education Scholarship Programs--
Programs on Tropical Agriculture
Department of Tropical Agriculture and International Cooperation
NationalPingtungUniversity of Science and Technology
Introduction of University
NationalPingtungUniversity of Science and Technology (NPUST) was founded in 1924 under the name of "Kaohsiung State Pingtung Extension School of Agriculture." Subsequently in 1928, this school was expanded and renamed as "KaohsiungStatePingtungAgriculturalSchool". After Taiwan was liberated from Japanese colonial rule in August 1945, this school again changed her name to "Taiwan Provincial Pingtung Agricultural Vocational School of Agriculture" in November of that year. This school was then upgraded to "Taiwan Provincial Institute of Agriculture" in 1954, enabling a subsequent integration of this Institute with the PingtungAgriculturalVocationalHigh school in 1963. After this integration, the Institute went through a series of upgrades and name changes, including "Taiwan Provincial Pingtung Institute of Agriculture" in 1964, "National Pingtung Institute of Agriculture" in July 1981, "National Pingtung Polytechnic Institute" in July 1991, and then the "National Pingtung University of Science and Technology" in August 1997. Currently NPUST has a total of 27 departments and 10 graduate institutes offering 28 Master's degrees and 7 Doctoral programs. These departments and graduate institutes are distributed among four colleges: agriculture, engineering, management, and humanities and social sciences.
NPUST's undergraduate school currently offers baccalaureate degrees to graduates of a four-year program and a two-year program. The four-year program admits students graduating from vocational high schools or their equivalents, while the two-year program admits students graduating from vocational institutes and their equivalents. NPUST has also established a night school to admit students with at least one year's work experience.
NPUST's graduate school offers master and doctoral degrees in more than thirty disciplines that cover the Colleges of Agriculture, Engineering, Management, as well as Humanities and Social Science. A candidate to a master's degree requires a bachelor's degree in a related field; whereas, the doctoral degree is offered to researchers and professionals with a master's degree from any university. Graduate programs at NPUST also provide opportunity of part-time study during weekends for those with at least one-year work experience while holding current job active.
Moving towards specialized research university, NPUST actively pursues her academic excellence to become one of the key academic bastions in the Asia-Pacific Region. In addition to offering lectures in Chinese, NPUST also offers 106 credit hours of courses in English. In positioning herself to become one of the world's leading academic institutions, NPUST established linkage with more than 30 world renowned universities through various academic exchanges, distance education, exchanges of faculty and students, sharing of resources, and jointly conducting research.
The three main educational goals of NPUST are elaborated as follows:
Spiritualization – Through education, nurturing and warm caring, NPUST's students are positively influenced to develop a healthy and complete personality. NPUST's students are educated to become not only a competent professional but also a worthy member of the society with strong social responsibilities and a civilized person with fine intellectual and aesthetic tastes.
Professionalization – Constantly aware of the needs of labor markets, NPUST trains students to possess solid abilities to work, to learn and to create or invent to meet the demands of labor markets. Students are encouraged to pursue careers in scientific or technological research and development or in business management so as to enhance the promotion of industries in the nation.
Internationalization – In keeping with the trend of internationalization, NPUST's students are cultivated to acquire intellectual and aesthetic qualities enabling them to establish a strong foothold in the global community. The quality to be acquired includes improving international language ability, enhancing knowledge of international society, and understanding the development of international politics and economics. The final goal is to enable students to become more competitive internationally.
Introduction of Program
Undergraduate Program in Tropical Agriculture for Central Americans
1.Qualification
Central American applicants with a senior high school or vocational high school education, or the equivalent, from institutions approved by the Ministry of Education,ROC (Taiwan), can apply for this undergraduate program.
Applicants from countries where English is not the native language are required to take the TOEFL or equivalent English-proficiency verifications.
2.Admission
Source of Funding for the Scholarship Program
The scholarship program designed for the undergraduate students isfor the period from September 2009 through July 2013,funded by the International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF).
Scope of Curriculum
There will be two main areas of focus: plant and animal production. In plant production, the courses include but are not limited to: agronomic and horticultural crop production; plant protection; and agri-business management. In animal production, the courses include but are not limited to: anatomy and physiology of animals; utilization of animal products; fish breeding and propagation; and pond management.
A total of 130 credits must be completed: 36 credits required by the University, 38 credits required for specialty, 32 & 36 credits required for groups specializing in plant production & animal production, and 24 & 20 elective courses credits required for groups specializing in plant production & animal production, respectively.
Program Duration
It is a policy of the scholarship program that the duration for the undergraduate programs is from September 2009 to July 2013. Students shall complete and successfully pass at least 130 credits within the stipulated time period, and receive the “Baccalaureate of Science” degree from the Department of Tropical Agriculture and International Cooperation, College of Agriculture. If a student fails to finish the requirements for the baccalaureate degree within the stipulated time period, said student shall be disqualified from receiving any additional financial assistance offered under the programs.
Application Procedures
The following items must be submitted with the application when applying to the NPUST:
- Application form (see Attachment 1).
- One photocopy of diploma with verification by the ROC(Taiwan) Embassy in the country of the issuing high school (English or Chinese verified copy is also necessary if the original diploma is not in either language).
- One official transcript with verification by the ROC(Taiwan) Embassy in the country of the issuing high school (English or Chinese verified copy is also necessary if the original diploma is not in either language).
- Medical report within 3 months, which must include test for HIV as required by the Department of Health.
- Three recommendation letters. Please indicate the affiliations of those who make the recommendations.
- One autobiography.
- One study plan which includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Title -- Delineating the research area to be conducted.
Introduction -- Stating the results of literature reviews as well as stating student's background, personal interest, strengths and weaknesses, if any
Objective -- Stating specifically the purpose of this research.
Action plans -- Specifying the supportive research activities to be carried out to accomplish the objective as specified above
Anticipated results -- Stating the results that can be anticipated in conducting the action plans listed above
- Evidence of English proficiency -- if applicants are from countries where English is not the native language.
Notification of Admission and Registration
(1)After being reviewed and selected by the Foreign Student Application Evaluation Committee, names of the candidates will be recommended to the President of NPUST for final approval.
(2)After being notified of admission, students must complete registration procedures within the specified time. Late registration will not be accepted.
(3)If information found to be untrue or falsified, said student shall be denied of admission.
(4)After registration, students must provide an original diploma. English translation must accompany the original diploma, should it not be written in English.
Scope of Scholarship
Entitlements: The total scholarship, including airfare (a one-way ticket each for the 1st year before the registration and the 4th year after the completion of the baccalaureate programs), housing, tuition, insurance, book costs and a monthly allowance will be provided to each student. The scholarship is itemized as follows:
(1)Airfare -- TaiwanICDF shall provide economy class tickets on the most direct flights to Taiwan(before the registration for the first semester) and leaveTaiwan (after the completion of the baccalaureate degree).
(2)Housing -- All students must reside in the student dormitory provided by the NPUST. Fourundergraduate students of the same sex will be assigned to live in the same room. Observation of dormitory rules is a must.
(3)Tuition fee -- Tuition fee will be paidfor by the scholarship as required by the NPUST.
(4)Insurance -- While in Taiwan, in addition to the mandatory student safety insurance as set by the Ministry of Education, each student must be insured for accidental and medical coverage.(Chronic illness is not included). The insurance fees will be covered by the scholarship.
(5)Book costs -- Purchasing textbooks as required by instructors shall be subject to the approval of the Director of the TAIC.
(6)Allowance --Each student shall receive NT$12,000 permonth (or NT$144,000 per annum) as allowance for food and miscellaneous living expenses. The sum will be deposited monthly into the student’s local bank account.
(7)Merit award for excellent academic performance -- Using semester as a unit, the students with an average grade better than 80 will be considered as candidates for the excellent academic performance award. The awards include NT$10,000 for the student with the best grade; NT$7,000 for the student with the second best grade if there are more than 3 students in the class; and NT$5,000 for the student with the third best grade if there are more than 5 students in the class.
Notices
(1)Undergraduate students must complete a minimum of 130 credits in the course of study for plant production and animal production. These credits include those designated as required and optional credits.
(2)Undergraduate students program is graded on a scale of 100 being the highest and 60 being the passing grade. Required courses, if failed, must be repeated. A student, who fails two third of the accumulation subject credits in one semester despite for any 2 semester academically, shall be dismissed.
(3)Student’s ethic is graded on a scale of 100 being the highest and 60 being the passing grade.
(4)Students who are under the scholarship program requestinga temporary leave of absence from the university on a personal basisshall be terminated their rights to the scholarship.
(5)For any reason anundergraduate student cannot attend classes or participate in other required activities, authorized leave of absence must be requested according to the university’s regulations.
(6)Students are required to work as student helps at the office of TAIC. The nature and the number of hours of the work shall be determined by the Director of TAIC.
Others
In the event of the issues or matters not mentioned in the preceding articles, relevant rules and regulations of the present program as well as those of the Ministry of Education, Taiwan and the NPUST shall apply.
3.Application Form
See Attachment 1.
4.Medical Report
Link to Form
5.Contact Information
Application forms and relevant materials must be forwarded by the ROC (Taiwan)Embassy to the following address:
NationalPingtungUniversity of Science and Technology
Department of Tropical Agriculture and International Cooperation
No. 1, Shuehfu Rd., Neipu, Pingtung 912, Taiwan
TEL：886-8-7740254; FAX：886-8-7740446; E-Mail：