NCKU? but why NCKU? NCKU rankings explored

This is a question I hear alot. It’s also usually followed by “Do you recommend NCKU?”. I get lots of emails and blog comments asking me about NCKU, universities in Taiwan, programs offered, rankings, and the Taiwanese education system. Though I don’t consider myself a big expert, I do have some experience with trying to learn as much as I can about how things work in Taiwan. To the question of whether I recommend coming to study in Taiwan and in what university or program I usually disappoint people by replying that I can’t recommend or not recommend, this is a very big decision that requires the person to do a lot of research prior to deciding this, probably more than I have. Today, I must say, there are a lot more resources available for the average prospect student than there were 2 years ago when I was first looking into things.

I will, however, try to help those who ask about NCKU. Impressions about the NCKU education system you can argue with, but there are a few sources out there regarding the academic standing of NCKU which might help those who care about such rankings get a more in-depth idea about how NCKU is perceived world-wide and research capabilities.

Following are NCKU’s rankings according to all the ranking systems I know of :

Jiao Tung rankings 2007

• 2-3 in Taiwan
• 43-64 in Asia.
• 305-402 in the world.

Times Higher Education rankings 2007

• 3rd in Taiwan.
• 336 in the world.

Webometrics rankings 2008

• 3 in Taiwan.
• 20 in Asia.
• 329 in the world.

Asiaweek 2000

• 2 in Taiwan.
• 16 in Asia.

Huazhong rankings 2003

• 2 in Taiwan.
• 12 in Asia.

Wuhan rankings 2007

• 2 in Taiwan.
• 295 in the world.

Mines Paris – Professional rankings 2007

• 3 in Taiwan.
• 212 in the world.

Rankings of scientific research papers 2007

• 2 in Taiwan.
• 45 in Asia.
• 360 in the world.

Thomson Reuters – Research papers rankings 2008

All fields

• 2 in Taiwan.
• 372 in the world.

Chemistry

• 3 in Taiwan.
• 269 in the world.

Engineering

• 2 in Taiwan.
• 52 in the world.

Materials science

• 3 in Taiwan.
• 53 in the world.

If you need information about other Taiwan universities – look’em up in the links. If you want me do another post about a different university, that could be quickly arranged – let me know.

Feel free to comment with further questions, comments and/or suggestions …