The Taiwan Advanced Academy of Sciences, aimed at basic-science talent, is being built jointly by National Taiwan University, National Tsing Hua University, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University and National Cheng Kung University. With its admissions pushed back a year, NTU will launch first next year through its own campus bachelor's track.
According to a United Daily News report on the 25th, the Ministry of Education is setting up the Academy and an experimental high school, Taiwan Experimental High School, to support President Lai Ching-te's goal of producing at least three more Nobel laureates within 30 years. The Academy is envisioned as a joint admissions program run by four national universities.
광고 문의 · 300×250Admissions would cover five basic sciences, namely mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and earth science, with each applicant choosing one. Under the reported plan, the first stage is a written science exam and the second includes document review, practical work and interviews.
Schedule Slips by a Year
The ministry had planned to announce the program at the end of this year, open admissions early next year and welcome the first students in September 2027. United Daily News reports that, because preparations were not ready, the first intake is now expected to slide to the 2028 academic year.
In follow-up coverage the paper says the four universities repeatedly asked to slow down, saying the new admissions method and curriculum must first be explained to parents and the details fully settled; the ministry agreed. Sources worried that, if a rushed launch ran into trouble, the ministry would still bear the blame.
One member of the review panel said the high school proposal arrived in early July and the first review meeting was held about ten days later, a pace that surprised the panel. The reviewer said both projects face time pressure and are being built as they run, leaving parents and students with considerable uncertainty and risk. The paper summed this up with a phrase meaning fixing the road while walking it.
NTU and NYCU Move Ahead
Next year NTU will use its existing campus bachelor's system to run a science-focused advanced training program for gifted math and science students inside the university. Only current students may apply, with registration opening next spring. Reports say 15 to 20 students will be admitted a year; graduation requires 128 credits and at least 26 weeks, about half a year, of overseas research. Screening criteria are due in April, applications in June alongside double-major applications, and interviews will be conducted by Academia Sinica academicians. NTU will fund it entirely itself.
NTU Dean of Academic Affairs Wang Hung-jen explained that the school chose this route because the experimental high school's first graduates need time to emerge, and said the key is matching students with leading researchers. NYCU Academic Affairs Dean Chen Yung-sheng said his university will run physics, chemistry, mathematics and biology through its existing College of Science bachelor's track, accepting only new high school graduates, with a tentative quota of about 15. Final quotas and a consensus plan among the four universities have not been made public.
