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Regulations

Regulations on Academic Studies for Doctoral Students of the 
Department of Statistics, National Chengchi University



I.   General Rules
1.    The regulations are established to administer course requirements, Ph.D. candidate qualifying examinations and graduation requirements for doctoral students of the Department of Statistics of National Chengchi University.

II.  Period of Study and Credit Requirements
2.    The period of study for doctoral students is a minimum of 2 years and a maximum of 7 years.
3.    Doctoral students should take at least 40 credits in addition to completing their dissertation before graduation.
4.    Course requirements before graduation are as follows:
(1) Required courses: Topics in Mathematical Statistics, Topics in Linear Models, Probability, Large Sample Theory, Academic Ethics.
(2) Required elective courses: Statistical Consulting, Reading and Research. Reading and Research course is a required elective for each semester until each student passes his/her qualifying examination. A maximum of only four Reading and Research credits can be counted for graduation requirement.
(3) Doctoral students who pass their qualifying examination are required to give a 30-minute talk in the Reading and Research class each academic year until their graduation. 
5.    Students who have taken Topics in Mathematical Statistics, Topics in Linear Models, and Statistical Consulting offered by the Doctoral Program of the Department during the Master’s Program are eligible to waive their credits for the same courses. 
6.    Doctoral students of the Department are allowed to take courses from our Master’s Program. A maximum of two courses may be taken and can be counted as valid credits for graduate requirements.
7.    Doctoral students of the Department who have not taken specific core courses such as Experimental Design, Applied Regression Analysis, Sampling Methods and Multivariate Analysis during the Master’s Program are required to complete those courses before graduation. Credit validation should follow the stipulations in Article 6.

III.  Ph.D. Qualifying Examinations
8.    Doctoral students of the Department are required to pass the qualifying examination no later than the end of their seventh semester (voluntary suspensions are not included). 
9.    Subjects of the exams are Topics in Mathematical Statistics (including Probability) and Topics in Linear Models (including Regression). 
10.    Exams are held every February and September. Exam time for each subject is 5 hours in principle. Students who plan to take the exam are required to obtain an exam application form at the Departmental Office at least one month prior to the end of the semester, filling in and submitting the form to the office before the deadline. Applicants are also required to sign a declaration that an application submitted is equivalent to an exam taken.
11.    Students may take exams for each subject no more than two times. A student who submits an application but fails to take the exam will be regarded as one record of failure for the exam.
12.    Students who fail the qualifying exams for the second time are required to apply for an oral examination during the two weeks after the exam results have been announced. Students who fail the oral examination will be compelled to drop out of the program.
13.    Doctoral students who pass the qualifying exams are required to work at the Statistical Consulting Center. In principle, no more than two doctoral students should be working at the Statistical Consulting Center in a given year. 

IV.  Dissertation Proposals and Dissertation Advisors 
14.    Doctoral students are permitted to propose the topic of their dissertation after passing their qualifying exams.
15.    Doctoral students are required to have a dissertation advisor selected. A full-time faculty of the Department is required to serve as an advisor for a doctoral dissertation.

V.   Display of Research Achievements
16.    Doctoral students of the Department are required to meet the following two conditions before applying to take a degree exam:
(1) Participation in an international conference in a statistics-related area and the publication of a paper.
(2) The paper must be published in one of the following journals:
     1. An SCI (including SCI expanded) or SSCI journal (at least one paper published or accepted), or
     2. A TSSCI journal or the Journal of the Chinese Statistical Association (at least two papers published or accepted).
17.    In the case of a co-authored paper, the co-authors of said published paper are limited to the doctoral student’s advisor or advisor and co-advisors. The first named author or corresponding author must be the doctoral student or his/her advisor. The paper cannot be the individual’s master’s thesis nor a paper published before his/her admission to the Doctoral Program. 

VI.   Dissertation Proposal Defense
18.    Doctoral students of the Department are required to apply for a dissertation proposal defense before submitting their application for a degree exam. The defense is oral and the procedure should be as follows:
(1) Approval of a dissertation proposal resides with the student’s dissertation studies committee which consist of 4 or 5 qualified intramural and extramural members (including the student’s dissertation advisor). At least two extramural committee members are required.
(2) The dissertation proposal must be approved by the advisor before the submission of an application. The applicant should acquire the application form two weeks prior to the defense and deliver his/her proposal to each committee member one week prior to the day of the proposal defense. The dissertation proposal should include initial research results and complete references.
(3) A two-third approval among the committee members is required to make a final decision on a candidate.  Students who fail the defense should apply for another dissertation proposal defense.
(4) An application for the degree exam may be submitted no earlier than six months after passing the dissertation proposal defense.

VII.  Ph.D. Degree Exam
19.    Doctoral students of the Department are required to meet the English Proficiency requirement set up by the College of Commerce prior to taking the degree exam. 
20.    The Ph.D. Degree Exam will take form of an oral defense. The procedure is as follows:
(1)The dissertation oral defense should be implemented by a dissertation oral defense committee, which consists of 5 to 9 qualified intramural and extramural members (including the student’s dissertation advisor). At least one-third of the committee must be extramural members. 
(2) A two-third approval among the committee members and an average score of 70 or above is required to earn the Ph.D. degree. Students who fail the defense are permitted to undergo reexamination one additional time and those who fail the reexamination will be dismissed from the program.
21.    The doctoral dissertation should be written in traditional Chinese or in English. The title and the abstract should be written in traditional Chinese.
22.    Any omission in the regulations should abide by the Guidelines for Graduate Degree Examinations of National Chengchi University.

VIII.  Appendix
23.    Any issues not stated with these regulations are to be solved by the relevant regulations of National Chengchi University.
24.    The regulations are adopted and implemented by the Department Faculty and referenced at the University Council Meeting, as shall amendments when they are made.