Rules & Regulations
Institute of International Business
Rules & Regulations for PhD
From May 22th, 2024
From June 19th, 2025
1. To clarify and standardize the regulations and requirements for PhD students of the Institute of International Business, based on National Cheng Kung University’s postgraduate regulation and doctoral candidate qualification examinations, we hereby announce the “Institute of International Business Rules and Regulations for PhD students“.
2. Regulations for Courses
1) PhD students are required to complete a minimum of 27 credits for graduation including:
A. 27 credits for course works, including 3 credits for required core courses “International Business Theories”.
B. 12 credits for the dissertation.
2) PhD students who haven’t taken “Economics”, “Accounting”, “Statistics” and “International Business Management” courses in their graduate or undergraduate must take these as Prerequisite Courses.
3) The Prerequisite Courses are not counted as part of the required 27 credits necessary to graduate.
4) PhD students are required to take at least 12 credits in the Institute of International Business in total. A maximum of 15 credits can be taken in each semester. The application for taking courses in other institutes must be submitted to the office in the second stage of the course selection to be accredited as credits for graduation.
3. Regulations for choosing Advisor
1) PhD students are required to choose the advisor who is a full-time faculty in the Institute of International Business.
2) We encourage students to confirm the advisor after enrolling. The director of International Business will be the temporary advisor if the PhD students haven’t decided the advisor.
3) The changing of the advisor shall be subject to the following provisions:
A. The changing of the advisor must be accepted by both current and new professors. If the advisor cannot continue to guide, the student needs to submit the “Advisor Changing Application Form” and “Affidavit of advisor changing”.
B. All documents (including courses and qualifications) signed by the previous advisor must be signed and approved again by the new advisor.
4. The Qualification Examination
1) PhD students are required to pass the qualification examination before attending the dissertation proposal.
2) Qualifications for taking the thesis proposal (At least one of the following requirements must be met):
A. The PhD committee will organize 2-4 teachers to prepare questions for the written test. The PhD student will get the approval of qualification after passing the written test. The Qualification Examination will be held at the end of the first semester each year. Exam time is from 9 AM to 6 PM.
B. PhD student has 1 paper published in SSCI journals or 2 papers in SCI journals. The student’s IB advisor must be in the author list.
C. PhD student has papers published in 2 different conferences and the advisor must be in the author list. The conference needs to be enlisted in IB regulation of coverage of conferences.
D. For conferences not enlisted in the Institute of International Business’ regulations, students need to get approval from the advisor and apply for enlisting before attending.
3) If there is only one student in the authors' list, he or she will receive 1 point per paper. If two students, each receives 1/2 point, etc.
4) If the conference/journal paper is rewritten from the student’s master thesis, then the student can only get half of the points.
5) The qualification test will be subject to approval by the PhD Committee. Students must submit applications within the stipulated time.
6) The papers applied for qualification cannot be used as the dissertation or graduation-required papers.
7) PhD students should take the Qualification Examination before the 5th year of the PhD degree. Those who fail will be dismissed.
5. Paper Publication
1) Requirements for Graduation Dissertation
A. 1 paper in SSCI or 2 in SCI. Advisor must be in the author list.
B. Student or instructor shall be listed as the first author.
C. Service institute can be listed but school name must come first.
D. Point distribution per author follows the 1/n rule.
E. Acceptance letter required for accepted but unpublished papers.
2) Disputed cases will be reviewed by the PhD Committee.
6. Dissertation Proposal
The dissertation proposal application can be submitted after completing all courses and passing the qualification test. Students must submit the “Dissertation Proposal Application Form” one week before proposal.
7. PhD Degree Final Defense
The final defense application can be submitted after completing journal publication and English proficiency requirement. Final defense must be at least 3 months after the proposal.
8. Study Termination
According to “The Regulation of Graduate Students of Cheng Kung University” Chapter V, Article 13.
9. English Proficiency requirement for Graduation
1) English tests taken within 5 years before enrollment up to final defense may be accepted.
2) Students need to achieve at least one of the following:
A. TOEIC 785 or above
B. Pass GEPT high-intermediate second round
C. IELTS 5.5 or above
D. TOEFL iBT 72 or above
E. Take “Online English for Graduate Students” and score 70+
3) Students from English-speaking countries do not need to provide certificates.
10. The Institute will establish a PhD Class Committee for handling PhD students’ related affairs.
11. Matters not regulated in these Regulations shall follow NCKU Academic Regulations.
