Introduction

The College of Science , established soon after the re-founding of Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu , Taiwan in 1956, is currently comprised of three departments: Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry, and two institutes: Statistics and Astronomy . The departments confer B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees; the Institutes confer M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. Almost every unit in the College has been ranked the best in the country by the latest surveys.

The College has not only been holding its lead in basic research in Taiwan , but also been gaining its international reputation. Many alumni have been very successful in the international academic communities, such as Y.T. Lee, the 1986 Nobel laureate in Chemistry and H.T. Kung, the Bill-Gates Chair Professor of Harvard University . The College has distinguished faculty. Many of them have been awarded for outstanding research by National Science Council (NSC) and Ministry of Education. In addition, the College has excellent library facilities and close link to the national research facilities and organizations, such as synchrotron light source, supercomputers, the science-based industrial park, and the Industrial Technology Research Institute. The National Center of Theoretical Sciences and the Physics Research Promotion Center of the National Science Council are also on campus.

The College of Science provides balanced educational programs and aims at preparing students with solid backgrounds and skills for advanced studies and future career. All the departments provide programs for training talented high school students and reeducating high school teachers. The International Graduate School program on “Chemical Biology and Structural Biophysics” and “Molecular Dynamics and Spectroscopy” is co-sponsored by the College in collaboration with Academia Sinica to recruit outstanding international students.

The College, based on its strong areas, will focus its research on number theory, geometry & topology, analysis, differential equations and scientific computations in the Mathematics Department; on industrial statistics, financial statistics, and bio-statistics in the Institute of Statistics; on condense matter theory and experiment, particle/field theory, nuclear physics, applied physics (plasma), atomic, molecular and optical physics, nano-technology and opto-electronics in the Physics Department; on organic, physical, analytic, and materials chemistry, chemical biology and molecular science in the Chemistry Department; on solar physics, high-energy astrophysics, star formation, black hole and solar-terrestrial physics in the Institute of Astronomy. Interdisciplinary research is also emphasized, especially for nano-, photonic, and bio-sciences and technologies.