The list of faculty members who were excellent in research for the 2008 academic year is out! According to the statistics by the Office of Research and Development, 87 professors obtained research grants exceeding NT$1 million annually or with accumulated NT$2.5 million in the last 5 years. In this category, there were 9 more professors than those of the previous year. 14 surpassed the mark of NT5 million, and it is a new record for the last ten years. The Dean of the College of Engineering Gwo-hsing Yu obtained NT$42.9 million which is the highest in the last 10 years. In this case, he has been the TKU champion for 9 consecutive years.
On the awarding list, 14 professors including Gwo-hsing Yu from the Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering won over NT5 million for their research grants; 7 including English Professor Mei-Hwa Sung obtained more than NT$3 million and less than 5 million; 53 including Transportation Management Professor Sheng-hsiung Chang got more than NT$1 million and less than 3 million. 13 including Electrical Engineering Professor Chien-ching Chiu received NT$2.5 million in the last 5 years. All these professors will be honored with the Award of Tamkang Light on January 28, 2010. (The detailed list will be published on the Website of The Tamkang Times).
According to the statistics, the number of professors winning over NT$5 million for research grants had been steadily increasing since 1999, from 2 in 1999 to 14 in 2008. Out of the 14, the College of Engineering had 12. Except the College of Engineering, the College of Science had more professors winning research grants than others. The Colleges of Science, Management, Liberal Arts and Foreign Languages and Literatures all had more professors winning than they had had for the previous year.
The departments that made better progress in winning research grants than the previous year included Information and Library Science, Mass Communication, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Mechanical and Electro-Mechanical Engineering, Chemical and Materials Engineering, Computer Science and Information Engineering, Information Management, Transportation Management, Public Administration, Management Sciences and Decision Making, English, French, and the Graduate Institute of Curriculum and Instruction, etc. The Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering Chair, Chin-hwa Kuo said that professors made good use of available resources from both the academic and enterprise sectors and accorded with various subsidies by TKU, so with their good relationships with both the industrial and academic sectors, they succeeded in promoting cooperation with them. Chin-hwa Kuo himself also won over NT$5 million for his research grants, but he modestly said that all his research proposals were carried out with the help of many others. He hoped to make better progress in research in the future.
The Dean of Research and Development Shung-wen Kang expressed that it was more difficult for the Colleges of Liberal Arts, Foreign Languages and Literatures, and Management to obtain research grants than the Colleges of Science and Engineering; therefore, their performances should be especially affirmed. He analyzed that the NSC emphasized on the academic qualities of research proposals, so professors’ published academic articles could affect obtaining grants. General research cases depended on the long-time relationship between the industrial and academic sectors and the professors who could provide market-oriented proposals and who could manage things effectively in the long run. He has also reminded faculty members that the deadline for applying for NSC research grants is the end of the year, hoping every professor will apply for them and make good use of the university resources. “I hope that all teachers can progress diligently in research and make better achievements,” said he. ( ~Dean X. Wang )
