National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU; Chinese: 國立中山大學; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Kok-li̍p-tiong-san-tāi-ha̍k) is a public research university located in Sizihwan, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Recognized as one of six Designated National Research Universities, NSYSU is also the only university in Taiwan to host National Key Institutions in both semiconductor technology and international finance. It is a core member of the TCUS, a research alliance partnered with Germany’s TU9. The university holds AACSB and CFA Institute accreditation for business and finance. NSYSU maintains a particularly close academic relationship with the University of California, San Diego, the University of Osaka, and Ghent University, as part of a network of four research-intensive universities in major port cities.
History
Founding
In 1923, two years before his death, the Founding Father of the Republic of China (ROC), Dr. Sun Yat-sen, established two universities, one civil and one military. The civil university was National Kwangtung University (國立廣東大學, renamed National Sun Yat-sen University in 1926), and the military university was Whampoa Military Academy. Both universities generated remarkable contributions and played an important education role in modern Chinese history. After National Sun Yat-sen University was established in Canton, it was forced south due to the Sino-Japanese War. The university moved first to Yunnan, and later to North Guangdong. Finally, in 1945, the university resumed operations at its original campus in Canton. In 1949, the government of the Republic of China moved to Taiwan; its alumni relocated accordingly.
Reestablishment
In the 1970s, as Taiwan's overall economic development took off, a phenomenon referred to as the Taiwan Miracle, the community's concern and attention to higher education grew. To balance the development of education in the north and south, the Taiwanese government decided to build a comprehensive university in the south. In 1980, after Chiang Ching-kuo, the president of Taiwan and an alumnus of Moscow Sun Yat-sen University in USSR, personally approved the campus design under the leadership of Dr. Lee Huan (who later served as the Premier and Minister of Education), the university was established in Sizihwan, Kaohsiung City, the second largest metropolitan area in Taiwan. Prior to establishing the new university, government officials visited the United States and Japan and strategically decided that NSYSU would focus on graduate schools, modeling it after the advanced technology of California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the building construction methods of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), which was designed to resist sea wind erosion. The system of the University of Tsukuba was introduced for the management of university library. In its first two decades, NSYSU, similar to the other Sun Yat-sen universities, maintained a nationalist style and mission (中山大學模式) based-on Dr. Sun Yat-sen's philosophy.
Development When NSYSU was re-established, the university had four departments, two graduate institutes, and 189 students. In 2002, NSYSU was named by the Ministry of Education as one of the country's seven major research-intensive universities. Two years later, the College of Management became the nation's first Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accredited public university. In addition, NSYSU received a first/second stage grant from the "Aim for the Top University Plan" from the Ministry of Education in 2011 and 2016. Since 2012, NSYSU has held the "NSYSU & UCSD Joint Symposium" on international academic cooperation. In the final two months of 2014, Nobel laureates Akira Suzuki and Hiroshi Amano visited the university. In 2024, NSYSU has been chosen by the Ministry of Education as one of Taiwan's four landmark bilingual universities. At present, NSYSU has 10 colleges, namely Liberal Arts, Sciences, Engineering, Management, Marine Sciences, Social Sciences, Si-Wan, Medicine, Semiconductor and Advanced Technology Research, and International Finance. These colleges have more than 10,000 students.
Campus culture
National Sun Yat-sen University is located in Kaohsiung City, the largest port city of Taiwan. Based on an academic style that emphasizes ocean and commerce, it not only is the birthplace of Taiwan's first college of maritime sciences but also is unique in hosting water sports activities directly on campus. Uniquely, NSYSU's graduation requirements for its students include demonstration of swimming ability. NSYSU also has a regular windsurfing competition relationship with the prestigious Osaka University in Japan. Furthermore, NSYSU has a special sister school relationship with the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in the United States, a research university with a similar academic style, and which similarly is located near a coast. The NSYSU & UCSD Joint Symposium has been held in Kaohsiung and La Jolla alternately every year since 2015. The university is the birthplace of the first Sinophone bulletin board system (中山大學美麗之島) and popular Asian cultural terms "ACG". In addition, NSYSU will be transformed into an English-taught university by 2030.
Campus and facilities
Campus
Sizihwan Campus
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
