Make Sure You're at the Right Place

This section and its subordinate pages are for evening MA (EMA) program students who are writing about topics related to cultural studies and/or literature.

EMA program students who are writing about topics on linguistics in general, translation studies, and language teaching should follow the procedures specific to linguistics topics. MA students should follow the procedures specific to the MA program.

Things to Know Before You Start

The Key Resources page lists the five key EMA program resources that you should be familiar with during your MA student career. Much of what is written in this policy and procedures section is based on and has direct connection with these five resources.

You should follow the thesis format designed by the university (look for "論文撰寫規範書" (item J1) on Office of Academic Affairs forms website) for both of your thesis proposal and the final thesis. Make sure you read through the format before you start. There are finished theses of graduated students in the library for your reference if you are not sure about certain things in the format.

Also keep in mind that it is your responsibility to make sure you know the deadlines for proposal and thesis submission, and, given the complexities of writing a thesis and responding to feedback from your adviser and committee, you should make sure to allow yourself extra time.

The minimum length of an MA thesis (excluding Works Cited page) is fifty pages. Most theses exceed sixty pages in length.

Potential Tripping Points

This EMA procedures section and its subordinate pages provide a comprehensive guide of the EMA procedures. It is therefore inevitable that some of the deadlines and conditions that can cause irreversible results are not necessarily easy to find. Listed here are some of this kind of deadlines and conditions.

Failing Thesis Defense

If your thesis is rejected, according to the Taipei Tech Master's Degree Thesis Defense Policy, the earliest you can apply to defend your thesis again is the next semester. In addition, if the thesis is rejected in the second thesis defense, you will face expulsion.

Unable to Attend Defense

If you have applied to defend your thesis and find yourself unable to attend the defense, you need to apply to cancel the defense one week before the scheduled defense day. Otherwise, you will automatically fail your thesis defense once. And failing thesis defense twice means expulsion from the program.

Maximum Years of Study

According to the Taipei Tech Master's Degree Thesis Defense Policy, an EMA student's maximum years of study is four years. This means you may only register as a student for four years (eight semesters), and you need to be registered in order to make a thesis proposal and defend your thesis. If you are not able to fulfill the graduation requirements and apply for graduation by the last semester of your study, you'll be automatically expelled from the program. It is possible to take two years off in between the four years according to the Taipei Tech General Academic Policy (Chinese, English) and give yourself more time to work on your thesis.

It is therefore not recommended to schedule your one and only thesis defense close to the end of the last semester of study. If your thesis is rejected in that thesis defense, you may not have time to do another thesis defense and will face expulsion.

Plagiarism Report (and the Review of)

In addition to a plagiarism report on your thesis, you also need to obtain a review of that plagiarism report, issued by Taipei Tech Library, before your defense. Obtaining this review takes at least two weeks, and the library does not take any expedited case.

Last Day of Thesis Defense Application

According to the Taipei Tech Master's Degree Thesis Defense Policy, the last day to apply to defend your thesis in the semester is November 30 for a first semester and May 31 for a second semester. Since you need to be registered for the semester (i.e. pay tuition) in order to defend your thesis, failing to apply on time will result in your needing to register for another semester.

You should also know that thesis defense application involves three parties—you, the department office, and the Office of Continuing Education—it is therefore recommended to apply as early as possible.

Last Day of Thesis Defense & Final Thesis Submission

According to the Taipei Tech Master's Degree Thesis Defense Policy, January 31 in a first semester and July 31 in a second semester are the last days for both thesis defense and final thesis submission. Failing to complete either of these will result in failing your thesis administratively even if your thesis defense committee has passed you. This, in terms, means you either need to register for another semester or will be expelled if you have reached your maximum years of study.

Normally, you will still need revise your thesis after passing the thesis defense and send copies of your thesis for binding before you can submit your thesis to the school for graduation procedures. So, do not foolishly wait until the last day to do everything even though administratively you may do so.