International Master‵s Program in Asia-Pacific Studies

The writing of your thesis represents the capstone of your graduate studies. The process of writing a thesis may seem difficult at first, but if you follow this step-by-step guide you will find it is nothing to worry about. In order to graduate, you must write and successfully defend a thesis in four stages: Find a supervisor and set up a review committee. Pass a research ethics examination Pass a research proposal defense. Pass a thesis oral defense. Please read this guide carefully. You can refer the necessary documents at our downloads page. Or email the IMAS office, if you have any questions. We wish you great success in your dissertation writing journey!  

Step by Step Step 1 - Research Ethics Course As a student of IMAS you will be held to research ethics standards when writing your thesis and when conducting other research. You must complete the research ethics coursework before the end of the first school year. Each student is required to pass the research ethics course, or receive explicit authorization for an exemption from the research ethics course before their application for graduation.  To comply with the Research Ethics Course requirement, please follow the following guide: Research Ethics Course Brochure

Step 2 - Thesis Proposal First of all, students must find a Thesis Supervisor and confirm their commitment in writing. Once the student has finished the draft proposal, they should apply for the Thesis Proposal Defense at the IMAS office. Please collect the proposal defense application forms in our downloads page and submit these documents below: IMAS Advisor and Title Confirmation Form IMAS Proposal Defense Application Form IMAS Proposal Defense Checklist Transcript Final Proposal It may need at least 14 work days to process the application. All documents need to be signed before the proposal defense takes place.  While waiting for all files to be signed and collected by the IMAS office, please ensure that you contact and confirm with all three professors (Examination members) the date and time of your proposal defense. Kindly notify the IMAS office to send invitations to the professors regarding your Proposal Defense, with all emails copying the applicant as well. Once settled, the office will reserve a classroom for the proposal examination.  Students must complete the proposal defense four months before the final thesis defense. (Since the academic year 2023) For the thesis proposal defense, the student should find at least 3 committee members (including your supervisor). One of these members must be a full-time faculty in the College of Social Sciences. At least one-third of the committee must be from a university or institute other than NCCU. After the defense, please collect all the signed forms and submit them to the office. For more information, please check the regulations of IMAS.

Step-3 Graduate Student Degree Thesis Title Declaration (Please declare your title before applying for the thesis defense.)   Steps:   Please Login into the INCCU System, select the NCCU Information System (Students) panel, and then select the “Graduation Student Degree Thesis Title Declaration” tab.       Please first check whether your contact phone number (聯絡電話) and email account (電子郵件帳號) are correct. If any modifications are needed, click on "If modification is needed, please click here (若需修改，請按此)" to access the student basic information section for updates.   Once you have confirmed that your basic information is correct, you can enter both the Chinese and English titles of your thesis (論文中文名稱/論文英文名稱). Then, select your advisor (指導教授). Advisors are categorized into internal (校內指導教授) and external (校外指導教授) types. Choose one and enter the required information.   You could click "Save Temporarily (暫時存檔)" to save the data on the system without submitting it. After clicking "Confirm and Save (確認存檔)," the system will ask for your confirmation once again. If you confirm, your application will be finalized and submitted, and a print preview of the thesis title declaration form will appear. If you select "Cancel," the system will remain on the current page. Please note that once you confirmed, modifications will no longer be possible.   Please notify the office via email to review your thesis title declaration.

Step 4 - Thesis Writing Write the thesis in accordance with the approved thesis proposal. Once the thesis is complete, students can apply for the Thesis Defense. The finalized thesis must be submitted at least one month before the final defense.

Step 5 - Thesis Defense Application Proposal defense and Thesis Oral Defense have to be held four months apart. Students must apply for the thesis defense before the prescribed time stated on the University Calendar. Please collect the Thesis Oral defense application forms from our downloads page.  Please make sure you have followed the Guidelines IMAS Thesis Layout and checked the list below: 1. Apply for the thesis defense online, download the form, and fill it out with your advisor’s and committee members’ information. Instructions for Degree Examination Application System (IMAS does not permit students to manually fill in the degree examination committee. The system will skip step #4 and will automatically proceed to print the form.) 2. Please print and fill out this checklist as well. IMAS Thesis Defense Checklist (For the year of admission: The academic year 111 and earlier) IMAS Thesis Defense Checklist (For the year of admission: The academic year 112 and after) 3. Turnitin Please go to this link to see the guide and get started. The secretary will set up an account and password for you to further proceed. https://lib.video.nccu.edu.tw/p/Turnitinuserguide After uploading your thesis to the platform, please screenshot your score, print it out, and have your advisor sign it. Your score should be no more than 15% on the plagiarism scale to be considered passing. For further questions, this link should address most of your questions: https://imas.pse.is/78uckr 4. Ethics course certification 5. A copy of the thesis draft 6. A copy of the transcript All files need to be signed before the proposal defense takes place. Wait until all files have been signed and gathered by the IMAS office. In the meantime, students should contact and confirm with all three professors (Examination members) the date and time of their Thesis Defense. Please kindly notify the IMAS office to send invitations to professors regarding your Thesis Defense. All emails will cc the applicant as well. After the defense, please collect all the signed forms and submit them to the office. Please prepare a presentation of the final thesis and anticipate tough questions. Students should also send the final draft (preferably a print-out copy as well) to your committee and provide refreshments for the committee to show appreciation for their presence and time.