Department of Agricultural Chemistry, National Taiwan University

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Mission

Goals and Strategies
Missions, Goals and Strategies for the development of Agricultural Chemistry 
The field of agricultural chemistry does not fade away with time. Agricultural chemistry still has its indispensable role and missions for our better future: the acquisition and development of higher quality agricultural and processed products, a better bio-ecological environment, soil and plants resources surveying and their sustainable uses, microorganism resources development and their sustainable uses; all of these topics do not lose their significance while we step into the 21st century, nevertheless they have become even more important as time goes by. Agricultural chemistry plays a key role in human life. Therefore, we shall base on traditional theory and technology of agricultural chemistry, and also newly developed microbiology, chemistry and life sciences technology, in creating a happier and healthier life for mankind in the 21st century. 

1.  The mission of the development of our department
To participate in the worldwide outstanding achievements in the field of biological environment safety. Our department has a mission, which is to achieve the highest quality of human resources and to convey the highest level of scientific knowledge, in order to achieve sustainable growth of agriculture ecosystem and discover the sustainable uses of bioresources.

2. Goals of development of our department
(1) Provide excellent teaching quality to cultivate leaders with extensive agricultural chemistry professional skill and globalized prospects.
(2) Create high-quality research environment and resources, produce innovative research results and enhance the quality of academic research.
(3) To integrate outstanding talents and establish a cross-disciplinary team, and to further expand research topics in agricultural chemistry-related fields.
(4) To provide technologies for a better way of food production, conservation of ecological environment and preservation of biodiversity.
(5) Provide up-to-date knowledge, promote high-quality agricultural products, nutrition supplements, biological resources materials and other domestic industries products.

3. Specific strategies of our department 
3.1 To improve teaching quality, and encourage students to involve in the development of our department
(1) Proactively improve and enrich the equipment in students laboratory, to promote students' interest in learning.
(2) Enhance the teaching evaluation points of each lecturer to 4.0 and above.
(3) Increase the number of undergraduate students in our department that will stay and apply for the master's and Ph. D. programs.
(4) Regularly hold employment counseling session for students, and conduct teacher-student informal discussions to let teacher and students work together in determining new teaching methods and development direction of our department, increase students’ confidence and understanding towards the future trends, and discuss ways to attract students to enroll in our master's and Ph.D. programs.

3.2 To improve the admission process
(1) Review the entrance examination subjects and restrictions to apply for our institute, rise the number of applicants, and reduce the admission rate.
(2) Further boosts promotion of our institute towards high school students and their parents, and provide motivations for them to join us.

3.3 Encourage undergraduate students to take undergraduate thesis courses
(1) Increase the number of students who would continue engaging in academic research field and elevate their interest and motivation to study graduate programs in our institute.
(2) Increase the motivation for our professors to carry out research and increase their human resources.
(3) Encourage Senior year students to take the “Research Training” subject (2 credits for each semester).

3.4 To hire professors that are focusing in the field of modern technology, and strengthen the overall teaching and research capabilities of our institute
(1) It is necessary to make full use of the quota to recruit teachers that can strengthen and further develop our academic performance of our institute.
(2) In the next five years, many of our professors will retire, thus we should have a plan in advance to avoid the problem of teacher shortage.
(3) Actively participate in science and technology projects and write academic journal articles, to cultivate and encourage students to have a positive research attitude and have confidence in future research development.

3.5 Start new courses in response to social needs and student needs for employment
(1) New curriculum and research topics focusing on the interaction between plants, environment and human should be initiated.(2) Discuss with the professors that are involved to plan for the initiation of new courses and research topics, to make sure our curriculum are keeping up with current trends in technology. Besides, actively participate in industry-academic cooperation, and apply for patent when there are opportunities.

3.6 To develop cross-disciplinary programs, and encourage cross-disciplinary cooperation in research projects
(1) Encourage teachers to plan for multi-field research projects and seek research funding from government agencies and private companies to improve the environment for research and development process.
(2) The department head or senior professors should lead in the act of proposing a large-scale and long-termed team research projects.
(3) Encourage everyone to publish at least one paper in SCI per year, with an average of 2 articles, and encourage them to summit their papers to the top 20% of journals in the field.
(4) To encourage professors from our department to execute at least one project from Ministry of Science and Technology each year, and make sure the research funding can reach an average of NT$3 million per person per year. The target is set to 50 projects from Ministry of Science and Technology per year, by our department of Agricultural Chemistry, and research funding to be increased to NT$50 million.