Taipei’s National Yang Ming University is going to merge with Hsinchu’s National Chiao Tung University in February 2021. The new institution will be called National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University. 

The two universities are known for their medical and computer science departments. The new merged university will have 139 hectares, nine campuses, six research centers, one hospital, a faculty of 1,400, and over 17,000 students. 

The universities say that Taiwan is going through a period of transformation and upgrading, and that they aim to be a model of merging two strong institutions of higher learning. 

National Yang Ming University Secretary-General Chen I-ju says the university aims to train top talent and perhaps even produce a Nobel Prize winner. Chen also says that with Yang Ming University’s top medical department and Chiao Tung University’s strong computer science and engineering departments, the goal will be to develop top talent in the biotech and AI long-term care sectors. 

The Ministry of Education sent a letter approving the merger and its NT$400 million (US$13.6 million) budget on August 12. Another NT$2.6 billion (US$ 88.5 million) will be used to build new buildings and dormitories, and will be funded by the ministry and other government agencies.