International Master's Program of Applied Economics and Social Development
The International Master’s Program of Applied Economics and Social Development (IMES) at National Chengchi University is the first English-taught Master’s program in economics in Taiwan. The program emphasizes three features: big data analysis, applied economics, and social development.
Using “Applied Economics” as the major field and “Social Development” as the minor field, this program aims to provide students not only with economic analysis skills but also the ability to discuss social issues. The field of “Applied Economics” is divided into four tracks: Economic Policy Analysis and Public Finance and Financial Market, Land Economy and Environment, Regional Development Studies.
IMES consists of a diverse student body, two-thirds of the program’s students are international, representing several continents. Moreover, they have a variety of academic backgrounds. Graduates of the IMES program will be equipped with professional economic knowledge, international perspectives, and communication skills through a variety of training and experiences including big data analysis, interdisciplinary studies, interactions in the international student body, and the English learning environment. Students can expect to graduate with global talents for private businesses, government sectors, and non-profit organizations.
The program offers core courses and professional courses. The core courses include basic applied economics training and theory such as Applied Microeconomics, Applied Macroeconomics, Research Methods, and courses related to big data analysis. The professional courses for the field of Applied Economics are designed for three tracks respectively. These professional courses are mainly taught by professors from the departments of Economics, Public Finance, and Land Economics. The field of Social Development provides a variety of professional courses discussing the relationships between social development and its key factors including education, pandemic management, social media, indigenous cultures, and so on. Professors teaching these courses are mainly from the departments of Sociology and Ethnology. Students are required to complete a minimum of 33 credit hours of graduate course work, including 9 credits for required courses and 24 credits for elective courses. Moreover, students also need to complete and successfully defend a Master’s thesis of original research and writing in order to receive their degree.
Past IMES graduates have typically found work as management associates (MA) in the financial sector. Moreover, a certain percentage of our graduates work as industrial analysts in both private and public enterprises. Furthermore, some graduates have become civil servants in the government sector. Lastly, some of our graduates have chosen to pursue their doctoral degrees, and then develop a career in Academia.
