Introduction

According to an agreement between the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) for the advancement of science in developing countries, up to 200 students/scholars from all over the world will be sponsored to study in China for doctoral degrees for up to 4 years.

This CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship Programme provides students/scholars that are non-Chinese citizens an opportunity to pursue doctoral degrees at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) or Institutes of CAS around China.

Under the terms of the CAS-TWAS agreement, travel from their home countries to China will be provided to the fellowship awardees in order to begin the fellowship in China (one trip only per student/scholar). TWAS will select 80 awardees from developing countries to support their international travel, while CAS will support the other 120. Visa fee will also be covered (once only per awardee) as a lump sum of USD 65 after all the awardees are on site in China. Any awardee on site in China, the host country, at the time of application will NOT be eligible for any travel or visa reimbursement.

Thanks to generous contribution of CAS, fellowship awardees will receive a monthly stipend (to cover accommodation and other living expenses, local travel expenses and health insurance) of RMB 7,000 or RMB 8,000 from CAS through UCAS/USTC, depending on whether he/she has passed the qualification test arranged by UCAS/USTC for all doctoral candidates after admission. All awardees will also be provided tuition and application fee waivers.

Any fellowship awardee who fails the qualification test twice will face the consequences including:

·                     Termination of his/her fellowship;

·                     Discontinuity of his/her doctoral study at CAS institutions;

·                     Being provided with a certificate of attendance for the period of study undertaken in China but not a formal doctoral degree.

All the procedures will adhere to UCAS/USTC regulations and rules.

The funding duration of the fellowship is up to 4 years with NO EXTENSION, divided into:

1.                   Maximum 1 year study of courses and participation in centralized training at UCAS/USTC, including 4 months compulsory courses in Chinese Language and Chinese Culture;

2.                   Practical research and completion of degree thesis at colleges and schools of UCAS/USTC or CAS institutes.

General conditions for applicants:

Applicants must:

·                     Be maximum age of 35 years on 31 December 2018;

·                     Not take up other assignments during the period of his/her fellowship;

·                     Not hold Chinese citizenship;

·                     Applicants for doctoral study should also:

·                     Meet the admission criteria for international students of UCAS/USTC (criteria of UCAS/criteria of USTC).

·                     Hold a master degree before the beginning of the fall semester: 1 September, 2018.

·                     Provide evidence that he/she will return to their home country on completion of their studies in China according to CAS-TWAS agreement.

·                     Provide proof of knowledge of English or Chinese language.

Please note:

·                     Applicants currently pursuing doctoral degrees at any university/institution in China are NOT eligible for this fellowship.

·                     Applicants CANNOT apply for both UCAS and USTC simultaneously.

·                     Applicants can ONLY apply to ONE supervisor from ONE institute/school at either UCAS or USTC.

·                     Applicants can only apply to one TWAS programme per year, therefore an applicant applying to the 2018 CAS-TWAS President’s fellowship call will not be eligible to apply for any other TWAS fellowship in 2018.

Step By Step Guideline

In order to successfully apply for the CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship, applicants are requested to follow a few key steps that are indicated below:

1. CHECK ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

You should verify that you are eligible and meet ALL the eligibility criteria specified in the “Generalconditions for applicants” section of this call (e.g. age, master degree, etc).

2. FIND AN ELIGIBLE HOST SUPERVISOR AFFILIATED WITH COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS OFUCAS/USTC, OR CAS INSTITUTES THAT AGREES TO ACCEPT YOU.

See here for a list of eligible schools/institutes and supervisors of UCAS and here of USTC.

You must contact an eligible supervisor and get his/her approval before applying for the CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship. Please send him/her an explanatory e-mail together with your CV, research proposal and any other required documents when establishing the contact with the supervisor. 

3. FILE YOUR FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION VIA THE ONLINE APPLICATION SYSTEM OF CAS-TWAS PRESIDENT’S FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME.

A. Visit our official website for the fellowship online application system.

Create your own account, and follow the instructions to finish the online application form.

B. Prepare and upload the following supporting documentation to the fellowship online application system:

·                     Your regular passport which has at least 2 years validity (only pages showing personal and validity details are needed);

·                     Complete CV with a brief introduction of research experience;

·                     Originalcopy of the certificate of university degrees held (both undergraduate and postgraduate;graduates having just completed their degree should provide an official pre-graduation certificateshowing their student status and stating the expected graduation date);

·                     Proof of knowledge of English and/or Chinese;

·                     Original copy of transcripts of both undergraduate and post-graduate education;

·                     Detailed research proposal;

·                     Photocopies of all the title pages and abstracts of maximum 5 published academic papers;

·                     Foreigner Physical Examination Form (Attachment 1)

C. Acquire TWO reference letters:

You must ask two referees (NOT the host supervisor, preferably TWAS members, but not a mandatory requirement) familiar with you and your work to

1) upload their scanned reference letters (signed, dated and on official headed paper with contact phone number and email address) to the fellowship online application system and

2) send the original hard copies to the UCAS/USTC fellowship office before deadline.

Reference letters in the body of e-mails will NOT be accepted! TWAS will not provide any information e.g. e-mail addresses of TWAS members or liaise with TWAS members on behalf of applicants.

Please note:

1. All the above supporting documentation must be in English or Chinese, otherwise notarial translations in English or Chinese are required.

2. Make sure the electronic version of supporting documentation is in the right format as requested for the online application system.

3. If you are awarded the fellowship and are admitted by UCAS/USTC, you MUST present the originalhardcopy of your university certificates (both undergraduate and postgraduate), transcripts AND regular passport to UCAS/USTC fellowship office upon your arrival in China, otherwise you will be disqualified.

4. Your application documentation will not be returned whether awarded or not.

4. SUBMIT YOUR ADMISSION APPLICATION VIA THE ONLINE SYSTEM OF UCAS/USTC:

·                     For admission application to UCAS, you MUST also submit your information and required documents via UCAS online system following its instructions.

·                     For admission application to USTC, you MUST also submit your information and required documents via USTC online system following its instruction.

5. REMIND YOUR SUPERVISOR TO COMPLETE AND SIGN THE SUPERVISOR’S COMMENT PAGE (Attachment 2) AND SEND IT TO UCAS/USTC BEFORE DEADLINE.

·                     For UCAS applicants, please ask your supervisor to send the hard copy of Supervisor’s Comment Page to the institute/college he/she affiliated with.

·                     For USTC applicants, please ask your supervisor to email the scanned copy topresidentfellow@ustc.edu.cn or send the hard copy to the Office of International Cooperation (229, Old Library).

Deadline for submitting all material and applications:

31 MARCH 2018

Where to enquire and submit application

1) Applicants for UCAS, please contact:

Ms. Xie Yuchen

CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship Programme UCAS Office (UCAS)

University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

80 Zhongguancun East Road, Beijing, 100190, China

Tel: +86 10 82672900

Fax: +86 10 82672900

Email: president-fellowship@ucas.ac.cn

2) Applicants for USTC, please contact:

Ms. Lin Tian (Linda Tian)

CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship Programme USTC Office (USTC)

University of Science and Technology of China

96 Jinzhai Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230026 China

Tel: +86 551 63600279

Fax: +86 551 63632579

Email: presidentfellow@ustc.edu.cn

Note: It is important to remember that your supervisor can be helpful in providing answers to your enquiries. Please keep in close touch with your supervisor during the whole process of your application.

Relevant information

CAS is a national academic institution in China consisting of a comprehensive research and development network, a merit-based learned society and a system of higher education, focusing on natural sciences, technological sciences and high-tech innovation in China. It has 12 branches, 2 universities and more than 100 institutes with around 60,000 staff and 50,000 postgraduate students. It hosts 89 national key labs, 172 CAS key labs, 30 national engineering research centers and about 1,000 field stations throughout China. As a merit-based society, it has five academic divisions. CAS is dedicated to addressing fundamental, strategic and farsighted challenges related to the overall and long-term development of China. CAS and TWAS have had a close and productive relationship for many years, often involving TWAS's Regional Office for East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific (http://www.twas.org.cn/twas/index.asp).

Read more about CAS: http://english.www.cas.cn/

UCAS is a research-intensive university with over 40,000 postgraduate students, supported by more than 100 institutes (research centers, laboratories) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), which are located in 25 cities throughout China. Founded in 1978, it was originally named the Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the first graduate school in China with the ratification of the State Council. UCAS is headquartered in Beijing with 4 campuses and is authorized to grant doctorate degrees in 39 primary academic disciplines, offering degree programs in ten major academic fields, including science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, education, management science and more. UCAS is responsible for the enrollment and management of the doctoral candidates of the CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship Programme admitted by UCAS.

Read more about UCAS: http://www.ucas.ac.cn/

USTC is the first university established by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1958. It is a comprehensive university including science, engineering, management and humanity science, oriented to frontier science and high technology. USTC took the lead in launching Graduate School, the School of Gifted Young, large national scientific projects, etc. It is now a prominent Chinese university and enjoys high reputation worldwide, and therefore is the member of the China 9 Consortium consisting of the top 9 universities in China (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C9_League). USTC is one of the most important innovation centers in China, and is regarded as “the Cradle of Scientific Elites”. USTC provides both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. There are 14 faculties, 27 departments, graduate school and software school on campus. According to the world acclaimed university rankings, USTC has always been ranked among the best universities in China. USTC is responsible for the enrollment and management of the doctoral candidates of the CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship Programme admitted by USTC.

Read more about USTC: http://en.ustc.edu.cn/

TWAS is an autonomous international organization, founded in 1983 in Trieste, Italy, by a distinguished group of scientists from the South to promote scientific capacity and excellence for sustainable development in the South. In 1991, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) assumed responsibility for administering TWAS funds and personnel on the basis of an agreement signed by TWAS and UNESCO. In 2004, the Government of Italy passed a law that ensures a continuous financial contribution to the Academy's operation.

Read more about TWAS: http://twas.ictp.it/