CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship

According to a new agreement between the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and TWAS, up to 140 students per year from the developing world will be sponsored to travel to China for up to four years’ of PhD study and research. Deadline for applications: 28 February 2014.

CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship Programme
for PhD Candidates from Developing Countries

Call for Applications

This CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship Programme provides students/scholars from developing countries (other than China) an opportunity to pursue PhD 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 new 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). Visa fee will also be covered (once only per student/scholar).

Thanks to generous contribution of CAS, fellowship awardees will receive a monthly stipend (including 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 PhD candidates after admission. All awardees will also be provided tuition waivers.

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

• Termination of his/her fellowship;
• Discontinuity of his/her PhD study at CAS institutions;
• Being conferred a diploma of completion instead of a PhD degree;

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

The funding duration of the fellowship is 4 years, divided into:

• Maximum 1 year study of courses and participation in centralized training at UCAS/USTC, including 4 months compulsory courses in Chinese Language and Culture.
• 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 2014;
• Not take up other assignments during the period of his/her fellowship;
• Be a citizen of a developing country other than China;
• Not hold any visa for temporary or permanent residency in China or in any developed country;
• Be financially responsible for any accompanying family member.

Applicants for PhD study should also:

• Meet the admission criteria for international students of UCAS/USTC (http://english.ucas.ac.cn/Admissions/Pages/Article.aspx?ID=78 or http://en.ustc.edu.cn/admissions/international_students/).
• Hold a master degree before the beginning of the fall semester: September, 2014.
• Provide evidence that s/he 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.

Note: Applicants currently pursuing PhD degrees at any university/institution in China are ineligible for this fellowship.

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDELINE ON HOW TO APPLY FOR CAS-TWAS President’s fellowship

It is important to note that applicants currently pursuing PhD degrees at any university/institution in China cannot apply for the CAS-TWAS President’s fellowship.

In order to successfully apply for the CAS-TWAS President’s fellowship each applicant is 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 “General Conditions for applicants” section of this call (e.g. age, nationality etc) See page 2.

2. FIND AN ELIGIBLE HOST SUPERVISOR AFFILIATED WITH UCAS/USTC UNIVERSITIES, SCHOOLS OR CAS INSTITUTES. See here for a list of eligible centres and supervisors:
UCAS: english.ucas.ac.cn/Admissions/Pages/discipline.aspx
or USTC: en.ustc.edu.cn/faculty/

Once you have found the host supervisor, you must inform him/her by e-mail that you wish to apply for the CAS-TWAS President’s fellowship. Please send him/her an explanatory e-mail together with your CV and research proposal.

3. IN THE MEANTIME, PREPARE YOUR APPLICATION PACKAGE:

1. Download and fill in the "Admission Application Form for International Students" (Attachment 1-1 for UCAS or 1-2 for USTC);
2. Download and fill in the “Application Form for CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship Programme” (Attachment 2);
3. Reference Letters. You must ask two referees (preferably TWAS members, but that is not a mandatory requirement) familiar with you and your work to provide their scanned reference letters (signed, dated and on official headed paper). Reference letters in the body of e-mails will NOT be accepted! Please include the reference letters in your application package.
4. Other documents. The following documents are also required:

• Notarized photocopy of the certificate of highest university degree held (graduates having just completed their degree can provide a pre-graduation certificate);
• Proof of knowledge of English and/or Chinese;
• Notarized photocopy of transcripts of previous higher education;
• Complete CV;
• Detailed research proposal;
• Copy of your passport (only pages showing personal and validity details);
• Photocopies of all the title pages and abstracts of any published academic papers;
• Foreigner Physical Examination Form (Attachment 3).

Note:
1. All the above materials in your application package should be in English or Chinese.
2. If you are awarded a fellowship, you must submit originals of your university certificates AND transcripts to the UCAS or USTC office upon your arrival in China.

4. ONCE YOU HAVE PREPARED YOUR APPLICATION PACKAGE, AND HAVE FOUND A HOST SUPERVISOR who has agreed to accept you, you must send him/her an electronic copy of your WHOLE application package in one zipped file and ask him/her to fill in the comment pages in "Application Form for CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship Programme" and the "Admission Application Form for International Students". Your supervisor will then send your whole application package including his/her comment pages to UCAS Fellowship office or USTC Fellowship office. Please Do NOT send your application package directly to UCAS or USTC Fellowship office.

DEADLINE FOR ALL MATERIAL AND APPLICATIONS: 28 FEBRUARY 2014 

ENQUIRIES ABOUT APPLICATIONS

Please be free to send your enquiries about your application to:

CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship Programme UCAS Office (UCAS)
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
19A Yuquanlu, Beijing, 100049, China

Tel: +86 10 88256424/6206
Fax: +86 10 88256207
Email: president-fellowship@ucas.ac.cn

or

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 63607981
Fax: +86 551 63607982
Email: presidentfellow@ustc.edu.cn

Moreinfo: https://twas.ictp.it/prog/exchange/fells/fells-pg/cas-pg