CAS-TWAS President’s PhD Fellowship Programme

CAS-TWAS President’s PhD Fellowship Programme

The notification for the CAS-TWAS President’s PhD Fellowship Programme 2019 has been released. Interested and eligible candidates can check out all of the details regarding the scheme, the eligibility, the fields of research, the application procedure, important dates and more below:

This call expires in :

 

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:

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

Host country: China

Eligible nationalities: Any country

Level: PhD

Minimum degree held: MSc

Duration: Up to 4 years

Field:

01-Agricultural Sciences
02-Structural, Cell and Molecular Biology
03-Biological Systems and Organisms
04-Medical and Health Sciences incl. Neurosciences
05-Chemical Sciences
06-Engineering Sciences
07-Astronomy, Space and Earth Sciences
08-Mathematical Sciences
09-Physics

Age limit: 35

General conditions for applicants:

Applicants must:

• Be a maximum age of 35 years on 31 December 2019;
• 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 2019.
• Provide evidence that he/she will return to their home country on completion of their studies in China according to the 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 2019 CAS-TWAS President’s fellowship call will not be eligible to apply for any other TWAS fellowship in 2019.

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 “General conditions for applicants” section of this call (e.g. age, master degree, etc).

2. FIND AN ELIGIBLE HOST SUPERVISOR AFFILIATED WITH COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS OF UCAS/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 FORM VIA THE ONLINE APPLICATION SYSTEM.

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;
• Original copy of the certificate of university degrees held (both undergraduate and postgraduate; graduates having just completed or about to complete their degree should provide an official pre-graduation certificate showing 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– find this at the bottom of this page)

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 a 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 the 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 original hardcopy 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. 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 instructions.

5. REMIND YOUR SUPERVISOR TO COMPLETE AND SIGN THE SUPERVISOR’S COMMENT PAGE (Attachment 2 – find this at the bottom of this page) 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 to [email protected] or send the hard copy to the Office of International Cooperation (229, Old Library).

Where to enquire and submit the 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: [email protected]

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 63600279Fax: +86 551 63632579
Email: [email protected]

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.

Deadline for submitting all material and applications: 31 MARCH 2019

APPLY ONLINE

Editor’s Note: CAS-TWAS President’s PhD Fellowship Programme, President’s PhD Fellowship Programme 2019, CAS-TWAS President’s PhD Fellowship, TWAS President’s PhD Fellowship Programme, CAS-TWAS President’s PhD Fellowship Programme 2019. Make sure you check out the Podcast and also make sure you are subscribed to the Biotecnika Times Newsletter.