Introduction

The University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) has set up the UCAS Scholarship for International Students to sponsor young talents all over the world to pursue Master’s or Doctoral degree, or attend courses, conduct research or pay academic visits at UCAS faculties/CAS institutes. The Scholarship also encourages international graduate students currently studying at foreign universities to come for study on joint programs.

The scholarship consists of both a full scholarship and a partial scholarship. The full scholarship provides tuition waiver, monthly stipend, basic accommodation and medical insurance; while the partial scholarship covers some items of the Full. Since 2016, the Scholarship has been majorly sponsoring Master students and Master-PhD students.

Courses and Programmes

Please refer to Call for 2018 Doctoral Programs for International Students.

Scholarship Coverage and Duration

Coverage：

a)     Tuition fee exemption by UCAS;

Doctoral students would be exempted from a tuition fee of RMB 40,000/year; master students would be exempted from a tuition fee of RMB 30,000/year; senior visiting students would be exempted from a tuition fee of RMB 3,000/month; the regular visiting student would be exempted from a tuition fee of RMB 2,600/month.

b)     Monthly stipend;

UCAS provides monthly stipend of RMB 2,500 for Doctoral students, senior visiting students and students on joint programs, and RMB 2,000 for Master students and regular visiting students. In addition, host supervisor and UCAS faculty/CAS institute (hereinafter referred to as faculty/institute) provide research assistantship for awardees considering their academic performances. The total amounts of monthly stipend will be no less than RMB 3500 for Doctoral students, senior visiting students and students on joint programs, and RMB 3000 for Master students and regular visiting students.

c)     Accommodation;

UCAS provides basic accommodation to awardees from faculties/institutes located in Beijing. As for awardees from CAS institutes located outside Beijing, they would be provided with basic accommodation when attending the concentrated study at UCAS, while their host institutes would help to provide accommodation or solve accommodation-related problems when awardees are with them, and the awardees shall pay for relevant expenses as requested by the institutes.

d)     Medical Insurance;

The insurance premium is RMB 800/year and RMB 400/half year. Please refer to the www.lxbx.net for the introduction of insurance coverage.

Duration （with NO EXTENSION）

a)      Master students: no longer than 36 months

b)      Doctoral students: no longer than 36 months

c)       Students on joint programs: 6-24months

d)      Regular and Senior visiting students: 6-24 months

General conditions for applicants:

•    Meet the admission criteria for UCAS international students (please refer to UCAS call for applications for International Students);

•    Get acceptance by a host supervisor and approval by the UCAS faculty/CAS institute that the supervisor is affiliated with;

•    Have an appropriate attitude toward learning and scientific research and have outstanding academic performance;

•    Have not accepted any other sponsorship at the time of application;

•    Age requirements:

a)      Master’s degree candidates: Be maximum age of 30 years on 31 December 2018.

b)      Doctoral degree candidates: Be maximum age of 35 years on 31 December 2018

c)       Students on joint programs: No age limit.

d)      Regular and senior visiting students: Be maximum age of 40 years on 31 December 2018.

•    Be proficient in English or Chinese. Applicants whose native language is not English should provide unexpired TOEFL or IELTS scores. TOEFL scores should be 90 or higher, and IELTS scores should be 6.5 or higher. Applicants are not required to submit a TOEFL or IELTS score only if their:

a)      Native language is English, or

b)      Major undergraduate courses are conducted in English/Chinese, which should be stated in transcripts, or

c)       New HSK Band 5 passed with over 200 scores.

•    Other requirements on applicants on joint programs:

a)      Applicants should be currently studying at higher institutions abroad.

b)      The higher institution abroad the applicant is affiliated with should have signed relevant collaboration and exchange agreement with CAS/UCAS/CAS institute.

c)       Awarded student should register before the November of 2018.

d)      The academic visit to or joint culture at CAS should last for no shorter than 6 months.

•    Other requirements on visiting students:

a)      Scholars should register before the November of 2018.

b)      Scholars shall be further educated for no shorter than 6 months.

Note：Students who are currently studying at higher institutions in China cannot apply (with exception for this year’s graduates).

Step By Step Guideline

In order to successfully apply for UCAS Scholarship for International Students, 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, degree, etc).

2. FIND AN ELIGIBLE HOST SUPERVISOR AFFILIATED WITH UCAS FACULTY OR CAS INSTITUTE THAT AGREES TO ACCEPT YOU.

See here for a list of eligible supervisors affiliated with UCAS faculties/CAS institutes.

Once you find an eligible professor of your interest, you must contact him/her, send an explanatory e-mail together with your CV, research proposal and any other required documents to him/her, and indicate that you wish to apply for UCAS Scholarship for International Students.

3. SUBMIT BOTH OF YOUR ADMISSION APPLICATION AND SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION VIA THE ONLINE SYSTEM.

Applications for both admission and scholarship shall be submitted via the Online Application System for International Students of UCAS (http://adis.ucas.ac.cn) which would be officially launched around Dec. 15, 2017. Please prepare and upload the following materials to the system. Make sure the electronic version of supporting documentation is in the right format as requested for the online application system.

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

• Your recent full-face bust photo with 2-inch;

• Complete CV with a brief introduction of research experience;

• Original scanned copy of degree certificates；

Master’s program applicants shall submit their Bachelor’s degree certificates. Doctoral program applicants shall submit their Master’s and Bachelor’s degree certificates.

Applicants who are still in the process of completing their Bachelor/Master’s degree upon the application deadline must provide confirmation of degree conferral from their current institutions, including the expected date of graduation.

• Original scanned copy of their transcripts;

Master’s program applicants shall submit the academic transcripts of their undergraduate study. Doctoral program applicants shall submit academic transcripts of both their graduate and undergraduate studies.

• Proof of knowledge of English and/or Chinese;

• Detailed research proposal;

• Photocopies of all the title pages and abstracts of maximum 5 published academic papers (if available). Please do not provide photocopies of unpublished papers;

• TWO reference letters (NOT the host supervisor) familiar with you and your work (signed, dated and on official headed paper with contact phone number and email address)

• Foreigner Physical Examination Form (Attachment 3)

    4. REMIND YOUR SUPERVISOR TO COMPLETE THE SUPERVISOR’S COMMENT PAGE OF BOTH ADMISSION APPLICATION FORM FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS (Attachment 1) and APPLICATION FORM FOR UCAS SCHOLARSHIP FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS (Attachment 2) AND SEND IT TO THE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS OFFICE OF UCAS BY THE UCAS FACULTY/CAS INSTITUTE WHICH HE/SHE IS AFFILIATED WITH BEFORE DEADLINE.

Please note:

•    Applicants can ONLY apply to ONE eligible supervisor affiliated with UCAS faculty or CAS institute.

•    Please choose major, host supervisor and host institute cautiously before submission. After enrollment at UCAS, applications for the change of these items are seldom considered.

•    Applicants CANNOT take up other assignments during application and during the period of his/her scholarship.

•    Applicants must make sure that all the information filled and documents uploaded in the online system are authentic and effective, otherwise they should undertake all the relevant consequences.

•    All the application documents must be in English or Chinese. If any of these are not available in English or Chinese, original documents must be accompanied by certified English or Chinese translations. All translations must be literal and complete versions of the original documents.

•    A lack of application documents or unsatisfactory documents will not be accepted and none of the documents will be returned regardless of the application status.

•    Please DO NOT send any of your application documents directly to the International Students Office of UCAS.

Application Deadline

March 31, 2018

Notification of Decision and Visa Application

The admission decisions will be made normally in May to June. The offers of admissions, award letters and other documents will be conveyed afterwards.

Awardees shall take the following documents to the Embassy or Consulate of the People's Republic of China, and apply for a student visa (X1/X2 visa):

•    Personal passports as used for application

•    Admission Notice

•    Visa Application Form (JW202)

•    Physical Examination Record for Foreigners

•    Other original reports from the physical examination

Please keep safe of the original Admission Notice and Visa Application Form (JW202). They are essential in the application for the Permanent Residence Permit upon registration. Please do not apply for visa waiver or other types of visa.

Additional Information

•    Awardees must register at the time and place indicated in the Admission Notice. Otherwise, they should apply for extension of their registration.

•    Awardees must show the original copies of Bachelor’s degree certificate and transcript to International Students Office.

•    The duration of the scholarship stated explicitly in the Admission Notice.

•    The scholarship can be retained for no longer than 2 months since the deadline of the registration.

•    Awardees receive monthly stipend from UCAS since the registration day. Those who register before the 15^th of a given month (including 15^th) receive a full-month stipend, while those register after the 15^th of a given month receive a half-month stipend.

•    Registered awardees must abide by relevant rules and regulations of the universities, and attend reviews and examinations, such as the qualifying tests on time. Awardees who fail review or examination will be deprived of their scholarship or their scholarship will be suspended.

•    Any work produced and published by the awardees during the funding period of the scholarship must be credited to the institute/school and the university where the awardees are enrolled. Awardees are also required to acknowledge “Sponsored by UCAS Scholarship for International Students in written dedication.

Contact Information

Coordinator: Ms.YANG Yingrun

Office of Human Resources and Education

Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Menglun, Mengla，Yunnan 666303, P. R. China

Email: yangyingrun@xtbg.ac.cn 

Tel：+86-691-8713 001

Website: http://english.xtbg.cas.cn/

Coordinator: Ms. HU Menglin

International Students Office

University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

No.80 Zhongguancun East Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100190, China

Email: iso@ucas.ac.cn

Tel/Fax: +86-10-82672900

Website: http://english.ucas.ac.cn/