TWAS-CAS Fellowships for Visiting Scholars in China,2012

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and TWAS offer up to fifteen fellowships per year to visiting scholars from developing countries (other than China) who wish to pursue advanced research in natural sciences.

Programme Details

TWAS-CAS Visiting Scholar Fellowships in natural sciences are tenable for minimum period of one to a maximum of three months at the research institutions of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Eligible CAS institutions: More than 80 CAS institutes in China participate in this Fellowship programme. For a complete list please see: www.twas.org.cn and, in particular, english.cas.ac.cn/CASI/.

The language of instruction is English.

International travel (return economy class by the shortest route) and visa expenses will be covered by TWAS.

CAS will provide a standard monthly allowance which should be used to cover living costs, such as accommodation, food and health insurance. Only emergency medical aid will be available, if necessary. The monthly stipend will not be convertible into foreign currency.

Applicants must be affiliated with a university or research centre in their home country.

Applicants already on site in the host country are not eligible.

Applicants must provide evidence that they will return to their home country upon completion of their Fellowships.

Applicants must submit an official Acceptance Letter from the host institution to TWAS and CAS when applying, or by the deadline at the latest. A sample of this letter can be found in the application form downloadable from the link at the bottom of this page.

The Fellowships do not include provisions for accompanying family members.

Incomplete/unsigned applications will not be accepted. This also applies to submissions by fax and electronic mail, which must include all enclosures and be signed (either digitally or by including a scanned signature).

Successful applicants must not take up other assignments during the period of their Fellowships.

Applications will be acknowledged once they have been processed.

Successful candidates will be notified by February of the year following the application.

TWAS shall be entitled to a repayment of all or part of any funds paid to an applicant hereunder, in the event that the applicant intentionally or negligently fails to fulfil any or all of the present conditions.  The applicant agrees to pay any reasonable legal and/or collection costs incurred by TWAS to obtain the repayment.

Eligibility

Applicants for these Fellowships must meet the following criteria:

be a maximum age of 55 years on 31 December of the application year;

be nationals of a developing country (other than China);

must not hold any visa for temporary or permanent residency in China or any developed country;

hold a PhD degree in a field of the natural sciences and a regular research assignment with at least five years of postdoctoral research experience;

be accepted at a CAS-listed institution participating in the scheme and provide an official acceptance letter from the host institution (see sample Acceptance Letter, page 3) to this effect; and

provide evidence of proficiency in English or Chinese.

Submitting your application

The deadline for receipt of applications is 31 August of each year.

Applicants should submit the acceptance letter from a CAS institution to CAS and TWAS when applying or by the deadline at the latest. Without preliminary acceptance, the application will not be considered for selection.

Reference letters: Referees must send signed letters as attachments via e-mail directly to TWAS and CAS The subject line must contain: CAS/VS/ candidate’s surname. Alternatively, letters should be sent by post in sealed envelopes.

Applicants to the TWAS-CAS Visiting Scholar Fellowship Programme should send their application to TWAS and CAS.

Important

Incomplete/unsigned applications will NOT be accepted. This also applies to submissions by fax and electronic mail which must include all enclosures and be signed (either digitally or by including a scanned signature). 

Applications will ONLY be acknowledged when processed.

Successful candidates will be notified by February of the year following the application.

Applicants should be aware that they can apply for only one fellowship per year. With the exception of the fellowships "for research collaboration", all other fellowship programmes offered by TWAS and OWSD that are mutually exclusive.

APPLICATION FORM:

Click on the links below to download the application form and guidelines. Before applying it is recommended that you read very carefully the application guidelines for detailed information on eligibility criteria, deadlines and other key requirements of the application procedure.

VS Application form

VS Application Guidelines

Contact Details

TWAS Fellowships Office  

ICTP Campus, Strada Costiera 11

34151 Trieste, Italy

Tel: +39 040 2240314

Fax: +39 040 2240689

E-mail: fellowships@twas.org

TWAS Regional Office, Beijing  

Bureau of International Cooperation

Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)

52 Sanlihe Road

100864 Beijing, China

Tel: +86 10 68597220

Fax: +86 10 68597543

E-mail: sqfu@cashq.ac.cn