Part I: Introduction

The Alliance of International Science Organizations (ANSO) is a non-profit, non-government international organization founded in 2018. Founding members include 37 scientific institutions, universities, and international organizations worldwide. ANSO aims to improve regional and global capacity in science and technology, human livelihoods and wellbeing, and to promote broader S&T cooperation and communication.

The ANSO Scholarship for Young Talents (hereinafter referred to as the ANSO Scholarship) was formally launched in 2019 with the goal of training and cultivation of young scientists from all over the world. The ANSO Scholarship supports 200 Master’s students and 300 PhD students every year to pursue postgraduate education at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) or institutes of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) around China.

Currently, CAS, the leading founding member of ANSO, is the sponsor of the ANSO Scholarship. ANSO welcomes all members and parties who are interested in creating a more diversified scholarship program together.

Part II: Coverage

 Tuition waiver

 Monthly stipend:

      Master’s: 3000 RMB/month

      PhD: 6000 or 7000 RMB/month (depending on whether he/she has passed the qualification test arranged by

      USTC/UCAS).

 Health insurance

 Application fee waiver

 Travel subsidy from their home countries to China (one trip per person)

Any scholarship awardee on site in China, the host country, at the time of application will NOT be eligible for any travel subsidy.

Funding duration (NO EXTENSION):

 Master’s program: up to 36 months,

 PhD program: up to 48 months. 

Awardees are required to finish centralized training in Chinese language, Chinese culture and all required credits as well as practical research and completion of degree thesis at colleges and schools of USTC/UCAS or CAS institutes.

Any master’s awardee who fails annual assessments will face the consequence including:

 Termination of his/her scholarship;

 Discontinuity of his/her master’s study.

 Being provided with a certificate of attendance for the period of study undertaken in China but not a formal master’s degree.

Any PhD awardee who fails the qualification test or annual assessment will face the consequences including:

 Termination of his/her scholarship;

 Discontinuity of his/her doctoral study;

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

All the awardees are required to abide by Chinese laws and USTC/UCAS regulations and rules.

Part III: Eligibility

Eligible applicants must:

 Not hold Chinese citizenship;

 Be proficient in English or Chinese;

 For master’s program applicants: be born after 1 January 1991 (inclusive);

      For PhD program applicants: be born after 1 January 1986 (inclusive);

 Meet the admission criteria for international students of USTC/UCAS;

 Not take up other assignments during the period of his/her scholarship.

Note:

 If you are currently pursuing a master’s degree at any university/institution in China, you are NOT eligible for the master’s program of this scholarship. 

     If you are currently pursuing a doctoral degree at any university/institution in China, you are NOT eligible for the   PhD program of this scholarship. 

   Otherwise you will be disqualified from admission and the situation will be reported to your current university/institution.

 You are NOT allowed to apply for the ANSO Scholarship in both USTC and UCAS simultaneously, otherwise you will be disqualified from admission.

Part IV: Step by Step Guideline

In order to successfully apply for the ANSO Scholarship, applicants are requested to follow a few key steps that are indicated below:

1. CHECK ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:  

You should verify that you meet ALL the eligibility criteria for this scholarship (see Part III).

For USTC applicants, it is not mandatory for you to find a host supervisor before application. If you find one that agrees to accept you, you can upload relevant materials as supporting documentation. If not, you will be recommended a supervisor of your research area after screening procedures organized by USTC.

For UCAS applicants, you need to find an eligible professor of your interest that agrees to accept you. See here for a list of eligible schools/institutes and supervisors of UCAS. Send an explanatory e-mail together with your CV, research proposal and other required documents to him/her, and indicate that you wish to apply for the master’s/PhD program of the ANSO Scholarship to UCAS. Your supervisor should finish the required procedure illustrated in the email automatically sent to him/her by the UCAS system immediately after your application materials pass the preliminary review by the institute/college with which the supervisor is affiliated.

2. FINISH YOUR ONLINE ADMISSION APPLICATION TO USTC/UCAS, CHOOSE “THE ANSO SCHOLARSHIP FOR YOUNG TALENTS”.

A. Visit ANSO official website for the ANSO Scholarship application portal：

  to USTC

 to UCAS

   Both systems open on December 1st 2020.

B. File and submit your application in the USTC/UCAS admission system as requested. Choose “the ANSO Scholarship for Young Talents” in your application. 

It is better that you prepare supporting documentation in advance, including but not limited to:

1) Copy of your regular passport which has at least 2 years validity;

2) Complete CV with a brief introduction of research experience;

3) Original copy of the certificate of university degrees held

For master’s program applicants: Bachelor’s degree certificate or official pre-graduation certificate showing their student status and stating the expected graduation date.

For PhD program applicants: ①Bachelor’s degree certificate. ②Master’s degree certificate or official pre-graduation certificate showing their student status and stating the expected graduation date.

4) TWO reference letters:

Two referees (NOT the host supervisor) from academia familiar with you and your work should upload their scanned reference letters to the online admission system of USTC/UCAS.

Reference letters in the body of e-mails will NOT be accepted!

5) Detailed research proposal;

6) Photocopies of title pages and abstracts of maximum 5 published academic papers (if available);

7) Proof of knowledge of English and/or Chinese;

8) Foreigner Physical Examination Form (Attachment)

Note:

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

 Make sure the electronic version of supporting documentation is in the right format as requested.

 If you are awarded the scholarship, you MUST present the required documents, including the original degree certificates, original transcripts AND original regular passport to the ANSO Scholarship office at USTC/UCAS upon your registration, otherwise you will be disqualified.

Deadline for Applicants, Supervisors and Referees:

                                30 April 2021 (Beijing Time)

Part V: Other Information

Contact 

1) Applicants for USTC, please contact:

Ms. Lin Tian (Linda Tian)

ANSO Scholarship for Young Talents USTC Office

University of Science and Technology of China

96 Jinzhai Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230026 China

Tel: +86 551 63600279

Fax: +86 551 63603531

Email: isa@ustc.edu.cn 

2) Applicants for UCAS, please contact:

Ms. Yuchen Xie (PhD Program)

ANSO Scholarship for Young Talents UCAS Office

University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

80 Zhongguancun East Road, Beijing, 100190, China

Tel: +86 10 82674900

Fax: +86 10 82672900

Email: phd@ucas.ac.cn

Ms. Menglin Hu (Master ’s Program)

ANSO Scholarship for Young Talents UCAS Office

University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

80 Zhongguancun East Road, Beijing, 100190, China

Tel: +86 10 82672900

Fax: +86 10 82672900

Email: master@ucas.ac.cn

Relevant Parties

ANSO is a non-profit and non-governmental international scientific organization founded in 2018 by 37 international science and education institutions from around the world. ANSO is committed to promoting shared sustainable development and the advancement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through catalyzing and implementing concrete international cooperative initiatives in Science, Technology, Innovation and Capacity Building (STIC). It is envisaged that ANSO will focus on the most urgent regional and global challenges through STIC. This focus includes supporting scientific capacity building and the needs, particularly of the Global South, through partnerships and cooperation with the member countries and institutions. ANSO will also promote collaborations across the scientific and technological communities of the world to ensure that the benefits of the BRI are widely shared. There will be open access to scientific facilities and information among participants in ANSO. The grooming and empowerment of young scientists will be a particular focus of ANSO. The ANSO Scholarship is one of the main approaches to achieve this goal.

Read more about ANSO: http://www.anso.org.cn

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 is the leading founding member of ANSO.

Read more about CAS: http://english.cas.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 20 faculties, 31 departments, graduate school, and Suzhou Institute, Shanghai Institute, Beijing Institute, Institute of Advanced Technology, and the First Affiliated Hospital of USTC. According to the world acclaimed university rankings as QS, THE, US News, and ARWU, USTC has always been ranked among the best universities in China (from 5th to 3rd), and around 100th in the world. USTC is responsible for the enrollment and management of the master and doctoral candidates of the ANSO Scholarship Program admitted by USTC.

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

UCAS, formerly named Graduate School of CAS, was the first graduate school in China. In 2014, UCAS started enrolling undergraduate students, and since then an intact higher educational system has been established. Being the largest graduate education institution in China, UCAS has over 50,000 ongoing students, and more than half of them are doctoral students. With strong support from CAS institutes all over China, UCAS espouses the philosophy of “The Fusion of Scientific Research and Teaching” as its basic system of education. The disciplines represented at UCAS include all fields of science and 90% engineering. According to the Global University Ranking by Essential Science Indicator (ESI) in September 2019, UCAS ranked No. 1 in China and No. 82 worldwide. As a member of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), UCAS has established close ties with over 100 world-renowned universities. Based on CAS overseas institutions, UCAS is building overseas joint centers for education and research to promote capacity building on B&R. UCAS is responsible for the enrollment and management of the master and doctoral candidates of the ANSO Scholarship Program admitted by UCAS.

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