ANSO-CAS-TWAS/UNESCO PhD Scholarship

Benefits & funding

• Full tuition waiver at the host university, plus a waiver of the application fee.
• Monthly stipend of CNY 6,000 before the qualification test is passed and CNY 7,000 after it, for up to 48 months.
• Health insurance for the study period.
• One international travel allowance and a one-time visa allowance, sponsored by TWAS/UNESCO for eligible awardees.
• Tuition, stipend, insurance and the fee waiver are sponsored by CAS; funding runs for up to four years of doctoral study.

Eligibility

• Applicants must be nationals of a developing country on the TWAS list of developing countries in the South.
• Applicants must not hold Chinese citizenship.
• For the 2026 round applicants had to be born on or after 1 January 1991; the cut-off moves forward a year with each cycle, so in practice the limit is about 35 at the deadline.
• A master’s degree (MSc) or an equivalent qualification is required.
• Proficiency in English or Chinese is required.
• Applicants must meet the admission criteria for international students of USTC or UCAS.
• Anyone already pursuing a doctoral degree in China is not eligible.
• Awardees may not take on other assignments during the scholarship period.
• Only one host university may be chosen; applying to both USTC and UCAS in the same cycle is not allowed.
• Ten of the 40 awards are prioritised for climate-related research. Special, non-exclusive consideration goes to applicants from Least Developed Countries and to women.

Application process

1. 1
   Choose one host university, USTC or UCAS, and a doctoral programme there in a natural-science field.
2. 2
   Read that university’s current call for international doctoral applicants and prepare the documents it lists.
3. 3
   Register on the host’s online admission system — isa.ustc.edu.cn for USTC, adis.ucas.ac.cn for UCAS.
4. 4
   In the scholarship section of the form, select BOTH Young Talents and then the ANSO-CAS-TWAS/UNESCO Scholarship.
5. 5
   Submit before the deadline and make sure referees file their letters by the same date, which applies to applicants and referees alike.
6. 6
   Wait for the host university to announce the result; scholarship queries go to ANSO/CAS or to the TWAS fellowships office.

Program timeline

1. The 2026 round opened for applications.

   Oct 15, 2025

2. Deadline for applicants and referees, Beijing time.

   Jan 31, 2026

3. TWAS lists the call as closed; no new round is open as of this write-up.

   2026

4. Next round

   not yet announced. The previous call opened in October.