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Higher Education Research Partnership for PhD Studies

Invitation for applications

1. On behalf of the Scottish Government and Ministry of Education of P.R. China, British

Council China which operates as the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy and China Scholarship Council are pleased to invite applications for funding to support research partnerships and exchange of PhD students.

2. The research partnership funding is available for two years in duration (financial year

2009-2010 and 2010-2011). Bids are welcomed for a maximum of £25,000 from the Scottish Government to cover costs incurred in Scotland and Chinese universities can apply from Ministry of Education a separate fund to cover costs in China.

3. To apply for funding please complete the application form which can be downloaded

from http://www.britishcouncil.org.cn or http://www.csc.edu.cn. Please note the application should be jointly written in English by the partner institutions in two

countries, co-signed and sent to British Council China and China Scholarship Council respectively at the address provided at the end of this document. The deadline for receipt of applications is 17:00 Friday 16 October 2009.

Background

4. During her visit in April 2008, Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Education and

Lifelong Learning, the Scottish Government, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Wu Qidi, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Education of China. In the MOU, the two parties agreed they were keen to support research collaboration between academics from their respective countries.

5. In this context, Scotland-China Higher Education Research Partnership for PhD

Studies programme is set up, and British Council and China Scholarship Council are commissioned by their respective government to implement the programme.

6. The ultimate objective of the Programme is to develop collaborative PhD programmes

and ideally offer joint or dual degrees. This will be built around sustainable

relationships between Chinese and Scottish higher education institutions or research consortia.

7. Although the aim is to support the development of collaborative PhDs over the long

term, this may present difficulties over the short to medium term for some institutions. We recognise that the approval process for joint degrees can be lengthy and the status of some institutions does not allow them to offer joint PhDs. Rather than exclude institutions or expect them to change their policies, we will be flexible and include partnerships which will facilitate joint PhDs, dual PhDs and split site PhDs.

Priority sector

8. SG and MOE have agreed to support partnerships in the following sectors and would

be particularly keen to support cross disciplinary work.

a. Energy, resources and environment– particularly clean and renewable b. Life sciences and public health c. Financial services

d. Technology, including telecommunication and information technology and

high-and-new technology in agriculture e. Geosciences, environment and society f. Material Science and New Material g. Engineering Science

h. Applied social science and WTO-related areas

Eligibility principles

9. On the Scottish side, applications will be considered from all institutions and research

consortia which are strong in research in the above sectors. On the Chinese side, applications will open to “211 Project” and “985 Project” universities.

10. Prerequisites of Chinese applicants

Chinese applicants should comply with the selection rules stated in the official notice of China Scholarship Council.

11. Eligibility of Scottish applicants

Scottish applicants for PhD studies in China should comply with the eligibilities stated in the Guide to Study in China 2009

http://en.csc.edu.cn/Lianhua/c1e7463d02704511940e91faa7ba7942.shtml

Funding arrangements

12. Funding will be made available to fund two areas of activity:

a. Mobility grants which will allow Chinese and Scottish research partners to

visit one another to develop their partnership and related research proposals.

 Funding will be available to cover costs of returning international airfares

(economy class), accommodation, food, subsistence and domestic travel. These should be detailed on the application form.

 Under each research partnership, each partner can send a research team

of no more than four people to the other side for up to five working days at proper time in the funding period from 2009-2011.

 Scottish Government will make funding available to cover Scottish

research teams’ returning international airfares (economy class) and their Chinese visa fees. Chinese Government will make funding available to cover Chinese research teams’ returning international airfares (economy class) and their UK visa fees.

b. Exchange of PhD students.

 Under each research partnership, each partner can send PhD students to

the other side for up to 18 person-months during the pilot period. These PhD students will stay with the other party for a minimum of three months.  Host institutions are expected to waive any bench fees as part of their

contribution to the partnership. In exceptional circumstances the

governments may consider covering these fees under the Programme.  Scottish Government will make funding available to cover Scottish

students’ returning international airfares (economy class), and their Chinese visa fees.

 Scottish Government will cover Chinese students’ one off arrival

allowance of £550 and a monthly stipend of £767 (to cover meals, accommodation and domestic travel, etc.).

 Chinese Government will make funding available to cover Chinese

students’ returning international airfares (economy class), and their UK visa fees.

 Chinese Government will pay for other reasonable costs of Scottish PhD

students whilst they are in China. This includes a monthly stipend of 2000 RMB, comprehensive medical care insurance for Chinese

Government Scholarship holders, and a one-off arrival allowance (1000 RMB for those who stay for less than one academic year and 1500 RMB for those who stay for more than one academic year). In addition,

Scottish PhD students will be exempt from accommodation fees, tuition fees, experiment fees and basic teaching material costs. Costs beyond the above arrangements will be born by the students themselves.  Scottish institutions will be expected to fund the necessary insurance

cover for their students, as required, whilst they are in China

13. To summarise, funding from the Scottish Government will cover the following items:

a. Mobility grants:

 Scottish researchers’ returning airfares (economy class)  Chinese researchers’ accommodation in Scotland  Chinese researchers’ subsistence in Scotland  Chinese researchers’ local travel in Scotland

b. Exchange of PhD students:

    

a. Mobility grants:

   

b. Exchange of PhD students:

    

Arrival allowance to Scottish PhD students Stipend to Scottish PhD students

Contribution to Scottish Students’ bench fees in exceptional cases Chinese students’ returning airfares to Scotland (economy class) Chinese students’ visa fees to study in Scotland Chinese researchers’ returning airfares (economy class) Scottish researchers’ accommodation in China Scottish researchers’ subsistence in China Scottish researchers’ local travel in China

Arrival allowance to Chinese PhD students Stipend to Chinese PhD students

Contribution to Chinese PhD students’ bench fees in exceptional cases Scottish students’ returning airfares to China (economy class) Scottish students’ visa fees to study in China

14. And funding from the Chinese Government will cover the following items:

Evaluation criteria

15. Each applicant should ensure their applications meet the criteria set out below. The

principles underlying the assessment of applications will be:

a. All questions on the application form are answered;

b. The overall project objectives and anticipated outcomes are clearly defined; c. The activities are planned to deliver the outcomes in the most effective way; d. The extent to which the project will contribute towards developing a long term

sustainable partnership between Scottish and Chinese universities;

e. The quality of the research collaboration proposed, the researchers and the

institutions involved.

f. The finance is well planned in line with the above guidance.

Evaluation process

16. There will be a two-stage approach to evaluating proposals:

a. Initial Screening: This is designed to eliminate technically ineligible

applications. It will be undertaken by the British Council China and China

Scholarship Council. A prioritised list of applications for further evaluation will be drawn up.

b. Evaluation Panel: The ultimate decision for agreeing applications for funding

support will be made by an evaluation panel whose members will be cross-disciplinary and have a background in research. The decision of the panel will be final.

Contracting and Financial Arrangements

17. The grant letter for each partnership will be signed between British Council China and

Scottish research team leader. The team leader will be responsible for:

a. Provision of accounts to detail how the funds have been spent over the

previous period.

b. Alerting the British Council China and China Scholarship Council to any

substantive changes in the partnership that will impact on project outcomes.

Reporting

18. Each partnership is required to submit joint reports in English by February 2010,

August 2010 and a final report by February 2011 to the British Council and China Scholarship Council. These will be both technical and financial.

Monitoring

19. Each partnership will be monitored three times over the course of the project by

British Council and China Scholarship Council through progress reports review, in April 2010, October 2010 and April 2011.

Contact points

20. Mrs Yvonne Yang

Projects Officer

Cultural and Education Section of the British Consulate-General 1st Floor Cross Tower 318 Fuzhou Lu Shanghai 200001

Tel: +86 (0)21 63912626 ext. 215 Fax: +86 (0)21 63912121

Email: Scholarships.Shanghai@britishcouncil.org.cn

上海市福州路318号高腾大厦1层英国驻上海总领事馆文化教育处， 200001 教育：杨幼玲女士

电话：+86 (21) 63912626转215 传真：+86 (21) 63912121

电子邮件： Scholarships.Shanghai@britishcouncil.org.cn

21. Ms. Wu Nan

Project Officer

Division of European, Asian & African Affairs China Scholarship Council

Level 13, Building A3, Five Buildings, No.9 Chegongzhuang Avenue, Beijing 100044, P. R. China Tel: +86-(0)10 6609 3934 Fax: +86-(0)10 6609 3929 Email: nwu@csc.edu.cn

北京西城区车公庄大街9号五栋大楼A3楼13层中国国家留学基金管理委员会欧亚非事务部 100044

项目：吴楠女士

电话：+86-(0)10 6609 3934 传真: +86-(0)10 6609 3929 电子邮件: nwu@csc.edu.cn