UNESCO/The People’s Republic of China – The Great Wall Co-Sponsored Fellowships Programme 2025-2026

Deadline: February 12, 2025

Applications are open for the UNESCO/The People’s Republic of China – The Great Wall Co-Sponsored Fellowships Programme 2025-2026. With a view to promoting the human resource development and capacity building of developing countries and to enhancing international exchanges in the field of education, culture, communication, science and technology and the friendship among peoples of the world, UNESCO and the Government of the People’s Republic of China will co-sponsor a total number of seventy-five (75) fellowships for advanced studies in various fields, at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, during the academic year 2025-2026.

Tenable at a selected number of Chinese universities, these fellowships are intended for students and researchers who plan to pursue degree study at the postgraduate level or undertake individual research with periodic guidance from the assigned supervisors in China. A candidate may apply for either a one-year Visiting Scholar programme (as General or Senior scholar) or a Master’s or Doctoral Degree programme with the duration of study ranging from 2 to 5 years. Subject to the availability of study programmes at the selected universities, the study programmes will be taught in English or Chinese. Candidates applying for the Chinese-taught programmes should have acquired a certain level of Chinese proficiency before undertaking research or studying in their fields of interest.

The beneficiary countries of UNESCO-China Fund-in-Trust (CFIT) Project are encouraged to submit candidates in the relevant fields of study in Education. Given the high priority that UNESCO places on Gender Equality, Africa and SIDS, women candidates and candidates from Africa and SIDS are strongly encouraged to apply.

Eligibility

• Applicants must meet the eligibility requirements in age, language and academic qualifications for the chosen study programme:
  • One Year Scholarship Programme
    • Candidates applying for General Scholar Programmes must hold a high school diploma and should not be older than the age of forty-five (45); whereas those who apply for Senior Scholar Programmes must hold a master’s degree or an associate professor position (or above) and not be older than the age of fifty (50).
    • English proficiency is required. For a candidate applying for a Chinese-taught programme as General or Senior visiting scholar, her/is Chinese proficiency must reach HSK Level 3.
  • Degree Programmes
    • Candidates applying for Master’s Degree Programmes must hold a bachelor’s degree and should not be older than the age of thirty-five (35); whereas those who apply for Doctoral Degree Programmes must hold a master’s degree and should not be older than the age of forty (40).
    • English proficiency is required. For a candidate applying for a Chinese-taught degree programme, her/is Chinese proficiency must reach HSK Level 4.
  • Meeting the admission requirements of the applied universities in terms of academic ability, language proficiency and other relevant criteria.
  • Be in good health, both mentally and physically.

Eligible Countries

• AFRICA (46 Member States): Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe
• ASIA AND THE PACIFIC (38 Member States): Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Cook Islands, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Niue, Palau, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Viet Nam
• ARAB STATES (13 Member States): Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, State of Palestine, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Yemen
• LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBEAN (26 Member States): Argentina, Belize, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Venezuela (Bolivian Republic of)
• EUROPE (12 Member States): Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Ukraine 

Application

• Step 1: Read carefully the Application Guidelines for the 2025-2026 UNESCO/China Co-Sponsored Fellowships Programme to understand the requirements for eligible candidatures and the procedures for the submission of application.
• Step 2: Contact the National Commission for UNESCO of your home country to enquire the application procedures at the national level. Click here for the contact information of the National Commissions for UNESCO.
• Step 3: Submit your online application, along with the required supporting documents in the Chinese Government Scholarship Information System.
• Step 4: Submit your online application form and the supporting documents to the National Commission for UNESCO of your home country.
• Step 5: As soon as you are informed by the National Commission for UNESCO of your country that you are nominated as a candidate for this programme, you should communicate your the online application form and the supporting documents to [email protected]. 
• Step 6: Letters of nomination, along with the copies of the online Application Forms and all the application documents should be submitted to UNESCO by National Commissions by 12 February 2025 at the latest. Candidates who submit incomplete applications or submit the online applications beyond this deadline won’t be considered.

For more information, visit The Great Wall Co-Sponsored Fellowships.