How a Chinese Academy of Sciences grant opened up fresh research avenues
Top tips:
- Finding a motivated Chinese collaborator is crucial to success as it is the partner who submits the bid.
- Highlight common research interests in academy bids and the potential for ongoing connections in your application.
- Identify benefits for your research, such as learning new experimental techniques.
- The application is straightforward; do not be put off by fear of heavy bureaucracy.
In 2018, Christa Fittschen achieved a small milestone in Franco-Chinese relations, becoming the first French person to hold a ten-year visa designed to bring foreign talent to China. An atmospheric chemist at the University of Lille, Fittschen was eligible for the visa after winning a mobility grant under the President’s International Fellowship Initiative at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.