Yenching Academy Scholarship

The Yenching Academy of Peking University is a SOAS partner Institute that offers a great opportunity to SOAS students and recent SOAS graduates: a 2-year interdisciplinary Master's Program in China Studies at the top university in China.

The first year of the program is fully funded, including round-trip airfare, tuition, housing, and living expenses. Students who maintain good academic standing and choose to remain in Beijing for the second year are eligible to apply for another year of full funding.

How to apply

Deadline for applications: 12am, midnight (UK time), Sunday 3 December 2023.

SOAS students and alumni are required to apply through SOAS. To apply, fill out the application form and email it to sci@soas.ac.uk before the deadline together with the application components.

* Applicants will also need to get two letters of recommendation from full professors or associate professors (or equivalent titles, so Senior Lecturer or above) using the recommendation form below, which should be sent to the SOAS China Institute. 

** Applicants that are successfully nominated by the SOAS China Institute to Yenching Academy will be notified by email on Thursday 7th December 2023 and will then be required to submit their applications through the Yenching Academy online portal by midnight (UK time) on Saturday 9th December 2023. **

Yenching Academy will consider the nominated candidates for finalist interviews and will contact them directly to schedule an online interview from December 2023 to March 2024 if they are successfully shortlisted. Offers of a scholarship will be made by around April 2024. 

* If you are from Mainland China or the Chinese Regions of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan (HMT), the application process is different. Please refer to the information further below.

Eligibility

Applicants should have:

• minimum of a Bachelor's degree in any field or currently enrolled on a degree programme awarded no later than 31 August of the year in which they wish to enrol
• an outstanding academic record
• strong interest in interdisciplinary study of China
• a record of extracurricular achievement, community engagement, social responsibility, and leadership potential
• English proficiency

The Yenching Academy does not have a strict age cut-off for applicants, but to date, no person over the age of 28 has been admitted to the programme. The average age of students entering the program is 23.

Application Components

Applicants are required to submit the following components together with their completed application form to the SOAS China Institute at sci@soas.ac.uk by 12am, midnight (UK time), Sunday 3rd December 2023.

• personal statement (750 words or less)
• statement of Research Interest (maximum 1500 words, excluding citations):
  • Should include key research question(s), background to study and/or summary of literature, and study design that could reflect the applicant’s academic training. Please note that applicants are not committed to making this proposed project their Master’s thesis topic. The Admissions Committee wants to judge how you formulate and write about academic topics.
• curriculum vitae (maximum 2 pages)
• official transcript(s)
• diploma(s) or Certificate(s) of Enrollment
• two letters of recommendation: Peking University will only accept recommendation letters written by full professors or associate professors (or equivalent titles, so Senior Lecturer or above)
• English proficiency demonstrated through one of the following scores:
  • IELTS (Academic): Overall 7.0
  • TOEFL (iBT): Overall 100
  • Cambridge English Scale (Advanced): Overall 185
  • Submission of English scores: For IELTS, TOEFL, and Cambridge tests, we will only accept scores sent directly to us from these organizations. Please choose “Yenching Academy of Peking University” as the designated recipient of the scores. For TOEFL, use the institution code: C488.
  • TOEFL and IELTS English proficiency tests must be taken after September 1, 2022. Currently, we do not accept TOEFL MyBest Scores, TOEFL iBT Home Edition, IELTS Indicator test, or IELTS Online.

[1] Candidates whose official university documents are in languages other than English or Chinese must submit copies of both the original documents and certified English translations. This requirement also applies to diplomas issued in Latin. Please ensure that the translation indicates the degree type (e.g. Bachelor’s or Master’s degree).

[2] Students whose native language is English, or have graduated from an English-taught degree program (undergraduate or above), are not required to provide an English proficiency test report.

Please find full application details and further information on the scholarship programme. 

* Please note that only SOAS students or recent SOAS graduates are eligible to apply via the SOAS China Institute. Yenching Academy also welcomes candidates who already have another Master's degree, in addition to those holding just Bachelor's degrees or are currently enrolled in their final year of their Bachelor's degree.

Applicants from the Chinese Regions of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan (HMT)

Applicants holding the below identity documents issued to residence from these regions must apply as an HMT applicant:

• For residents from the HKSAR and Macao SAR: ①香港或澳门永久性居民身份证和  ②《港澳居民来往内地通行证》或《港澳居民居住证》
• For residents from the Taiwan region: ①在台湾居住的有效身份证明和 ②《台湾居民来往大陆通行证》或《台湾居民居住证》

Applicants from these regions are required to submit two online applications, and send the application materials in hardcopy to the admissions office.

• Yenching Academy admissions portal: Application for 2024 enrolment is open from August 15  to 12:00 noon on December 10, 2023 (Beijing time);
• Peking University Graduate Admissions Application: Specific application timeline will become available around October on this website;
• In addition, applicants from the HMT regions are also required to mail hardcopies of the application material to the Yenching Academy admissions office before February 18, 2024.

Please find detailed instructions for HMT applicants, as well as on the Yenching Academy admissions portal. Failure to complete the online Peking University Graduate Admissions Application and submit hardcopies of the application materials will result in incomplete and unsuccessful application to the Yenching Academy.

Mainland Chinese applicants

Mainland Chinese applicants apply through a different process. In accordance with the Chinese Ministry of Education’s requirements, students holding a P.R.C. passport are eligible for September 2024 admission if they are currently enrolled as undergraduates in a Mainland Chinese university. For more information, please refer to the Peking University Graduate Admissions website.