ShanghaiTech University calls for application of China’s Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Overseas) for year 2024

Jointly founded by the Shanghai Municipal Government and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 2013, ShanghaiTech University joined the elite list of China’s World-Class Universities Project on February 14, 2022. ShanghaiTech is committed to tackling China’s challenges in economic and social development with the focus on science and technology, and nurturing the next generation of innovative scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs. ShanghaiTech aspires to be a small-scale, high-level, international university oriented towards research and innovation.

We are looking for motivated individuals who are committed to professional integrity and excellence in teaching and mentoring, scholarship, service, and international recognition. ShanghaiTech pays great attention to faculty’s long-term development, provides them with competitive start-up packages (including research start-up funds, overseas training programs, and housing), and recruits top experts and high-level talents with strong academic background and management skills to serve as deans, directors and professors, thereby attracting a young and international faculty body.

Located in the heart of Shanghai Pudong’s Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, ShanghaiTech is a key part of the Zhangjiang Comprehensive National Science Center and forms a research cluster with nearby national scientific facilities and research institutions, such as Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF), National Facility for Protein Science (Shanghai), Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, CAS, Innovation Academy for Microsatellites, CAS, and Drug Discovery & Development Platform of Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, CAS, naturally fostering ShanghaiTech’s connection with industry and investment partners in Zhangjiang.

With a focus on STEM fields, ShanghaiTech has established the following schools (no departments in the school), institutes, one center and one research hospital:

- School of Physical Science and Technology

- School of Life Science and Technology

- School of Information Science and Technology

- School of Entrepreneurship and Management

- School of Creativity and Art

- Institute of Humanities

- School of Biomedical Engineering

- Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies

- iHuman Institute

- Institute of Mathematical Sciences

- Center for Transformative Science

- Institute of Carbon Neutrality

- Shanghai Clinical Research and Trial Center

ShanghaiTech undertakes the construction and management of the Shanghai Clinical Research and Trial Center, which is approved by the Shanghai Municipal Government and is subordinate to the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission. The center is planned and constructed according to the standard of tertiary general hospitals. ShanghaiTech is responsible for or participates in the construction of key national facilities such as the Shanghai Soft X-ray Free Electron Laser Facility (SXFEL), the Live Cell Imaging Facility, the Shanghai Superintense Ultrafast Laser Facility (SULF), SSRF Phase-II Beamline Project (Nano Spin and Magnetics Beamline, High-Performance Membrane Protein Crystallography Beamline). ShanghaiTech also takes the lead in the planning and construction of Shanghai HIgh repetitioN rate XFEL and Extreme light facility (SHINE).

ShanghaiTech plans to build a faculty of 1,000 professors for a faculty-student ratio of 1:10 to 1:12, with the appointment of 500 tenure-track professors and 500 distinguished adjunct professors. The tenure-track professors (under the tenure system) are mainly distinguished scholars and outstanding young talents from prestigious universities worldwide; the distinguished adjunct professors are mainly top scientists from the CAS and renowned professors at home and abroad, including four Nobel Prize winners, 32 CAS academicians, five CAE (Chinese Academy of Engineering) academicians, 10 members of the US National Academy of Sciences, eight members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and two fellows of the Royal Society.

By actively promoting international cooperation, ShanghaiTech has established cooperative relationships with many top universities around the world in student cultivation, scientific research, academic exchange, curriculum sharing, faculty training, etc. At present, ShanghaiTech has established good connections with Cornell, Duke, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Oxford, UC Berkeley, UPenn, Yale, and other well-known universities, and the list of partner universities keeps expanding.

About the Fund:

The Excellent Young Scientists Fund (overseas) aims to attract and encourage outstanding overseas young scholars (including those without Chinese citizenship) with good achievements in natural science and engineering technology to return/come to China to work.

The Fund empowers the scientists to conduct innovative research in their chosen fields, promotes the fast growth of young scientific and technological talents, fosters a number of outstanding talents on the international science frontiers, and contributes to the development of China to become a leader in science and technology.

Eligibility:

1. The applicants should meet the following qualifications:

(1) Abide by the laws and regulations of the People’s Republic of China, have good scientific integrity, and uphold the spirit of scientists in the new era.

(2) Born after January 1, 1984 (inclusive).

(3) A doctoral degree.

(4) The main research direction is natural science or engineering technology.

(5) After obtaining the doctoral degree, the applicant should have served in formal teaching or research positions in overseas universities, research institutions or R&D departments of enterprises for more than 36 consecutive months before April 15, 2024. The requirement for years of working can be reduced if the applicant has obtained a doctoral degree overseas and made outstanding achievements.

(6) Have obtained scientific research or technological achievements recognized by peer experts, and demonstrated the potential to become academic leaders and outstanding scientists in their fields;

(7) Guarantee of full-time work in China for at least three years during the project implementation for applicants who have not yet returned to work full-time in China, or returned to work in China after January 1, 2023. Applicants should quit their jobs overseas once they receive the funding.

2. Specific requirements for the Fund application:

Applicants shall only apply for or undertake one type of project among the same level of government-sponsored talent plans. Those who have undertaken a project at a higher level may not apply for one at a lower level.

3. Notes for applicants:

(1) Qualified applicants may sign a work contract or an agreement of intent with the supporting institutions (e.g. ShanghaiTech) in accordance with the requirements of the project guide. Please log in to the application system after February 1, 2024, and fill in the online Application Form of the Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Overseas) sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (hereinafter referred as “Application Form”). The applicant is responsible for the authenticity of the submitted application materials.

(2) The applicants shall fill in the Application Form online in simplified Chinese or English according to the instructions, and upload attachments and other materials

(3) The Fund adopts a paperless application method. Applicants shall submit electronic application forms, attachments, impartiality commitment letters, etc. online to the supporting institutions, which will review and submit them online to the NSFC.

Funding and benefits:

Successful applicants will receive a state-funded funding of 1 to 3 million CNY for 3 years. In addition, ShanghaiTech will also offer attractive compensation packages, including:

Compensation and benefits: competitive salary commensurate with experience and academic accomplishments;

Initial research support package: attractive start-up funds and laboratory space to meet research needs;

R&D infrastructure: an extensive array of cutting-edge research facilities;

Student enrollment and training: employed as a doctoral supervisor with guaranteed enrollment of a critical number of graduate students;

Subsidized housing: apartments in or outside the campus available at preferential rent, talent rental subsidies sponsored by Shanghai or Pudong New District;

Talent services: reimbursement of expenses for household relocation and family’s one-way travel, staffing of public institution, Shanghai household registration, comprehensive social insurance, supplementary medical insurance, housing provident fund and supplementary provident fund;

Family assistance: support with children’s education, recommendations to affiliated kindergarten, primary and middle schools.

How to apply:

1. Applicants should submit their resumes (including basic personal information, education and work experience, research fields, representative achievements, etc.) to the contact email address of the intended school/institute/center and cc hr@shanghaitech.edu.cn. Please indicate the subject of the email as Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Overseas).

2. Our staff team will provide comprehensive application services for applicants. Please visit https://grants.nsfc.gov.cn/ for the application system.

Contacts:

ShanghaiTech official website: https://www.shanghaitech.edu.cn/eng/