Scholarship details
The award, which is supported by the Siwei Cheng Foundation of the Education Foundation of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, will honor economic experts who have spent at least 10 years living and working in a poor nation. The Award’s rotation is now each two years.
The award demonstrates the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ strong support for TWAS and, more broadly, for efforts to strengthen scientific capability in underdeveloped countries. Bai Chunli, the Chinese Academy’s and TWAS’s presidents, was instrumental in the founding of the TWAS-Siwei Cheng Prize.
The TWAS-Siwei Cheng Prize is named after Siwei Cheng (1935-2015), a well-known Chinese economist, chemical engineer, and important political figure. He is well renowned for his role in modern Chinese economic development as the driving force behind ChiNext, a stock market dedicated to providing venture funding to technology companies. His contributions have had a significant impact on the Chinese and worldwide economies.
About the Scholarship:
The Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) is a non-governmental organization that was created in 1983 and was officially launched in 1985 by former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. TWAS has brought together some of the region’s most distinguished scientists. It now has 350 members from 55 developing nations, including 9 Nobel Laureates from the Third World who are still alive. TWAS’ major goal is to encourage scientific excellence for the South’s long-term development. TWAS enabled the formation of the Third World Network of Scientific Organizations (TWNSO) in 1988, a non-governmental alliance of over 133 scientific organizations from 70 Third World countries, including 27 Ministries of Science and Technology, 42 Research Councils, and 36 Academies. TWNSO’s purpose is to support the establishment of political and scientific leadership for science-based economic growth in the South, as well as broad-based South-South and South-North partnerships in science and technology fields vital to long-term development. TWAS and TWNSO have created a number of programs to assist scientists in developing nations who are doing ground-based research using global satellite data. These programs include the awarding of research grants to promising space scientists to help them buy the equipment and spare parts they need for their experiments, as well as fellowships to space scientists in the South to conduct research and training at other South-based space research institutions. TWNSO has also just started a large South-South collaboration program, which will provide competitive research funding to cooperative research projects involving 2–3 competent institutions from different nations in the South (particularly those incorporating the use of global satellite data). TWAS, a program unit of UNESCO based in Trieste, Italy, fosters scientific capacity and excellence in the global South through a variety of programs and opportunities for scientists, including research grants, awards, fellowships, and workshops. The Academy has eleven Nobel Laureates as Fellows. TWAS conducts the world’s biggest South-South PhD and postdoctoral research fellowship program, with around 260 fellowships available in 2020, in collaboration with national science organizations in prominent developing nations. Between 1986 and 2020, the Academy awarded over 2,630 grants. WAS’s mission includes the following goals: I Recognize, support, and promote excellence in scientific research in developing countries; (ii) Respond to the needs of young scientists in countries that are still developing in science and technology; (iii) Promote South-South and South-North cooperation in science, technology, and innovation; and (iv) Encourage scientific research and sharing of experiences in solving major challenges facing developing countries. TWAS was a member of the S4D4C consortium and routinely conducts science diplomacy courses and capacity building initiatives. It is a science diplomacy organization in the sense that it focuses on the developing countries. TWAS and its partners annually award over 600 fellowships to developing-world scientists pursuing PhDs and postdoctoral research. The academy’s prizes and awards are among the most distinguished in the developing countries for scientific work. Each year, the academy awards about $1 million in research grants to individual scientists and research organizations. It also provides money for regional and international research meetings, as well as hosting visiting experts. TWAS is made up of 880 members from 90 countries, with 73 of them being developing nations. The secretariat is based in Trieste, Italy, on the grounds of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP). The administration of TWAS funding and personnel is the responsibility of UNESCO. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy contributes a significant percentage of TWAS financing.
Scholarship Sponsor(s): The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS)
Scholarship Country: Italy
Scholarship Worth: $10,000
Study Level: Undergraduate
Nationality: International Students
Scholarship Offer:
- Since 2017, a $10,000 award has been presented in the subject of economic sciences.
- The award will be given out on a special occasion, which usually coincides with TWAS’s General Conference.
- A medal is included with the prize.
Eligibility for Scholarship.
- Economic scientists who have lived and worked in a developing country for at least 10 years prior to their nomination are eligible for the TWAS-Siwei Cheng Prize in Economic Sciences. At least one of the following requirements must be met:
- Outstanding scientific research achievement in economic sciences for the advancement of scientific thought.
- Outstanding contribution to economic science’s application to sustainable development.
- The reward is not open to TWAS members or candidates for TWAS membership.
- Self-nominations will not be taken into account.
Nominations
- All TWAS members, as well as science academies, national research councils, universities, and scientific institutions in developing and developed countries, are invited to submit candidates.
- Nominations must be submitted electronically using the on-line nomination platform and must clearly indicate the candidate’s contribution to the understanding and application of economic sciences.
- Women social scientists and individuals from scientifically underdeveloped countries are especially encouraged to apply.
TWAS-Siwei Cheng Award in Economic Sciences Interview Date, Process, and Location
The recipients are chosen on the basis of merit and the recommendations of TWAS members on selection committees.
Nationality
The TWAS-Siwei Cheng 2022 Award in Economic Sciences for Developing Countries is open to all international women students
Application Procedure
Nominations for the TWAS-Siwei Cheng Prize in Economic Sciences can only be submitted electronically through the on-line platform, which can be accessed by clicking the “Nominate Now” link at the foot of this page.
Application Deadline
The application deadline for TWAS-Siwei Cheng 2022 Award in Economic Sciences for Developing Countries Is March 31, 2022
