Yenching Scholars

The Yenching Scholarsip (also Yanjing Scholars; Chinese: 燕京学者, pinyin: Yānjīng Xuézhe) is an elite interdisciplinary graduate leadership program at the Yenching Academy of Peking University (PKU) in Beijing, China. The highly selective program, hosted in its own purpose-built residential college, is designed "to cultivate leaders who will advocate for global progress and cultural understanding." Starting in 2015, the program will provide Yenching Scholars, selected annually from around the world, with full scholarships for one year of study leading to a master's degree from Peking University, China's "most prestigious" and "first modern" university. At its announcement, then Peking University President Wang Enge described the program as the "most ambitious academic initiative PKU has launched since the turn of the new century."

Inspired by the classical Chinese academies known as Shūyuàn and the Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University, the Yenching Scholars Program at Peking University will compete with the Schwarzman Scholars Program at Tsinghua University in China and similar global scholarship programs around the world. It is the first such program to launch in Asia.

Scholarship

Mission

Yenching Scholars is an intensive global leadership program designed to provide outstanding young scholars with a broad interdisciplinary graduate education that reflects global perspectives. The program is designed "to cultivate leaders who will advocate for global progress and cultural understanding."

Overview

Yenching Academy is an elite residential graduate college of Peking University that will host the newly launched Yenching Program. The program will offer fully funded scholarships, including tuition, accommodation, transportation, and a living stipend to Yenching Scholars selected annually from around the world. Unlike most graduate master's degrees in China which run two years for professional programs and three years for academic fields, the program will last one year. Additionally, there will be the option to extend it for a second year as well as the opportunity for scholars to continue with doctoral studies at Peking. The program will initially offer concentrations in law and society, economics and management, public policy and international relations, literature and culture, history and archaeology, and philosophy and religion.

Eligibility requirements and selection criteria

Eligibility requirements

Applicants for the scholarship must be have completed their bachelor's degree before starting the scholarship program.

• Bachelor's (first undergraduate) degree in any field
• Demonstrated English language proficiency (Chinese language proficiency is not required)
• Must be 25 years of age or younger on 31 August in the year during which the program starts; students from countries with mandatory national service for university graduates must be 27 years of age or younger
• Marital status is not considered (however spouses or partners will not be funded by the scholarship or accommodated in the college)
• No citizenship requirements

Selection criteria

The scholarship is seeking a "diverse group of talented young leaders who demonstrate academic excellence, leadership, innovative thought, and a commitment to the betterment of society."

• Outstanding academic record
• Demonstrated leadership skills
• Active in extracurricular activities
• Active community engagement and a strong sense of social responsibility
• Strong moral character
• Demonstrated interest in exploring diverse cultures

Allocation

For the inaugural year of the program, 100 scholars will be selected from around the world. Approximately 65% of the scholars will be international students while the remaining 35% will be from mainland China. The program expects that of the 65% international scholars in the inaugural class, that there will be "twenty from North America, twenty from Europe and twenty-five from the rest of the world." It expected that the program will grow to 200 scholars per year.

Within China, Yenching is reaching out to students at top universities across the country. Outside of China, Peking Yenching has formed a series of relationships with leading universities around the world. These participating partner universities will conduct an internal selection process, nominating a few finalists annually to be considered for the scholarship program (generally 3 nominated candidates for every confirmed spot). For students attending universities that do not have a relationship with Peking Yenching, they can also apply directly.

The Academy expects its "first cohort of Yenching Scholars to be from 47 universities, with the most numerous coming from Oxford, Harvard, Princeton, Cape Town, Cambridge, Stanford, Chicago, Leiden and Yale." Scholars "will represent 36 countries and regions, from Armenia and Australia to Vietnam and Zimbabwe."

Recruitment

Peking Yenching has been reaching out to students across the world both directly and through participating partner universities. The "majority of Yenching Scholars are recommended by Peking University's partner universities around the globe." "The partnership is exclusive to a group of global universities and faculties in China and around the world." This is different from Schwarzman which will initially have the Institute of International Education in the US select applicants through a central process.

In the North America, Yenching has posted applications at partners, Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, Brown University, the University of Chicago, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Michigan and the University of California. Additionally, Stanford University will be nominating applicants (2 confirmed spots) as a participating university.

In Europe, participating universities, which will be nominating students, are Oxford University (2 confirmed spots), Cambridge University (2 confirmed spots), London School of Economics (2 confirmed spots), Imperial College London, University College London (2 confirmed spots), Catholic University of Leuven (up to 6 nominated candidates for 2 confirmed spots), the University of Leiden, the University of Copenhagen (3 nominated candidates for 1 confirmed spot), the Free University of Berlin (2 confirmed spots), and Saint Petersburg State University.

In Africa, Yenching has partnered with participating university, University of Cape Town (3 confirmed spots).

In South America, applications were posted at the partner, University of Buenos Aires.

Lastly, in Asia, it has partnered with the Melbourne University, Sydney University, Tokyo University, Hong Kong University, National University of Singapore, Seoul National University, and Sungkyunkwan University (2 confirmed spots).

Students from other universities can apply directly. Yenching may have also partnered with other universities. (Confirmed spots are for the inaugural year of the program and may change thereafter as the program grows.)

Admission

Applicants can apply directly for either early admission or regular admission. Additionally, students who are nominated will submit their applications before the regular admission deadline.

See also

• Peking University's Yenching Academy
• Schwarzman Scholars at Schwarzman College of Tsinghua University
• Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University
• Gates Scholarship at Cambridge University

External links

• Yenching Scholars website