International Endowment for Chinese Studies
Connecting with the Chinese World
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The production of knowledge and high-quality research rely foremost on documentary sources. A car cannot move without fuel. The same goes for research. The scope of documentary resources must be as wide and deep as possible. In the 21st century, documentary resources are almost exclusively in digital format. This is true of current documentation — press, academic journals, official reports, etc. — but also of historical sources that are being increasingly turned into digital documents, in China, the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Europe. Even if part of these resources are made available for free, the bulk is behind paywalls, by private companies or public institutions. It is now possible to create a world-class digital library in China and Chinese societies. The resources are there already, but they are distributed among a myriad of companies and institutions. IECS already has the technological infrastructure to support such a library and provide access to resources to scholars across France and Europe. The creation of the 21st Century Chinese World Digital Library requires an initial investment to pay for the access fees that most resource providers require upfront. The baseline for recurrent subscriptions can be assessed at €150,000 per year. IECS is aiming at raising an endowment fund of €3,000,000 to support documentary acquisition and subscription in perpetuity.
This program aims to create a virtuous circle of recruitment of Junior scholars in the departments of social sciences in universities and research organizations. Its basic principle is to support the salary of the junior scholar for up to three years under the engagement by the institution that the position will become permanent after three years. IECS will fund 75 percent of the full salary the first year, 50 percent in the second year, and 25 percent in the third year.
Eligible candidates must have received the Ph.D. degree within five years of the date of application or within three years after the last year as a salaried postdoctoral fellow. The maximum amount of each grant is €60,000 per year for a maximum of three years. Each Junior professorship will be endowed with an annual research fund of €10,000. Recruitment procedure will be defined with candidate institutions.
To initiate the program, in the first year IECS will open a call for postdoctoral fellows (up to three) who will be assigned to universities that are prepared to participate in the Junior scholars program.
Expressions of interest must be submitted to our online platform.
IECS will focus on a limited number of projects every year, up to three per year, to stimulate competition and innovation in research. It will target the range of funding between seed-money (available in many places, but with low impact) and large-scale funding (DFG, ANR, ERC) to support more specifically early-career scholars. The duration of a research grant is limited to two or three years.
Research Grants will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
Applications must be submitted to our online platform.
IECS is offering scholarships in support of doctoral dissertation-writing in Chinese studies. Eligibility is restricted to doctoral candidates currently enrolled a French or EU university with approved proposals in the humanities and social sciences. The dissertation-writing grant can only be used in the final phase of the Ph.D. when the candidate is ready to start writing his/her dissertation.
Applications must be submitted to our online platform.
IECS is offering scholarships in support of doctoral dissertation-writing in Chinese studies. Eligibility is restricted to doctoral candidates currently enrolled a French or EU university with approved proposals in the humanities and social sciences. The dissertation-writing grant can only be used in the final phase of the Ph.D. when the candidate is ready to start writing his/her dissertation.
Applications must be submitted to our online platform.