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Postdoctoral Fellowships: General Information

Each year, the TWAS Fellowship Programmes, which operate under agreements with governments and national organizations in developing countries, offer a number of fellowships to young scientists from developing countries to carry out postdoctoral research in developing countries other than their own.

Currently, there are ten fellowship programmes for postdoctoral research, implemented in collaboration with the following partner organizations:

National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Brazil
The TWAS-CNPq Fellowship Programme for Postdoctoral Research offers fellowships to young scientists from developing countries (other than Brazil) who wish to pursue postdoctoral research in the natural sciences in Brazil. Duration: minimum of six months to a maximum of twelve months. Deadline for applications: 31 August.
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China
The TWAS-CAS Fellowship Programme for Postdoctoral Research offers fellowships to young scientists from developing countries (other than China) who wish to pursue postdoctoral research in China. Duration: minimum of six months to a maximum of twelve months. Deadline for applications: 31 August.
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India
The TWAS-CSIR Fellowship Programme for Postdoctoral Research offers fellowships to young scientists from developing countries (other than India) who wish to pursue postdoctoral research in newly emerging areas in science and technology for which facilities are available in CSIR laboratories and institutes. Duration: minimum of six months to a maximum of twelve months. Deadline for applications: 1 June.
Department of Biotechnology (DBT) of the Ministry of Science and Technology, India
The TWAS-DBT Fellowship Programme for Postdoctoral Research offers fellowships to young scientists from developing countries (other than India) who wish to pursue postdoctoral research in biotechnology at key biotechnology research institutions in India. Duration: minimum of six months to a maximum of twelve months. An extension for a maximum of six months may be possible according to need and performance. Deadline for applications: 31 August.
S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, India
The TWAS-SN Bose Fellowship Programme for Postdoctoral Research offers fellowships to young scientists from developing countries (other than India) who wish to pursue postdoctoral research in physical sciences. Duration: minimum of six months to a maximum of twelve months. Deadline for applications: 31 August.
Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), India
The TWAS-IACS Fellowship Programme for Postdoctoral Research offers fellowships to young scientists from developing countries (other than India) who wish to pursue postdoctoral research in certain fields of natural sciences, including biological chemistry, condensed matter physics, inorganic chemistry, materials science, non conventional energy, organic chemistry, physical chemistry, polymer science, spectroscopy and theoretical physics. Duration: minimum of six months to a maximum of twelve months. Deadline for applications: 30 June.
Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Malaysia
The TWAS-USM Fellowship Programme for Postdoctoral Research offers fellowships to young scientists from developing countries (other than Malaysia) who wish to pursue advanced research in the natural sciences. Duration: minimum of six months to a maximum of twelve months. Deadline for applications: 15 September.
National Science and Technology Council (CONACYT), Mexico
or young scientists from developing countries (other than Mexico) who wish to pursue advanced research in basic natural sciences. Duration: minimum of six months to a maximum of twelve months. Deadline for applications: 1 July.
National Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology (CEMB), Pakistan
The TWAS-CEMB Fellowship Programme for Postdoctoral Research offers fellowships to young scientists from developing countries (other than Pakistan) who wish to pursue postdoctoral research in molecular biology and molecular genetics. Duration: minimum of six months to a maximum of twelve months. Deadline for applications: 30 June.
International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), Pakistan
The TWAS-ICCBS Fellowship Programme for Postdoctoral Research offers fellowships to young scientists from developing countries (other than Pakistan) who wish to pursue postdoctoral research in organic chemistry, biochemistry, biotechnology, molecular medicine, pharmacology or physical chemistry. Duration: minimum of six months to a maximum of twelve months. Deadline for applications: 30 June.
National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), Thailand
The TWAS-BIOTEC Fellowship Programme for Postdoctoral Research offers fellowships to young scientists from developing countries (other than Thailand) who wish to pursue postdoctoral research in molecular biology, molecular genetics, microbiology, biochemistry, biotechnology and bioinformatics. Duration: minimum of twelve months to a maximum of twenty-four months. Deadline for applications: 15 September.

Overview of research fields covered by each programme

Programme	Agric. scs.	Biology	Chemistry	Earth scs.	Engg. scs.	Mathem.	Medical scs.	Physics

CNPq (Brazil)	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
CAS (China)	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
CSIR (India)	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
DBT (India)	+	+	+	+			+	+
Bose (India)			+			+		+
IACS (India)		+	+		+	+		+
USM (Malaysia)	+	+	+		+	+	+	+
CONACYT (Mexico)	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
CEMB (Pakistan)	+	+					+
ICCBS (Pakistan)	+	+	+				+
BIOTEC (Thailand)	+	+	+				+

General Information about TWAS Postdoctoral Fellowships

International travel (return economy class by the shortest route) and visa expenses will be covered by TWAS.
Programme partners will provide a stipend to cover living expenses, including health insurance. Obtaining suitable health insurance is the candidate's own responsibility and will be at his/her own expense.
The Fellowships do not include provisions for accompanying family members.
Applications for part-time Fellowships will be considered ineligible.
Applicants must be affiliated with a university or research centre in their home country.
Applicants must provide evidence that they will return to their home country upon completion of their Fellowships.
Applicants already on site in the host country are not eligible.
Women scientists are especially encouraged to apply.
Applicants must submit an official acceptance letter from the host institution (a sample acceptance letter is included in the Application Form below) together with the application, or by the programme deadline at the latest, to both the relevant partner organization (except for DBT, India and ICCBS, Pakistan) and to TWAS. TWAS requests an acceptance letter in all cases (also for DBT and ICCBS).
Incomplete/unsigned applications will not be accepted. This also applies to submissions by fax and electronic mail, which must include all enclosures and be signed (either digitally or by including a scanned signature).
Successful applicants must not take up other assignments during the period of their Fellowships.
Applications will be acknowledged once they have been processed.
Successful candidates will be notified by February of the year following the application.
TWAS shall be entitled to a repayment of all or part of any funds paid to a Fellowship holder in the event that he or she intentionally or negligently fails to fulfil any or all of the conditions governing the TWAS Fellowship programmes. The Fellowship holder will have to agree to pay any reasonable legal and/or collection costs incurred by TWAS to obtain the repayment.

Please note that applicants may apply for only one TWAS Fellowship per year. For example, applicants to the TWAS-CAS programme cannot also apply to other TWAS Fellowship programmes with other partners in the same year, including those provided through CNPq, CEMB, CSIR, DBT, IACS, ICCBS, USM and the TWAS Fellowships for Research and Advanced Training.

Applicants for TWAS Fellowships for Research and Advanced Training should not use the application form below, but please download the specific application form for that programme from the relevant webpage.

ACCEPTANCE LETTERS for 2009 applications must show the starting date as 2010 since awarded candidates can only start their fellowships next year.

Additional Partner-Specific Programme Information

Deadlines for applications

Note that the deadlines for the various Fellowship Programmes vary as follows:

CNPq Brazil	CAS China	DBT India	CSIR India	S.N. Bose India	IACS India	USM Malaysia & BIOTEC, Thailand	CONACYT Mexico	CEMB Pakistan	ICCBS Pakistan
31 August	31 August	31 August	1 June	31 August	30 June	15 September	1 July	30 June	30 June

Application Form

The application form for the TWAS Fellowships for Postdoctoral Research includes the same information you're reading on this page, as well as a sample acceptance letter.

The application form is a MS Word document form. It should be completed, saved under a different name (see paragraph below) and returned as a Word document (not as a PDF document or a JPG image or anything else).

Please save the completed application form as a MS Word document with both your surname and the Fellowship's partner organization's acronym in its file name. Example: If your name is John DOE and you are applying for a CNPq Postdoctoral Fellowship in Brazil, name the file "CNPq_Pdoc_DOE.doc".

Cllick on the links below to download the application form and guidelines. Before filling in the form, applicants must read very carefully the application guidelines for detailed information on eligibility criteria, deadlines and other key requirements of the application procedure.

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