ANSO Fully Funded Scholarship 2027 in China | Master’s & PhD – No IELTS Options
You do not apply to ANSO itself. The CAS-ANSO Scholarship is requested inside the admission system of either the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) or the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), and you may use only one of them. The official 2027 call was not published yet when we checked on November 3, 2026, so the dates and figures below come from the 2026 call.
That matters if you searched for a “no IELTS” route, because many pages promise one for this scholarship. The ANSO call asks for proficiency in English or Chinese, and UCAS’s general call asks for IELTS, TOEFL or other proof of English. We explain what that means below, along with the funding, the age limits, the documents and the points Pakistani applicants should confirm. Everything is checked against ANSO’s own pages and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) copies of the UCAS call.
2027 Call Not Published Yet
ANSO’s scholarship page showed the results of the 2026 round and the 2026 call when we checked. That call opened on 15 October 2025 and closed on 31 January 2026 (Beijing time), which is now past. ANSO’s announcements page listed no 2027 degree call. Do not assume the 2027 dates will repeat, and check the ANSO page again before you spend money on tests or translations.
CAS-ANSO Fully Funded Scholarship at a Glance
| Programme | CAS-ANSO Scholarship (Degree Program), formerly called the ANSO Scholarship for Young Talents |
| Main sponsor | The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). TWAS and UNESCO partly fund a PhD sub-category |
| Level | Master’s and PhD |
| Where you study | UCAS, USTC and CAS institutes. You apply through the UCAS or USTC system |
| Places | 100 to 200 Master’s and 300 PhD students each year, according to the call |
| PhD sub-scheme | ANSO-CAS-TWAS/UNESCO PhD Scholarship, up to 40 PhD students from developing countries |
| Latest call | 2026 call: opened 15 October 2025, closed 31 January 2026 (Beijing time) |
| 2027 call | Not published when we checked |
| Pakistani applicants | Eligible in principle. The call excludes only Chinese citizens and describes a programme for young scientists from all over the world |
| Application fee | Waived for CAS-ANSO applicants at UCAS |
| ANSO contact | scholarship@anso.org.cn |
What Fully Funded Scholarship Really Covers
The UCAS version of the call calls this a full scholarship. The coverage list is shorter than the label suggests, so here is what the 2026 call lists:
| Item | PhD | Master’s |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition | Waiver | Waiver |
| Monthly stipend | CNY 6,000 or 7,000, up to 48 months. The rate depends on whether you pass the university’s qualification test | CNY 3,000, up to 36 months |
| Health insurance | Covered | Covered |
| Application fee | Waived | Waived |
| International travel | One trip from your home country to China (allowance or reimbursement) | One trip from your home country to China (allowance or reimbursement) |
| Visa and residence permit | One-time allowance | One-time allowance |
Three notes from the call shape the real value. First, awardees who are already in China when they apply get no travel subsidy. Second, the ANSO-CAS-TWAS/UNESCO sub-scheme is split: CAS pays tuition, stipend, insurance and the fee waiver, while TWAS/UNESCO pays the travel and visa items, if you are eligible. Third, the allowance and reimbursement rules follow the sponsor’s own procedure.
Orbit Take
Accommodation is not on the CAS-ANSO coverage list. The general UCAS call prices a shared dorm room at CNY 30 per day and a single room at CNY 60, and warns that dorm places are limited, so some students must rent off campus. A shared room is about CNY 900 for a 30-day month (our own arithmetic), which is roughly 30% of the Master’s stipend of CNY 3,000. The call also leaves board, travel and any experiment, meeting or training costs beyond the curriculum to the student. Budget for these before you accept.
UCAS or USTC: Choose One Route
| UCAS | USTC | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Graduate university of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with over 20 faculties and over 100 CAS institutes | University of Science and Technology of China, founded by CAS in 1958 |
| Where you apply | UCAS online admission system for international students | USTC admission system for the scholarship |
| Contact for applications | phd@ucas.ac.cn (PhD), master@ucas.ac.cn (Master’s) | isa@ustc.edu.cn |
| What the call says | Pick the CAS-ANSO Scholarship inside the application | Pick the CAS-ANSO Scholarship inside the application |
You must not apply at both. The call says an application to USTC and UCAS at the same time leads to disqualification, and UCAS also disqualifies applicants who open more than one account.
Official ANSO 2026 call for applications
Who Can Apply (2026 Call)
- You do not hold Chinese citizenship and you have a valid foreign passport.
- You are proficient in English or Chinese.
- Master’s applicants were born on or after 1 January 1996. PhD applicants were born on or after 1 January 1991.
- You meet the admission criteria of UCAS or USTC for international students.
- You will not take up other assignments during the scholarship.
- You are not currently doing a master’s in China (for the Master’s route) or a doctorate in China (for the PhD route). If you are, the call disqualifies you and reports the situation to your current university.
The age limits come from the 2026 call. Check the 2027 call for new cut-off dates, because they can move by a year.
The “No IELTS” Question
The ANSO call itself says applicants should be “proficient in English or Chinese” and does not name a test. The UCAS general call goes further. It says English proficiency is required and asks for a valid IELTS or TOEFL result or other proof of English. It exempts applicants whose mother tongue is English. For programmes taught in Chinese, it asks for HSK level 5 with at least 180 points.
So the safe reading is this: a test is the clearest proof, and “other proof” is accepted in some form, but the page does not say what counts. We read only the UCAS general call, and an individual CAS institute can set its own English score. Ask the institute or supervisor you plan to apply to, and get their answer in writing before you skip a test.
Documents to Prepare
- Passport information page (ordinary passport, valid for at least one year) and a recent two-inch photo
- Complete CV with full education and research history, plus an employment certificate if you work
- Degree certificates: bachelor’s for the Master’s route, master’s and bachelor’s for the PhD route
- Academic transcripts at the same levels. Students finishing before September 2026 could submit a pre-graduation certificate and transcripts to date in the 2026 round
- English or Chinese proficiency proof
- First page and abstract of up to 5 published papers, if available. Unpublished papers are not accepted
- Motivation letter covering your purpose, background, study plan and career goals. PhD applicants also describe their research experience
- Two reference letters from professors or associate professors on official letterhead, signed and dated. The referee cannot be your prospective UCAS supervisor
- Supervisor’s Acceptance Form, only if you already have one
- Certificate of financial support, if you have funding from another source
Documents not in English or Chinese need a translation combined with the scan in one PDF. UCAS may later ask for original documents or verification from a designated authority, so do not submit anything you could not back up.
How to Apply, Step by Step
- Read the current call on ANSO’s scholarship page and on UCAS or USTC. Use the 2027 call as soon as it appears.
- Pick UCAS or USTC, and choose a college or CAS institute and a supervisor. Finding a supervisor first is encouraged, but UCAS says it is not mandatory.
- Collect your documents and the two referee letters.
- Open one account in your chosen university’s admission system and start the application.
- Choose the CAS-ANSO Scholarship inside the application. PhD applicants who want TWAS/UNESCO consideration also tick the box for the ANSO-CAS-TWAS/UNESCO PhD Scholarship.
- Submit before the deadline, and make sure your referees submit theirs. In 2026 the deadline applied to both applicants and referees.
- Prepare for the assessment. The college or institute reviews your documents, then selects candidates for an entrance examination, mainly an interview. Some also set a written test.
- If admitted, apply for a study visa with your admission letter and the JW201 or JW202 form, and register on the date in your admission notice.
Dates and Timeline
| Step | 2026 round | 2027 round |
|---|---|---|
| Call opened | 15 October 2025 | Not published |
| Application deadline | 31 January 2026 (Beijing time), for applicants and referees | Not published |
| Results | Announced on ANSO’s site on 23 June 2026. Universities notify applicants | Not published |
| Registration | Autumn 2026, on the date in the admission notice | Not published |
Beijing time is three hours ahead of Pakistan (our own conversion). The call also says USTC and UCAS may set slightly different dates, so follow the university you apply to.
Pakistani Applicants: What to Check
Pakistan Note
Eligibility. The call excludes only Chinese citizens, so Pakistani passport holders can apply. It names no Pakistan-specific route. Degree level. UCAS requires a degree equal to a Chinese bachelor’s for Master’s study and a Chinese master’s for PhD study. It says some countries have specific degree requirements in an Attachment 1 file. We could not read that file, so we state no rule for Pakistani degrees. Open the attachment on the UCAS call before you decide between the Master’s and PhD routes. TWAS link. TWAS, the partner behind the PhD sub-scheme, was founded in 1983 under the leadership of the Pakistani physicist Abdus Salam. The call says the sub-scheme is for PhD students from developing countries but does not list countries, so tick the box in the system and let the selectors decide. Not verified. We did not check HEC attestation, police certificates, the physical examination form or Chinese visa steps for Pakistan, so this guide states none.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Compare Other Funded Postgraduate Routes
If you want to weigh China against Europe, our guides to the University of Cambridge UK Biosciences DTP PhD 2027 and the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship 2027 show how a UK PhD studentship and a funded UK master’s describe their own funding.
Related Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a supervisor before I apply?
Not at UCAS. The call says you can apply whether or not you have found a supervisor, and the college or institute may forward your file to possible supervisors. If you do have an acceptance, upload the Supervisor’s Acceptance Form.
Is there an application fee?
UCAS lists an application fee of CNY 600 in general, but applicants for the CAS-ANSO Scholarship, the Chinese Government Scholarship and the UCAS Scholarship for International Students do not pay it.
What happens if I fail an annual assessment?
The call says the scholarship can be terminated and your study discontinued. You would then receive a certificate of attendance for the period in China but not a formal degree.
Official Sources
- ANSO: Alliance of National and International Science Organizations (organisation and programmes)
- ANSO: CAS-ANSO Scholarship, Degree Program page (2026 results notice and call link)
- ANSO: CAS-ANSO Scholarship (Degree Program) 2026 Call for Applications (eligibility, dates, portals, contacts)
- ANSO: Announcements and Open Calls (checked for a 2027 call)
- CAS Institute of High Energy Physics: UCAS copy of the 2026 CAS-ANSO call (coverage table and UCAS conditions)
- CAS Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica: UCAS 2026 Master’s/Doctoral call (documents, English proof, fees, selection)
Information in this guide was checked against the official pages above on November 3, 2026.
Scholarship requirements, deadlines, and funding details can change. Always verify current information directly with the official provider before applying.
ScholarshipOrbit is an independent guidance resource and is not affiliated with ANSO, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, UCAS, USTC, or any organization mentioned above.
