Nominations of candidates to the Tang Cornell-China Scholars Program are solicited biennially from the Presidents of Peking University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Nanjing University, Tsinghua University, Nanjing Agricultural University, China Agricultural University, Southwest Agricultural University, Northwest Science and Technology University of Agriculture and Forestry, Hauzhong Agricultural University, Zhejiang University, Shenyang Agricultural University, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, University of Science and Technology China and Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences on behalf of their institutions.

Research and Teaching Capabilities

According to the original research criteria, candidates must have outstanding qualifications in the agricultural and biological sciences or biological engineering; however, if emerging or new priority areas are included in the program, candidate qualifications will be adjusted accordingly. The Scholars are selected based on demonstrated extraordinary capacity in research, teaching, and potential for research and education leadership. Demonstration of research capability is expected in the form of established mechanisms such as published work in scholarly journals and monographs and recognition in the field. Teaching capability is evaluated by assessment of course materials and peer evaluation of teaching performance.

Review and Selection

Each Chinese institution may submit two nominations to the Tang Cornell-China Scholars Program from the agricultural/biological sciences and from biological engineering. Both nominations should not be from the same field. Should the program expand to include additional fields, the nominations will correspondingly reflect those.

The Selection Committee

The Cornell selection committee for the Scholars is composed of distinguished Cornell faculty members who choose two or three Scholars from the nominees strictly on the basis of their extraordinary capacity in research and education, opportunity to participate effectively in programs at Cornell, and their potential for leadership of the research and educational enterprise in China in the long term. Status of the nominee’s career, publications, recognitions, letters of reference and a statement of purpose by the nominee are carefully considered. The selection committee is chaired by the dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences or his/her designee.