J. S. Lee Memorial Fellowship Programme

Language: ENG

Application Timeline

Application deadline:
January 31, 2025 (Friday), 5:00pm Hong Kong time

Applicants are encouraged to download and review the List of Projects Available for Application (2025-26) (with more information to be updated in due course) as they plan for their application. Please note that the list of projects is not exhaustive and subject to potential change by the institutions. For enquiries related to projects available for application and your eligibility, please contact the institutions directly.

List of Projects Available for Application (2025-26)

Eligibility and Requirements

Preparation for Application

Application

Selection

Award Announcement

Step 1: Eligibility and Requirements

Eligibility
- The Applicant must hold a bachelor’s degree or above in Chinese art history, museum management, archaeology, conservation, museum education, museology or other relevant disciplines.
- The ability to communicate in the language of the host country is preferable.
- There are no restrictions on the age, nationality and gender of the Applicant.
Requirements
- The Fellow is required to be stationed at a museum or an institution in a country outside his or her habitual residence for 4 to 12 months on a full-time basis.
- Project areas funded by the Programme include but are not limited to:
  1) museum collection research,
  2) Chinese art exhibition planning, and
  3) receiving professional training in museum management, collection registration, conservation, education, exhibition design, information technology or other relevant fields at a museum.
- The Programme does NOT fund courses of study, dissertation research and the collection of dissertation related materials. The Foundation offers subsidies for postgraduate studies and dissertation writing through other programmes. Please contact the Foundation for more information.
- Remarks: To encourage participating institutions (the “Institutions”) to support deserving staff members to participate in the Programme, the Fellow’s affiliated Institution might be granted a salary subsidy to hire temporary staff to handle the Fellow’s responsibilities during the Fellowship period. The amount of subsidy is determined on a case-by-case basis by the Selection Panel subject to the Institution’s needs. The Institution should contact the Foundation before the Applicant submits the application to be considered for this subsidy. The Foundation will follow up on the request if the Applicant is shortlisted for an interview.

Step 2: Preparation for Application

The Programme supports Fellowship projects at 61 Institutions. (Remarks: If the Applicant wishes to apply to a non-participating Institution, he or she should request an official invitation letter from the Institution. The letter should confirm the Institution’s agreement to be the Host Institution for the Fellowship and specify the support it can provide. The Invitation letter should be sent directly to jslfp@beishantang.org before the application deadline.)
The Applicant must contact the Institution of his or her choice as soon as possible and at least 1 month before the application deadline to discuss the project proposal and align expectations of both parties before submitting a formal application; otherwise, the application will unlikely be successful. The application may be rejected if the Applicant contacts the Institution too close to the application deadline and does not receive a response from the Institution.
The Applicant may reach out to the Programme Office for contact information of the prospective hosting institution to further communicate on the Fellowship proposal.
The Applicant is recommended to contact no more than 3 institutions.
The Institution will carefully review all proposals and reserves the right to reject any deemed unsuitable. The Institution is not obligated to provide a reason for rejecting a proposal.
Applicants are encouraged to download and review the List of Projects Available for Application (2025-26) (with more information to be updated in due course) as they plan for their applications. Please note that the list of projects is not exhaustive and subject to potential change by the institutions. For enquiries related to projects available for application and your eligibility, please contact the institutions directly.
List of Projects Available for Application (2025-26)

Step 3: Application

The Applicant must complete an application form and invite two Referees to complete a recommendation form. The forms can be downloaded below:
Download application form
Download recommendation forms
All forms should be completed in either English or Chinese.
The completed application form and recommendation forms should be submitted by email to jslfp@beishantang.org before the application deadline. Recommendation forms must be submitted directly by the Referees. The application might be rejected if the Applicant is unable to provide a complete application form when submitting the application, or if the recommendation forms are not submitted directly by the Referees.
Late submissions will NOT be considered.
A confirmation email will be sent to acknowledge receipt of an application.

Step 4: Selection

All applications are evaluated and shortlisted by the Selection Panel appointed by the Foundation.
Before shortlisting, the Foundation will pass all eligible applications to respective Institutions for review and feedback. The feedback from Institutions will be one of the selection criteria during shortlisting. The shortlisting result is subject to the decision of the Selection Panel.
Shortlisted candidates will receive an email invitation for an interview in May.

Step 5: Award Announcement

All Applicants will receive an email notification of the application results in June.
The decisions of the Selection Panel are final. The Programme Office is not obligated to provide reasons for rejecting an application. Enquiries regarding the progress and results of an application will not be accepted.