THE RAY WU PRIZE
Application Process
Criteria: The Ray Wu Prize recognizes excellence in life science research by a graduate student for innovation, independent thinking, and dedication.
Qualifications: A candidate must be a graduate student who is pursuing a degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in an institution located in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Singapore. The candidate must have advanced to candidacy in the PhD program, or is within one year from dissertation defense, but not yet receiving the degree, by the deadline of application.
Nomination: A candidate may be nominated by a faculty member of the institution from which the candidate plans to receive the PhD. The faculty member shall be a PhD mentor and is actively conducting life science research.
Deadline for application: January 15, each year.
What to Submit:
A candidate who wishes to be considered for this year’s Ray Wu Prize must submit the following materials by the deadline for application:
1. A completed application form. (Please download the application form available below. Fill out in English or Chinese)
>> Download Application Form
The completed application form must be signed by the Dean of the School in which the candidate is currently enrolled to certify all materials as true and authentic.
2. A two page essay (English or Chinese) by the candidate in which the motivation of pursuing a PhD degree, personal interest in the current field of own research, and outlook for future career development should be addressed.
3. A progress report of the candidate’s current PhD research project (limited to 3 pages, not counting references).
4. A current transcript of courses taken in the PhD program.
5. A list of publications.
6. Copies of two representative published materials for original research.
7. Awards or honors received.
The candidate must collate items 1-7 in a single PDF file (limited to 10MB) in the right order. The name of the PDF file must be Familyname_Givenname_RWP2021.pdf (e.g. Chen_Xiaohua_RWP2021.pdf).
Submit the PDF file by clicking the button below:
>> Online Submission
In addition, the candidate must request a letter of recommendation from the nominating faculty member (letter1), and two additional letters of recommendation from other faculty members who know the candidate well professionally (letter2 and letter3). The letter must be in an envelope sealed by each faculty member with candidate’s name on the back of the envelope, sent to:
Dr. Yan Wu
National Institute of Biological Sciences
7 Science Park Road
ZGC Life Science Park
Beijing, China 102206
Tel: 010-80726688-8826
or sent directly by the faculty members via email to:
The name of the letters must be Familyname_Givenname_RWP2021_letter1(2 or 3).pdf (e.g. Chen_Xiaohua_RWP2021_letter1.pdf).
All applications will be reviewed by members of the prize selection committee. A number of semifinalists will be selected for a face-to-face interview with members of the prize selection committee and invited professors. Notifications will be sent to semifinalists and regrets will be sent to others.
The application materials and the interview evaluations will be reviewed by the full selection committee, and the award winners will be selected based on the vote of the prize selection committee. Notifications will be sent to the award winners and regrets will be sent to others.
An annual Ray Wu Symposium will be held in honor of the Ray Wu Prize. The award winners will give short presentations of their research work at the symposium, together with several internationally eminent faculty speakers invited by the Symposium organizers. The Ray Wu Prize will be presented at the ceremony during the symposium.
