Apply to 2021 China Award

1. Goal of the Fellowship

The $5,000 China Fellowship is awarded annually to three students in the last two years of either an undergraduate or graduate program in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design at a university in the People’s Republic of China. The Fellowship provides financial support to conduct independent travel and research that contributes to the SOM Foundation’s current topic.

2. Topic: Examining Social Justice in Urban Contexts

The built environment is defined by human-made decisions that have long-lasting impacts on our society. Today, we are in the midst of a critical conversation about how structural racial injustices, discriminatory policies, and uneven access to resources have shaped our society and our built environment for decades. Challenges like the current global health crisis reveal and amplify conditions that have always been present. These injustices and policies are manifested in both subtle and explicit ways across many areas—from housing, education, economy, and safety to public transportation, public space, health, and the environment. Governments, civic institutions, private organizations, professionals, and citizens continuously define, respond, and contest these conditions. Exploring and identifying long-term policies, immediate actions, and comprehensive plans have the potential to shape a more equitable and sustainable future.

3. Eligibility

The applicant must be enrolled at a university in the People’s Republic of China.

The applicant must be an undergraduate or graduate student in the last two years of an accredited degree program in architecture, landscape architecture, or urban design.

The applicant must intend to obtain an accredited degree and to enter the professional practice of architecture, landscape architecture, or urban design.

Chinese citizenship is not required.

Students from China who are enrolled at universities outside the People’s Republic of China are not eligible for the award.

Students enrolled at universities in the People’s Republic of China who are attending universities outside the country as a part of a “study abroad” program are eligible for the award.

4. Overview of Application Process

Application materials, as outlined in Section 5, must be received by 5:00 p.m. Beijing Standard Time on Friday, April 23, 2021. Applications received after that time will not be considered.

An identification number will be assigned to each applicant upon receiving the submission. This number is random and does not reflect the order in which a submission will be judged. The identification number is to assure the anonymity of each applicant.

The jury will meet in April 2021. The winner will be notified no later than Friday, May 21, 2021.

5. Application Requirements

A Cover Sheet (download).

A Portfolio:

• The portfolio is expected to be in Chinese. English translations are welcome but are not required. The jurors who evaluate the submissions speak and read Chinese.
• The portfolio should include a maximum of twelve (12) one-sided A4 pages. A cover page is not required; if the applicant includes a cover page, it will be counted toward the maximum 12 pages that are allocated toward the portfolio.
• The work submitted must be the student’s own work, completed at the university where the candidate is enrolled, and/or work prepared for other design competitions. Given the collaborative nature of most university programs, group work is allowed. However, it should be used sparingly. The candidate’s role in the group project must be clearly explained in the portfolio.
• Candidate’s work that was prepared in a professional office should not be included in the portfolio.
• Self-identifying information should be redacted or removed from all pages of the portfolio. Examples of identifying information include applicant’s name, city, photo, university, classmates’ names, and professors’ names. The purpose of this requirement is to maintain anonymity of the applicants when the jurors review the submissions.
  

A Proposal:

• Applicants should develop a research proposal that explains how the trip relates to this year’s topic, their interests and learning objectives, and how they and the profession may benefit from their travel studies.
• An English translation is required.
• The Research Proposal is limited to two (2) one-sided A4 pages in total, which includes both the Chinese and English translation.

A Travel Itinerary using the following guidelines:

• Corresponding with the Research Proposal, applicants should develop a travel itinerary that includes specific locations, sites, buildings, and professionals that you intend to visit, and include prospective interviews.
• An English translation is required.
• The Travel Itinerary is limited to two (2) one-sided A4 pages in total, which includes both the Chinese and English translation. A breakdown of travel expenses is not necessary.
• The travel must take place outside of China and be a minimum of three weeks’ duration.

6. Application Format

Application should be:

• PDF format. Cover sheet should be sent as a separate PDF file.
• A4 pages, either portrait or landscape orientation.
• 16 pages maximum (not including cover sheet).
• 50 MB maximum.

7. Application Deadline

A link to the application should be emailed to chinafellowship@somfoundation.com no later than 5:00 p.m. Beijing Standard Time on Friday, April 23, 2021. Applications received after that time will not be considered.

8. Jury

A jury, chaired by Leo Chow, will be responsible for selecting three winning applications most suited to the SOM Foundation’s current topic. The intention is to award three China Fellowships, but the SOM Foundation reserves the right to choose not to award, to co-award, or to split the prize as the jury deems appropriate. An independent jury of prominent architects will select the winners, based on the applicants’ Design Portfolios and their Travel/Research Proposals.

9. Notification of Award

Winners will be notified by May 21, 2021.

10. Recipient Responsibilities

By accepting the award, the recipient agrees to the following:

• The recipient is required to submit updated information detailing their research plans and travel itinerary for approval prior to undertaking the Fellowship. The Foundation expects the final research and study travel to be at least as extensive as the student’s original proposal.
• Upon approval of the final itinerary by the SOM Foundation, the winner will receive 90% of the Fellowship monetary award.
• The recipient will provide bimonthly progress reports via email to the Foundation at info@somfoundation.com.
• The recipient must complete their research and travel within eighteen months of receiving the award, or within an agreed-upon time, depending on circumstances.

• All Fellowship monies will be forfeited to the Foundation in the event that travels are not completed within eighteen months unless prior written approval is received from the SOM Foundation Executive Director.

• The fellowship award sum will be forfeited by the student to the Foundation if the candidate does not graduate with a degree in architecture or urban design.

• The recipient will submit a final report within four months after completing travel and research.

• The final 10% of the Fellowship monetary award will be payable to the recipient upon receipt and approval of the Final Report.

11. Final Report

For winners of the SOM Foundation China Fellowship, information is provided below regarding the requirements for the Final Report:

Content of Report

• Original plan of research and statement of intent.
• Final travel itinerary with cities and sites visited.
• Visual record of travel experience, illustrated by sketches and digital photographs.
• Personal viewpoint and analysis of studies and travel.
• Final statement describing how the Fellow’s original intentions were fulfilled by their travels.

Final Report, written in Chinese and English, should be submitted in PDF format, 8.5” x 11” portrait orientation.

In addition to the final report, the recipient should provide a selection of high-resolution digital images to be posted on the fellow page of the SOM Foundation website. Images should be submitted as JPGs (minimum width of 3000 pixels) with appropriate captions.

The Foundation hopes that over the years, each Fellow’s report will become a valuable and convenient record for assessing the program’s benefit to both the recipients and the profession.

12. Copyright

The winning submission will become part of the SOM Foundation’s archive. The SOM Foundation reserves the right to use the winning submission—and winner’s monthly progress reports and final report—or any portion of them in press releases, presentations, exhibits, history books, and similar publications, as well as for public access for student and educational purposes in all media, including online. Authors will retain the copyright of their work.