Charles Kao Fund Research Grants
The Councils on East Asian and Southeast Asian Studies offers the Charles Kao Fund Research Grants to Yale College undergraduate and Yale University graduate students for summer research in East and Southeast Asia. Research should focus on the impact of technology transfer processes between Asia and the West and/or among East Asia and Southeast Asia, and the social, cultural, and political transformations in these regions.
The theme of technology transfer may be interpreted in a variety of ways and should provide the focus for the project, but successful projects will be the ones which best place this within a sociological, cultural, or political context. Previous winning projects have focused on the following topics:
- Artisanal Production and Alternative Economies in Inter-Asian Fair Trade Networks
- Bridges to Power: Electrical Engineering and the Struggle for Sovereignty in Modern China, 1908-1949
- Climate Resilience and Shifting Monsoons: Agricultural Adaptation at the Village Level in Communities of East Flores, Indonesia
- Community-Level Responses to Mekong River Hydropower
- (In)Fertility and In-Vitro Fertilization in Urban China: A Case Study of Yali, Motherhood and Womanhood
- Revitalizing the Yutori Sedai: The Changing Nature of Japanese Entrepreneurship
- Vaccinating the Nation: Immunology and Public Health in Modern China
Eligibility: All students of Yale College (including graduating seniors), graduate students in M.A. and Ph.D. programs in the Yale Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, and graduate students in the Yale professional schools.
In general, applications from international students proposing research projects in their country of origin are ineligible.
Priority will be given to students with demonstrated long-term academic commitment to and professional preparation for work in East or Southeast Asia, who have already acquired the necessary level of language proficiency to complete their proposed research work, or who need substantial first-hand exposure to Asia to complete a course of academic study. In their application, students should specify how their proposals address the issue of “technology transfer.”
Award: Grant requests of up to $5,000 to support field research or other creative projects in Asia will be entertained. Applications for internships will not be considered.
Reporting Requirements: Recipients of a Charles Kao Fund Research Grant must submit a three page (no less than 750 words) project report upon their return from abroad. This report should include a detailed summary of the student’s research, as well as all itemized original receipts for all expenses above $75 covered by the grant. Detailed requirements on reporting are provided in award letters. Accepting a Charles Kao Grant obligates one to fulfill these requirements.
IMPORTANT NOTE: ALL undergraduate students must adhere to the Yale University International Travel Policy.
Please visit the Yale University Student Grants & Fellowships Website for complete details.