I. Introduction of TIMBR/NIBS

The foundation of TIMBR/NIBS is to promote the development of China's life sciences, whose task is to carry out basic research, foster outstanding research talents, while explore new international operating mechanism that is suitable for research and development in China.

TIMBR/NIBS is dedicated to cultivate top-class students by tapping their internal potential and teach students in accordance of their aptitude. TIMBR/NIBS will endeavor to cultivate students with active mind and sharp critical thinking and develop their research capability and laboratory capacity. Students are encouraged to build up their academic communication skills in formal speech and writing skills as well as informal communication skills; researchers are supported to communicate equally regardless of their academic title, providing opportunities for them all learning from the well-known and leading scientists directly. TIMBR/NIBS has been and always will be trying its own best efforts to train large quantities graduate students with the level equivalent to US life sciences graduate students.

TIMBR/NIBS is governed by its The Board of Trustees (BOT), which is responsible for institute policy and consists of representatives from eight agencies, including the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Ministry of Health (MOH), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSFC), and the Beijing Municipal Government. MOST and the Beijing Municipal Government are primarily responsible for overseeing the operation of TIMBR/NIBS and provide the major sources of funding.

TIMBR/NIBS currently has 30 laboratories and 15 research support centres. 30 laboratories are Xiaodong Wang's laboratory, Feng Shao's laboratory, Rongwen Attack's laboratory, Lilin Du's laboratory, Niu Huang's laboratory, Wenhui Li's laboratory, Mengqiu Dong's laboratory, Xinxin He's laboratory, Ertsuan Zhang's laboratory, Tao Wang's laboratory, Ting Chen's laboratory, Nan Tang's laboratory, Hui Jiang's laboratory, Xiangbing Qi's laboratory, Cao Peng's lab, Liu Qinghua's lab, Han Ting's lab, Li Chao's lab, Xu Mo's lab, Zheng Sanduo's lab, Xu Guotai's lab, Wang Wei's lab, Ba Zhaoqing's lab, Shen Bo's lab, Sun Shuohao's lab, Xu Junfu's lab, Su Jun's lab, Liu Zhen's lab, Lin Rui's lab, and Li-Bin's lab. 15 core facilities following as: Bioinformatics Center, Imaging Facility, Transgenic Animal Center, Proteomics Facility, Antibody Center, Chemistry Center, Sequencing Center, Biological Research Center, Metabolomics Center, Biological Resource Center, Genetic Screening Centre, Bioinstrumentation Centre, Electron Microscopy Centre, Flow Centre Animal and Plant Center.

The Institute conducts original research in a number of important areas of life sciences, including the mechanisms of infection by a wide range of human pathogenic bacteria, viruses and chlamydia, the neural basis of social behavior in animals, the mechanisms of aging, stem cell research, neurodegeneration, development and genetics, tumourigenesis and therapy, and the mechanism of autophagy in animal cells. We have published a series of original results in top academic journals such as Cell, Nature, Science, etc. As of December 2022, TIMBR/NIBS has published 644 SCI papers with corresponding authors, and 51 papers in Cell, Nature and Science journals, including 15 in Cell, 27 in Nature and 9 in Science. the average impact factor of SCI is 11.4, which is far ahead of similar research institutes in China; applied for, The average impact factor of SCI is 11.4, which is the highest among similar research institutes in China; 15 patents have been applied for and obtained; and there are a large number of outstanding young academic leaders, many of whom have been awarded with international honors such as HHMI International Award for Young Scientists and International Protein Institute Award for Young Scientists, as well as domestic awards such as Zhou Guangzhao Prize and Outstanding Young Person Award.

In terms of talent cultivation, the institute adheres to the policy of interest-oriented and tailor-made teaching, encourages teachers and students to exchange scientific research ideas on an equal footing, and creates a relaxed and free academic atmosphere. The Institute is the first in China to implement a rotational internship system for new students, providing a platform for teachers and students to have a two-way understanding of each other. Academic exchange activities such as annual academic conferences and summer camps for students are held regularly every year, providing a broad space for students to learn and grow. By the end of 2022, the Institute has trained a total of 737 postgraduate students, and has graduated 430 PhDs and 17 masters. Among the graduated students, 3 of them have been awarded the title of National Outstanding Youth, 2 of them have been awarded the Changjiang Scholars Distinguished Professor, 15 of them have been awarded Wu Rui Scholarship, and 24 of them have been awarded National Scholarship. Nearly 70% of the graduates went to famous foreign universities for further study, 20% stayed in domestic scientific research and institutions, and the rest went to foreign companies to work in R&D, marketing or technical support. According to incomplete statistics, more than a hundred graduates are working as professors or PIs in domestic and foreign universities or scientific research institutions, accounting for about 1/4 of the graduates.

The joint project of Beijing Institute of Life Sciences and Tsinghua University to cultivate doctoral students in biology, known as TIMBR project, was launched in 2018, aiming at actively exploring and advancing the enrollment method and cultivation mechanism of doctoral students with Chinese characteristics and in line with international standards, selecting excellent and innovative talents, giving full play to the positivity and initiative of institutions of higher education, scientific research institutes and tutors, and having positive significance and demonstrative effect on the reform of the enrollment and admission system, as well as the transformation of the cultivation mode. It has positive significance and demonstration effect on reforming the admission system and changing the cultivation mode.

On the basis of the original biology disciplines of BLCSI, TIMBR project has increased the enrollment of chemical engineering, chemical pharmaceutical, structure and computation disciplines with biology as the main body and crossover as the characteristic, and has endeavored to cultivate talents with crossover disciplines.

II.2024 Admission of Recommended and Exempted Postgraduates at TIMBR/NIBS

1. Application requirements and application methods:

Fresh undergraduates with the qualification of recommendation and exemption. All admitted students are required to occupy the exemption quota of the student's home university.

To apply for registration, please visit http://graduate.TIMBR/NIBS.ac.cn/adm, register and fill in the relevant information, submit in time, education@TIMBR/NIBS.ac.cn the subject of the email is: name + NIBS/TIMBR registration form, the deadline for onlinedeclaration is 20 June 2023 and 20 July.

TIMBR/NIBS enrolment will be conducted in 2 batches: the first batch of interviews will be held around the end of June/early July, mainly for enrolment in the TIMBR programme; the second batch of interviews will be held around the end of July/early August, mainly for enrolment in Peking Union Medical College (PUMC), Beijing Normal University (BNU), and China Agricultural University (CAU) registries.

Students who are waitlisted for admission to the TIMBR programe during the first batch of interviews may be transferred to be admitted to Peking Union Medical College, Normal University or Agricultural University according to their individual volunteers; students with excellent results during the second batch of interviews may be recruited to the TIMBR programe.

When registering, please fill in the email address that you often use, once registered, you will not be able to change it.

2. Deadline for application materials

The application campaign starts from the date of notification. The deadline for the first batch of application materials is 20 June 2023, and the deadline for mailing materials is 20 June (postmarked). The deadline for the second batch of application materials is 20 July 2023, and the deadline for mailing materials is 20 July (postmarked).

Review examination will be organized by TIMBR/NIBS, the exact time to be decided.

Recommended postgraduate students who have passed the reexamination and agreed to be admitted should log on the Recommended Postgraduate Admission Website of the Ministry of Education at the specified time to complete the registration and agree to the proposed admission procedure. Students who have not done the online application cannot be admitted.

3. Submit paper application materials

A. Application Registration Form (the document generated during online registration, please print it and sign it)

B. Personal statement

C. Academic transcripts of the previous years (stamped with the official seal of the Academic Affairs Office)

D. A copy of the certificate or transcript of Grade 6 of the National English Proficiency Test (NEPT)

E. Two letters of recommendation from experts, which must be sealed in an envelope and signed by the referee.

F. A copy of the first page of published articles, if any.

4. How to send application materials

(1) Paper copies of application materials should be sent to the Institute by courier. You can log in the application system to check whether your paper copy has been sent or not. If they have been sent and the application materials meet the requirements, the application system will display "Approved".

(2) For security reasons, please do not send a copy of your ID card with your application materials.

(3) Before you pass the review and apply officially, you need to add other materials as required.

(4) We do not accept telephone or e-mail enquiries about the progress of the application during the review period.

Correspondence address:

No.7, Science Park Road, Zhongguancun Life Science Park, Changping District, Beijing, China.

Admissions Office, Graduate School, Beijing Institute of Life Sciences, Beijing 102206, China.

Tel: 010-80706021

5. Qualification Review and Admission

Before issuing the admission notice, the admission qualification will be reviewed according to the following requirements, and only those who have passed the examination will be admitted; those who have not passed the examination will be disqualified from admission, and the undergraduate teaching department of the student's school will handle the corresponding procedures according to the regulations of undergraduate academic registration management.

a. Completion of the credit requirements for all courses and practical sessions (including thesis or internship) stipulated in the undergraduate training program;

b. The grade of the thesis or internship should be "good" or above;

c. After obtaining the initial qualification, the students shall not fail any compulsory, restricted and elective courses of undergraduate program;

d. No disciplinary actions have been taken from the date of admission to the date of enrolment.

6. Academic Allocation

NIBS is currently recruiting direct PhD students with Tsinghua University, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing Normal University and China Agricultural University. After the interview, we will determine your academic affiliation based on your academic volunteers and interview results.

TIMBR Project: TIMBR recruits 50 direct PhD students through Tsinghua University every year, and does not recruit former undergraduates and former and current master's degree students. TIMBR students will be registered at Tsinghua University, and their rotations  will be at NIBS.

The choice of research direction:

Admitted students enter the Institute in the first year after completing basic courses in the academic unit. They will have 2 to 3 rounds of rotational training in the laboratory of the Institute, each round lasts for 2 months. At the end of the rotation, the supervisor and the student make a two-way choice to decide the research direction.

Treatment of students after admission:

A. The student living allowance is RMB 2,750/month before the laboratory is determined in the first year, RMB 3,000/month after the laboratory is determined in the first year; and RMB 5,000/month in the second year;

RMB 5,500/month for the first year after mid-term assessment for transfer to PhD; RMB 6,000/month for the second year; and RMB 6,500/month for the third year.

B. At present, there are TIMBR/NIBS Outstanding Student Scholarships with a prize amount of RMB 15,000-35,000 per person, which are awarded to about 6 people each year; an average of 3 students are awarded National Scholarships with a prize amount of RMB 30,000 per person each year.

7. Contact Information:

No.7, Science Park Road, Zhongguancun Life Science Park, Changping District, Beijing 102206, P.R. China

Graduate School of Beijing Institute of Life Sciences Admissions Office

Tel: 010-80706021 E-mail: education@TIMBR/NIBS.ac.cn

Appendix I: Recommendation for Exemption from Direct Examination Registration Form.doc 

Appendix 2: Personal statement.doc

Appendix 3: Letter of recommendation from experts.doc