Focused Research Extended Experience (FREE) Program_ Sichuan University – Pittsburgh Institute (SCUPI) :Sichuan University

1.FREE Program Overview

1.1 Background Sichuan University – Pittsburgh Institute (SCUPI), established in 2014, is one of the large-scale partnerships between a top US university and a top-rate Chinese university. SCUPI now enrolls around 1025 undergraduate students in five majors: Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. SCUPI is also the home of nearly 40 world top-rate faculty members who pursue teaching excellence and scholarly research. The SCUPI Focused Research Extended Experience Program (hereinafter referred to as “the FREE program”) is a non-degree full-time research program that is of a well-defined scope, milestones, and expected outcomes within a period less than two years. Anyone who participates in this program will be provided with competitive stipend, focused research training, resources for professional and academic development, and opportunities in scholarly publication. 1.2 About the FREE Program The FREE program offers one to two-year full-time paid research fellowship during which research fellows with a bachelor’s or a master’s degree conduct scientific research under the guidance of individual or a team of faculty mentors from SCUPI and affiliated institutions. It aims to offer research opportunities and academic competitiveness for post-baccalaureate and post-master’s program participants who need enhanced research experience and publication records to gain competitive edge for securing admission to elite doctoral programs or quality job market. The FREE research scholars (FRS) will have valuable opportunities, including:

- Full-time research opportunity with fellowship

- Mentoring and guidance from experienced researchers

- Participation in academic conferences and workshops

- Opportunities to publish archive journal or conference proceedings

- Career advancement to the next level

1.3 Overview

An FRS will become a member of an established research project or a laboratory and will work under the direction of the PI(s) of a project or the leader of a laboratory. An FRS will be urged to publish research papers in peer-reviewed archive journals or conference proceedings and may also be involved in supervision of undergraduate researchers.

- Appointment Title: Full-Time Research Scholars

- Appointment Duration: This is an annual appointment and can be renewed up to two years.

- Location: Chengdu, China

- Stipend and Benefits:

- 6,000 CNY per month for candidates with a bachelor’s degree

- 8,000 CNY per month for candidates with a master’s degree

- Social insurance and housing fund

FRS application will be evaluated on a competitive and rolling basis until positions are filled. Hence, early submission of application and contact with program coordinator and PIs are highly encouraged. Projects available in FREE program will be updated continually. Find a project(s) for you:

- Project NO. 20240201_Study of reconfigurable metamaterials in all-opto logical integrated chips applications
- Project NO. 20240202_High-Performance Perovskite Solar Cells and X-ray Detector Technologies with Commercialization Significance

- Project NO. 20240203_Improving Usability of Electronic Health Records Based on Large Language Models

- Project NO. 20240204_Climatic Health under the Rapidly Changing Environment

- Project NO. 20240205_Quantization-informed Medical Report Generation and Structural Knowledge Construction based on Self-supervised Pre-training and Prompt Paradigm from Multi-modal Medical Data

- Project NO. 20240206_Unsupervised Continual Learning Approach for Real-Time Detection of Anomalous Events in Surveillance Videos

- Project No. 20240102: Reliability estimation of medical equipment based on big data of Internet of Things

- Project No. 20240103: Reliability estimation of human knee and hip implants

- Project No. 20240104: Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) Flow Dynamics

- Project No. 20240105: High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) for Mechanical Ablation of Tumor

- Project No. 20240106: 3D Printing of Nickel-based High-temperature Alloys

- Project No. 20240107: Research on Advanced Cooling Systems Based on Oxide Dispersion Strengthened Alloys and Bionic Porous Structure

- Project No. 20240108: Lower Limb Soft Exosuit – Personalized Gait Control

- Project No. 20240110: Phase-field study of multi-layer magnetoelectric composites

- Project No. 20240111: Free resolutions and their applications

- Project No. 20240112: An engineering-based novel DNA Separation system

If you have interest in multiple projects, you may contact the PIs directly before submitting your application. 2.Apply Now 2.1 Who Can Apply? To be eligible for the program, applicants should satisfy the following requirements:

- Applicants must have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in a related discipline.

- Effective oral and written communication in English preferred.

2.2 How to apply? Interested candidates should submit the following application materials to Ms. Joanna Peng (

- Current resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV) (in English)

- Cover letter expressing your research interests and qualifications for the position (in English).

Please include “FREE – Project No – [Your Name]” in the subject line when you apply.

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Focused Research Extended Experience (FREE) Program_ Sichuan University – Pittsburgh Institute (SCUPI)